heart-of--darkness《黑暗的心》读书报告.pptxVIP

Reading Report of Heart of Darkness;Outline Plot Social background Character Style Symbolism Theme Reference;Based on Joseph Conrad’s own experience traveling up the Congo River into the African interior, Heart of Darkness follows the disturbing journey of English ivory-trading agent Marlow into the jungles of Africa in search of a mysterious man named Kurtz. ;Marlow, an Englishman, took a foreign assignment from a Belgian trading company as a ferry-boat captain in Africa, essentially along Congo river. Marlow’s duty: He is employed to transport ivory downriver. However, his more pressing assignment is to find out Kurtz.;Heart of Darkness exposes the myth behind colonization while exploring the three levels of darkness that the protagonist, Marlow, encounters— 1） the darkness of the Congo wilderness, 2）the darkness of the European’s cruel treatment of the natives， 3）the unfathomable darkness within every human being for committing brutal acts of evil. ;Marlow’s adventure takes place in the Congo Free State, an area that at the time was the personal property of Leopold II, king of the Belgians. In 1899, when Heart of Darkness first appeared, the grim conditions that actually prevailed there and the grotesquely inhumane treatment of the African natives were becoming widely enough known to create an international scandal. ;Marlow：The protagonist and main narrator of the story, he stumbles into Africa looking to sail a steamboat and rescuing Kurtz. Russian trader：Kurtz’s devoted companion, he is an idealistic explorer who has wandered to the Congo on a Dutch ship. He is so young that it is uncertain whether or not he fully understands what he is doing in Africa. He is more or less attracted to the glamor of adventure. ;Kurtz：He is in charge of the most productive ivory station in the Congo. Kurtz becomes the focus of Marlow’s journey into Africa. He is the unique victim of colonization; the wilderness captures him and he turns his back on the people and customs that