English 10

The Russian Trader explains Kurtz situation and begs Marlow to take him away quickly. The Russian and Kurtz have had their ups and downs, but he has never seen Kurtz in such grave condition. The manger leaves to talk to Kurtz and Marlow returns to the steamer. From the deck of the steamer, Marlow sees a beautiful Native woman nervously pacing on the coast. He is later told that this is Kurtz mistress. Her influence over Kurtz causes trouble for the Russian. Kurtz is head yelling and claims that the manager came for the ivory instead of coming to help him. The manager takes Marlow aside and tells him that he will report Kurtz as he is no longer well enough to run the station. Marlow is disgusted with the manager and claims that Kurtz is a “remarkable man.” 

Later, the Russian trader confesses to Marlow that Kurtz ordered the attack of the steamer. Kurtz was hoping that the Manager would order the ship to turn back after assuming Kurtz was dead. Marlow tells the Russian that the manager has plans of hanging him, but the Russian is not surprised. The Russian gets tobacco, shoes and bullets from Marlow and then leaves on a canoe with natives. 

In the middle of the night, Marlow is awoken by a cacophony. He then realizes that Kurtz is missing and decides to look for Kurtz himself. Marlow follows Kurtz trail, but then realizes the danger of the situation as Kurtz could easily call for the natives to have him killed. Marlow convinces Kurtz to come back and the next morning they leave on the steamer. The natives are seen at the shore waving to Kurtz and Marlow sounds the whistle. The natives scatter away and the pilgrims open fire. The only person remaining on the shore is Kurtz mistress, but Marlow cannot see if she is hit by a bullet as his view is obscured. 

The manager is pleased that Kurtz will be dead soon and is ignoring Marlow. Marlow has separated himself from the rest of the Company since the incident with Kurtz and the Manager the first night that Marlow arrived. Kurtz admits to Marlow that he is “waiting for his death.” Marlow sees Kurtz having some sort of epiphany, scared and afraid, Kurtz escapes to the dining hall and not long after a servant comes to tell Marlow that Kurtz is dead. Kurtz is buried the next day by the Pilgrims. 

Marlow comes down with illness himself. At this time he almost dies, but he can’t recall much about his time when he was sick. Marlow recovers and comes to the realization that Kurtz was a great man because “he had something to say. And he said it.’ Marlow then returns to Brussels. 

In Belgium Marlow is given a pamphlet about Suppression of Savage Customs. Marlow goes to visit Kurtz fiancee, without any real reason. He gives her a package of letters and a picture. Marlow tells her that he knew him as well as two men could know each other. Marlow lies and tells his fiancee that Kurtz last word’s were her name. Marlow ends the story by saying that the river is here “to lead into the heart of an immense darkness” (Page 111). 

This image represents Marlow’s isolation for the rest of the company. He realizes early on how terrible the Company’s treatment towards natives are. Marlow is offended when he is given the pamphlet about savages. Marlow was like Kurtz in the sense where he didn’t get along with the rest of the Company. Marlow isolated himself on purpose because he could believe the hypocrisy of the Manager. 

Marlow sits on the deck of his steamboat, slowly drifting off to sleep. He hears the Manager of the expedition and his Uncle conversing. They are talking about Kurtz. The men mention that Kurtz is alone and once the manager sent him an assistant, but the assistant came back with a note saying, “Clear this poor devil out of the country, and don’t bother sending more of that sort. I had rather be alone than have the kind of men you can dispose of with me.” (Page 45) Now all that the manager receives is Ivory of the best sort from Kurtz. Marlow also hears that Kurtz is now ill. His health is no longer in very good condition. The manager also mentions to have a wandering trader hung because the manager is no longer happy with his work. The uncle says that, “The climate may do away with this difficulty for you” (Page 45), which means that the manager might not have to deal with Kurtz if he is killed by tropical disease. Marlow is stunned by the way that the two are conversing. 

