RUDYARD KIPLING (30 December 1865 – 18 January 1936) was an English journalist, short-story writer, poet, and novelist.
Kipling's works of fiction include The Jungle Book (1894), Kim (1901), and many short stories, including "The Man Who Would Be King" (1888).His poems include "Mandalay" (1890), "Gunga Din" (1890), "The Gods of the Copybook Headings" (1919), "The White Man's Burden" (1899), and "If—" (1910). He is regarded as a major innovator in the art of the short story; his children's books are classics of children's literature, and one critic described his work as exhibiting "a versatile and luminous narrative gift».
The Jungle Book Summary
In The Jungle Book, a young boy named Mowgli becomes a member of the Seeonee Wolf Pack. A cruel tiger named Shere Khan plots against Mowgli and the leader of his pack, Akela. When Mowgli grows up, he realizes that he must rejoin the ranks of men.
Mowgli strays from his village one day. After being attacked by Shere Khan, he's saved by Father Wolf, who asks Akela, the leader of the wolves, to accept Mowgli as a member of the pack.
Mowgli briefly returns to the world of men, but leaves after he learns that Shere Khan has been plotting against Akela. He defeats the tiger, but knows that someday he will rejoin the man-pack.
A python named Kaa takes Mowgli down to the Cold Lairs, where he steals an ankus. He discards the ankus, fearing its deadly curse. This results in the death of six men. After this incident, Mowgli becomes unhappy and gradually drifts toward the world of men.
JOSEPH CONRAD - Biography
Joseph Conrad is considered one of the best English novelists (not to mention one of the most famous), but he did not actually learn to speak English until he was twenty-one. Conrad was born in Poland and orphaned at the age of eleven. He joined the French merchant navy at sixteen and spent much of his early years on the high seas. At many points in his life, he became involved in illegal activities (such as gunrunning) and was often embroiled in political intrigue. His many adventures led him to write novels such as Lord Jim, Nostromo, and his most celebrated book, Heart of Darkness. In almost all of his work, he explored loneliness, despair, and self-loathing—themes that ran through much of his own life.
Facts and Trivia
The Francis Ford Coppola film Apocalypse Now was inspired by and loosely based on Conrad’s Heart of Darkness.
In 1923, Conrad was offered a British knighthood, but he declined it.
Despite being an atheist throughout most of his life, he accepted last rites and was buried as a Roman Catholic.
Although he spent most of his life in England and was fluent in English, Conrad always spoke with a heavy accent.
In a 1975 essay, Chinua Achebe called Conrad a “thoroughgoing racist,” mostly due to his depiction of black Africans in Heart of Darkness. Since then, there has been an ongoing debate as to whether Conrad was racist or whether twentieth-century scholars have ignored the historical context of his work.
HEART OF DARKNESS (By Joseph Conrad)- PLOT SUMMARY
Heart of Darkness centers around Marlow, an introspective sailor, and his journey up the Congo River to meet Kurtz, reputed to be an idealistic man of great abilities. Marlow takes a job as a riverboat captain with the Company, a Belgian concern organized to trade in the Congo. As he travels to Africa and then up the Congo, Marlow encounters widespread inefficiency and brutality in the Company’s stations. The native inhabitants of the region have been forced into the Company’s service, and they suffer terribly from overwork and ill treatment at the hands of the Company’s agents. The cruelty and squalor of imperial enterprise contrasts sharply with the impassive and majestic jungle that surrounds the white man’s settlements, making them appear to be tiny islands amidst a vast darkness.
Marlow arrives at the Central Station, run by the general manager, an unwholesome, conspiratorial character. He finds that his steamship has been sunk and spends several months waiting for parts to repair it. His interest in Kurtz grows during this period. The manager and his favorite, the brickmaker, seem to fear Kurtz as a threat to their position. Kurtz is rumored to be ill, making the delays in repairing the ship all the more costly. Marlow eventually gets the parts he needs to repair his ship, and he and the manager set out with a few agents (whom Marlow calls pilgrims because of their strange habit of carrying long, wooden staves wherever they go) and a crew of cannibals on a long, difficult voyage up the river. The dense jungle and the oppressive silence make everyone aboard a little jumpy, and the occasional glimpse of a native village or the sound of drums works the pilgrims into a frenzy.
