To One of the Most Confusing Books I've Read (Heart of Darkness)

There were quite a few archetypes in the novel, "Heart of Darkness." One was obviously water. I mean, HELLO! They're on and are surrounded by water throughout the whole novel for crying out loud. Anyways, water stood for many things one of which was spiritual mystery. This is backed up with the lines, "And indeed no thins is easier for a man who has, as the phrase goes, "followed the sea" with reverence and affection, than to evoke the great spirit of the past upon the lower reaches of the Thames." That one's pretty self explanatory. Next one would have to be the river described in colors: "Flames glided in the river, small green flames, red flames, white flames, pursuing, overtaking, joining, crossing each other-then separating slowly or hastily." The colors all symbolizes different things from hope, to sacrifice, to timelessness which ties in with rivers and its transitional phases of the life cycle. There is also mentioning of the sun setting which stands for death-a very big part of the novel. Marlow was to travel to the yellow which stood for enlightenment and wisdom. Both of which he obtained from Kurtz and his accounts of Africa and imperialism.

Alright on to "The Hero's Journey". For departure, there is a call to adventure when Marlow sets off to Africa. I believe that his supernatural aid was his aunt because without her he may not have gotten the job and was never able to venture out in the first place. The crossing of the first threshold appears when he reaches Africa and is exposed to its horrible conditions and treatment of the slaves. The novel does adheres to "The Hero's Journey", but it may not be as detailed for it is missing white a few steps. Overall though they can be considered similar to one another.

Remember That One Line? (Heart of Darkness)

"It was difficult to realize his work was not out there in the luminous estuary, but behind him, within brooding gloom" (4)

I chose this line because it talks about the Company which seems to be significant to me. It's basically stating that the Company's work is done in darkness and gloom instead of in the luminous estuary. For work to be done in the luminous estuary, this most nearly means that it is in glowing water and is visible to all others. This may suggest that their work may be somewhat shady or evil since it's in a sense hidden behind him. I feel as though this line is important to the novel because it may foreshadow something about the Company (most likely bad).

Besides, the title is "Heart of Darkness" .. How much good can there be?

A complex not yet love but lust story (Wide Sargasso Sea)

Antoinette and Rochester are now married. Just like in Jane Eyre, the marriage transaction of $30,000 is still valid. On the way to their honeymoon in Granbois they are caught in a rain shower and shelters under a mango tree. Sounds familiar (rain, tree, A&R)? As he begins to spend more time with his wife, he becomes lustful of her and her beauty. After touching the rose he comments on how beautiful things have short lives. I mention this because I feel as though it may be of importance for the latter half of the novel. This novel, yet again, continues to repeatedly have scenes that involve fire such as the candle on the table that burned a couple of insects to death while they ate. At one point Rochester begins to believe that everyone knew about Antoinette's family history of lunatics and that was he was tricked into marrying her. As with the fire, the Bible is also being brought up in connection to Daniel and Rochester still has his horse. He also starts calling her Bertha which is who we know her as in Jane Eyre.

I find Antoinette and Jane similar because they are both marginalized in society. Jane was rejected from the wealthy and the poor as Antoinette is rejected from the blacks and the English. I think it is now also safe to say that Mrs. Temple was to Jane Eyre as Christophine was to Antoinette. Let's not forget to mention that part 2 of this novel is told through Rochester's point of view. Rhys may have done this to balance out the novel by giving us perspective through both Antoinette and Rochester's eyes. This helps me, as a reader, to get a better understanding of the two and where they stand as far as the marriage is concerned. It seems as though when Antoinette begins sharing with Rochester her life story, signs of a mental illness becomes a bit visible (her laughing).

This one's about Bertha with AIDS (Wide Sargasso Sea)

This novel gives us a perspective of Bertha, better known as Antoinette, that we did not see in Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre. She is not the same crazy women that is locked up in Mr. Rochester's attic. Compared to her mother, Annette, and brother, Pierce, she appeared to be the sane one in the family. Now isn't that crazy??

I believe I found a few connections between this novel and Jane Eyre. The most obvious one was the presence of fire. It was one of the most important symbols in Jane Eyre and houses were set on fire there too. To have the same event happen so early in the text, I think it may be important to this novel as well. Of course there was also the introduction of Mr. Mason and his family to that of Antoinette's. On a deeper level of interpretation Antoinette, like Jane Eyre, was in a sense rejected by her family and grew up as an outsider to the society around her. There is also a garden in this novel similar to the one in Jane Eyre. Hey, you never know if it may be relevant or not!! Anyways, she has a nightmare I believe twice so far in part one of the novel. Its pretty weird and strangely eerie as well. Maybe this will be important in the latter part of the novel? Who knows. But her mother really lost her mind when the fire killed her beloved son. Now I wonder what may Antoinette lose her mind. Oh and about the whole money thing when Tia stole her dress/pennies, it goes to show you how evil money can be. Both Tia and Mrs. Reed were greedy, money-hungry people who used Antoinette and Jane for their money. I think social status/class plays a bit part in both of the novels too. In Jane Eyre it was more of the rich versus the poor while it is more of the blacks versus the whites in this novel.

Yeah, I think that's about it so far. Its been awhile .. I'm a bit rusty, but hey! Here's my blog for you :)