Marlow begins a journey to Kurtz station. A stack of wood is left by a Russian trader fifty miles from Kurtz station. The trader is a man that Marlow has overhead the Manager complaining about. After a cry is heard at the place where the ship is stopped for the night, the men onboard prepare for an attack. Marlow is told be a native man a “Cannibal” as they are referred to in the book that he wants to eat the voices in the distances. He realizes that the men are starving and the only food they had was throw overboard by the “Pilgrims” (traders). The manager gives permission for Marlow to continue through the fog, even though he earlier said to stop because the water was not safe. Marlow refuses to continue as he does not believe that the Natives will attack. The “Pilgrims” then open fire after seeing they are surrounded by natives. Marlow scares the attackers away by sounding the steamer whistle. The helmsmen dies by Marlow’s feet, instead of feeling any empathy, Marlow is disgusted by the dead body. Marlow believes that Kurtz is dead because of the Native attacks. 

Marlow later throws the helmsman body overboard. The pilgrims are upset that they did not give him a proper burials and the cannibals are upset that they lost a possible meal. Marlow blames the helmsmen’s death on the helmsmen’s impatience. If he hadn’t shot at the men in the bushes, he would not be dead now. As the inner station comes into view (Kurtz station) the pilgrims and Marlow are happy that it is still intact, as they expected it to be destroyed by the natives. 

At the shore, Marlow is greeted by the Russian trader. Everyone is fine in the inner station and the Russian trader believes that the natives attacked because they don’t want Kurtz to leave. Everyone has been apotheosizing Kurtz existence. 

This photo is an expression of freedom. There is no way of the natives being able to communicate with the white men. They are beaten, abused and forced into slaveries. They have no way of defending themselves because the White Men will simply not hear what they say. This photo is representative of discrimination, freedom, slavery, violence and silence. All factors that are represented in Heart of Darkness. 

Heart of Darkness begins with a scene of five men on a boat, The Nellie. A captain, a lawyer, an accountant, Marlow and an unknown narrator. The men are there together by the “bond of the sea” (Page 5). The narrator notes that seamen are homebodies. Since every ship looks the same and the sea always looks the same, it doesn’t matter where they are. They’re at home on the sea. Seaman see no need in wandering around land, once they see apart of the continent, they’re not curious enough to see the rest of it. The men sit on the boat and as the sun begins to set, Marlow begins to tell a story. Marlow is a very eloquent narrator and the men are used to him talking for hours. Marlow recalls all of the men that once came through the river. Like Sir Frances Drake and Sir John Franklin. Marlow then recalls the time that the Romans first came to London. He first says that the Roman men were brave, “sand-banks, marshes, forests, savages, -precious little to eat fit for a civilized man, nothing but Thames water to drink” (Page 9). Later, the Marlow begins foreshadowing as he says that what they are doing is a lot like the Romans. He says that the “these chaps were not much account, really” (Page 10) meaning that they weren’t that great. The Romans stole because they could, but they weren’t able to control colonies. Marlow claims that what he did was conquest of the earth, but the Romans have nothing to show for everything they stole. They were not efficient, “they were no colonists; their administration was merely a squeeze” (Page 10). 

The narrator then tells us they are waiting for the tides to change, “here was nothing else to do till the end of the flood” (Page 10). Marlow mentions that he always wanted to be an explorer since he was a child. He always looked at the biggest, most blank spaces on the map and decided that he wanted to visit those places. Marlow begins to tell us by the time he grew up, the blank space he always dreamed of visiting was covered with lakes and rivers and names. Marlow refers to this snake like river (the Congo) “The snake had charmed me” (Page 12). 