Marlow and his crew come across a hut with stacked firewood, together with a note saying that the wood is for them but that they should approach cautiously. Shortly after the steamer has taken on the firewood, it is surrounded by a dense fog. When the fog clears, the ship is attacked by an unseen band of natives, who fire arrows from the safety of the forest. The African helmsman is killed before Marlow frightens the natives away with the ship’s steam whistle. Not long after, Marlow and his companions arrive at Kurtz’s Inner Station, expecting to find him dead, but a half-crazed Russian trader, who meets them as they come ashore, assures them that everything is fine and informs them that he is the one who left the wood. The Russian claims that Kurtz has enlarged his mind and cannot be subjected to the same moral judgments as normal people. Apparently, Kurtz has established himself as a god with the natives and has gone on brutal raids in the surrounding territory in search of ivory. The collection of severed heads adorning the fence posts around the station attests to his “methods.” The pilgrims bring Kurtz out of the station-house on a stretcher, and a large group of native warriors pours out of the forest and surrounds them. Kurtz speaks to them, and the natives disappear into the woods.
The manager brings Kurtz, who is quite ill, aboard the steamer. A beautiful native woman, apparently Kurtz’s mistress, appears on the shore and stares out at the ship. The Russian implies that she is somehow involved with Kurtz and has caused trouble before through her influence over him. The Russian reveals to Marlow, after swearing him to secrecy, that Kurtz had ordered the attack on the steamer to make them believe he was dead in order that they might turn back and leave him to his plans. The Russian then leaves by canoe, fearing the displeasure of the manager. Kurtz disappears in the night, and Marlow goes out in search of him, finding him crawling on all fours toward the native camp. Marlow stops him and convinces him to return to the ship. They set off down the river the next morning, but Kurtz’s health is failing fast.
Marlow listens to Kurtz talk while he pilots the ship, and Kurtz entrusts Marlow with a packet of personal documents, including an eloquent pamphlet on civilizing the savages which ends with a scrawled message that says, “Exterminate all the brutes!” The steamer breaks down, and they have to stop for repairs. Kurtz dies, uttering his last words—“The horror! The horror!”—in the presence of the confused Marlow. Marlow falls ill soon after and barely survives. Eventually he returns to Europe and goes to see Kurtz’s Intended (his fiancée). She is still in mourning, even though it has been over a year since Kurtz’s death, and she praises him as a paragon of virtue and achievement. She asks what his last words were, but Marlow cannot bring himself to shatter her illusions with the truth. Instead, he tells her that Kurtz’s last word was her name.
WHAT IS «THE HORROR» in HEART OF DARKNESS?
‘The horror! The horror!’
Origin
This phrase is found in Joseph Conrad’s “Heart of Darkness.” This is the final judgment of Kurtz on his own life, actions and generally on humankind and imperialism, when in part third of the story he says, The horror! The horror!” Through this line, Kurtz also points out his fate that looks profoundly affected by the events he faces during his escapade to Congo.
Meaning
Many critics have raised questions about the interpretation of this phrase. Generally, it implies the horror Kurtz witnesses in Africa, the horror could be the exploitation of Africa, evil practices of humans, his crumbling sanity, an illusion of understanding and hope, etc. Simply, it conveys what West did under colonization in the name of progress and under the guise of civilizing the natives. Darkness prevails, when he dies. It symbolizes his actions were evil. Thus, it is Kurtz’s realization about bitter and absolute truth of his life.
Usage
The use of this phrase is not common in everyday life. However, you may find it in literary texts and movies. You would notice, wherever this line appears, it conveys the meanings of threat, evil deeds, fear of evil actions, pointing alarming situation, as if someone or something catches fire, foreign invades come or a war breaks out etc.
Source of Origin
Kurtz speaks this line as his final words in Conrad’s novella “Heart of Darkness.” Marlowe describes how he utters the final words;
“Anything approaching the change that came over his features I have never seen before, and hope never to see again. He cried in a whisper at some image, at some vision—he cried out twice, a cry that was no more than a breath: “‘The horror! The horror!”
(Part III, Page 12)
During his time spent in Africa, Kurtz becomes corrupt and writes the words “Exterminate all the brutes!” Here he refers to his own and his comrade’s brutality in Africa which was carried out in the name of progress and civilization. He induced native Africans to worship and adore him, set up rituals worthy of a brute or a tyrant. Therefore, by the end Kurtz reflects on his life, which is basically flashing before his eyes in the last moment and let the readers think about the meanings of “the horror.”
Literary Analysis
The narrative comes to an end, when we find Marlowe and Kurtz moving back to England, meaning returning to the “civilization” from Africa. Kurtz is not stable mentally and physically, while he is also slowly falling to death on his boat. There he realizes he is near death, utters this phrase as his last words which carry deep meanings. In fact, he refers to all things witnessed and done throughout his stay in Congo. It tells us the experiences, and brutality of Europeans that Marlowe has seen through his eyes. It also sums the experiences and deep-rooted evils in the hearts of civilized people. Their hostility makes them blind to their surroundings. In addition, the ultimate downfall of Kurtz was due to his own evil actions during his years spent in Congo for the European Company.
Literary Devices
Symbolism: Phrase symbolizes the frightening reaction and fearful utterance after witnessing evil acts.
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