Marlow’s Aunt had connections with the Company and was determined to get him a job. After a captain was killed in a fight with natives over hens, Marlow got a with the Company. Marlow spent the next couple of days preparing for his new job before he arrived in “a city that always makes me think of a whited sepulchre” (Page 14) referring to Brussels, Belgium. Marlow sees the map of the congo at the Company’s headquarters. I believe this is one of his first experiences that Marlow is exposed to clashing cultures. He talks about how some of his family lives on the European continent but he believe that London is a lot better then the rest of Europe. The notion of imperialism is demonstrated early on in the book. The Company is also Dutch, at this point when the book is based, the Dutch were some of the world leaders. They had control of ‘The Spice Islands (The Philippines)’ which was one of the most highly regarded places at this time. Marlow had trouble getting work in London because England was not yet the world powerhouse in colonization. 

After a month’s journey on French and Swedish boats, Marlow finally reaches a station. It isn’t long after he realizes how much the Natives are suffering. “They were dying slowly - it was very clean. They were not enemies, they were not criminals, they were nothing earthly now - nothing but black shadows of disease and starvation” (Page 24). There is a lot of talk about Mr. Kurtz. Marlow doesn’t seem to really care, but finally Marlow says “‘Tell me pray,’ said I, ‘who is this Mr. Kurtz?” (Page 36) To Marlow, Kurtz was just a name. He couldn’t place what he looked like and he couldn’t tell if he was good or evil. Some said that he was a remarkable man but others seemed to be afraid of Kurtz, making him out to be some fearless leader. 

I figure that Kurtz is this mystery to Marlow. He’s a very important part of the story, as he’s been mentioned without Marlow ever meeting him yet. Everyone has a different idea of Kurtz and Marlow receives these little pieces of information together. Kurtz, to Marlow, is like placing a puzzle together, but you don’t know what the end result will be yet. 

Based on your experience of reading the novel, discuss whether the portrayals of black and whites are appropriate. Should we continue to read this novel? Why or why not?

This is an excellent question, as I read To Kill A Mocking Bird, I could help but notice the standing points of the white and black citizens. I didn’t think it was possible for Scout, a six to eight year old little girl could capture the raw emotions involved with this book. Everybody will have their own opinion on whether or not this is a good book, in my opinion it is a wonderful book. The language was easy to understand, it was powerful without being disrespectful, from this book I actually took a lot away about Southern American culture. I have lived in Georgia and Alabama, this summer I visited the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute and it was a huge eye opener. I think this book is very appropriate for schools and summed up everything I learnt about southern history and culture over the duration of the summer. Undeniably this book is a classic, I support this book being read in schools across the country and across the world. As canadians I feel we can be naive to these situations. 

As Ms Green first mentioned before we began the book, African-Americans appeared passive in this story. I don’t believe that there was much they could do, but I don’t think that they intentionally took a backseat to Caucasians. There is a very delicate social structure in the South, this book was set just after the Blacks were no longer along to be enslaved, so everybody was still very cautious about what they did and said. I think the portrayals of blacks and whites were very accurate. 

I saw this fountain at the Birmingham Institute of Civil Rights. This is just an example of segregation between black and whites that was apparent in Alabama around that time. At the exhibit, they play a movie, in the final scene there is this picture. Then they pull up the projector screen and they have this actual water fountain.  

A final Limerick summarizing the book… 

There once was a town called Maycomb, 
In the summer Scout and Jem’s roam,
And as they grew up,  
There was a mad pup,
Atticus shot it and hit home. 

In the beginning they were afraid of Boo, 
They thought rabbits and cats he chew,
He turned out to not be so bad,
As he carried Jem home to dad,
Tom Robinson was under judicial review. 

Jem lost sleep over Tom, 
Scout and Jem had no mom, 
There was a division,
That required revision, 
Miss Stephanie claimed Boo was a peeping tom.  

1) Examine the different perspectives on Tom Robinson’s guilt or innocence. How are these perspective a result of the culture of Maycomb/the American south? What perspectives are there?

From the trial we could derive that there was no factual evidence that convicted Tom Robinson of the rape and assault of Mayella Ewell. The only thing the prosecutors had to go off of was what Heck Tate, Mr. Bob Ewell, Miss Mayella Ewell and Tom Robinson told. 

Heck Tate, the sheriff of Maycomb, claimed that when he got to the house Mayella was on the ‘floor in the middle of the front room… She was pretty well beat up…” (To Kill A Mocking Bird, Page 223) Mr. Tate never saw Tom Robinson on the property or anywhere near the scene of the crime but he arrested him after Mayella Ewell identified him. 

Even though the Ewell’s are known to be riffraff, they are Caucasian. Many of the townspeople in Maycomb would always take a white person’s word over a black person’s word any day. Tom Robinson’s story is compelling, but a southern lady is known to be delicate not forceful as Tom Robinson made Mayella Ewell out to be. In the South, a white Southern Belle would never force herself on a black man, especially in the 1930s.

Tom Robinson’s family and friends see him as an innocent man. They could never see him lay hands on a woman. Scout mentions that he is just as polite as her father.   I believe that is why the jury did not believe Tom Robinson even though his plea could have been true. The jury had an extreme bias towards Tom Robinson before the trial or crime was committed, simply because of the colour of his skin.

This photo is of one object, but it is seen in two different ways. This picture reminds me of Tom Robinson. He is only one person, but two groups of people have two very different views of him. 

Question 1 - Discuss the social dynamics in Maycomb. How many classes does their appear to be? Who represents them? What kind of representations do these provide the reader? 

In Maycomb there are three apparent social classes that are introduced in the first part of the book. Although there are four classes, it is obvious that none of the classes have very much money as everyone was hurt greatly by The Great Depression.

The first (and highest) class would include the Finch’s, Miss Maudie Atkinson, Miss Stephanie. These are the people that live in town and as Scout noted, they are older. They are preferably government officials (like Heck Tate) or white collar workers (like Atticus).

The next class are the poor whites, which could arguably be subdivided into two groups (the honourable and the dishonourable). People like the Cunningham’s never take more then they can give back. Also, Little Chuck Little is also noted by Scout to be a gentleman. The Ewells on the other hand are a loss cause and no one in the town bothers to fight with them anymore. The Ewell’s hunt during off season and their children never attend school. The lower class white people own land. They can’t pay workers to tend their farms, so their children have to take off the spring and never pass in school, although the Ewell’s do not bother going to school. 

The final class are the African Americans. Although they were no longer slaves, the white people (like Mrs. Dubose) still did not regard the African Americans as people. Mrs. Dubose referred to Atticus as a “n word-lover” even though she had Jessie, a black maid and companion who took care of her until her death. In the first part of the book, there is not a lot known about the African Americans, but they do introduce two African American maids (Calpurnia and Jessie) and one man that Atticus is defending in court (Tom Robinson) but they don’t go into many details about their lives. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p5WIexiYeQg

(Sorry I could not figure out how to embed a video on Tumblr) 

This song is called The Beauty of Grey by Live.

The lyrics “The perception that divides you from him/Is a lie/For some reason you never asked why/This is not a black and white world/You can’t afford to believe in your side” represent the ignorance of some people in Maycomb and the racial divide and social divide between African Americans and Caucasians in the south. 

Question 3 - The Children are afraid of Boo but are also compelled to know him. Discuss their curiosity and courage as both a hallmark of youth and as character traits that promote learning and development. (Poetic Response) 

In the Radley house lived Boo,
His presence overdue, 
The children were afraid, 
They thought in the chimney he decayed, 
Miss Maudie gave her point of view. 

Dill, Scout and Jem grew curious, 
At times they made Atticus furious,
They played as the Radley’s, 
Which scared Scout badly,
The letter they wrote was perjurious. 

Their childish bravery and interest, 
Could leave Atticus distressed,
It defined the sunny days, 
They grew in many ways,
Their personalities lead their quests.