Hi Scholars!
Welcome back to our class blog. Please create a thoughtful post that addresses the following series of questions.
Some critics believe that in Heart of Darkness Conrad illustrates how “the darkness of the landscape can lead to the darkness of social corruption.” What does this statement mean? How can one’s environment affect one’s actions, feelings, and morals? Is this statement believable or not? Have you ever experienced a change in yourself that resulted from a change in your environment? What kind of change was it?
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13 comments:
The darkness of the physical setting is said to imply social corruption... Well, I guess that would mean that Conrad manipulated the setting in order to convey the development of social corruption. In a dark place, it is difficult for most to feel very positive, thus explaining why darkness is associated with negativity. Because it is difficult to find the good (positive) in a dark (negative) place (whether physically or not), it only really leads to more darkness, thus validating the given statement.
I definitely believe that environment influences my feelings and actions. Sometimes, when I am angry, I go somewhere dark because I know it will foster my anger (which, when I am angry, is what I want, apparently). The dark just generally makes me feel kind of morose and glooomy whereas light makes me feel more upbeat and alive. There are always exceptions to this, but for the purpose of validating the statement and Conrad's use of darkness to convey social corruption, I do believe that one's environment can influence a person.
If we refur to Reading Lit like Professor, darkness does indeed signify negativity. If I pictured a crazy killer chasing someone, it definitly would not be in a meadow of sunshine and flowers surrounded by earth's diverse children holding hands. It would be in a DARK ally away from public eye. Especially in literature, the setting plays a great role to match the current situation in a story. In turn, the setting will lead to influencing character's actions with each other and their environment. In Heart of Darkness, you can already tell from the setting that Marlow's story will show the true corruption in the Congo. From what we read so far we can see that it's more than just the sun that can kill a man.
now, to answer the question, I think that hte statement is true because like darkness, corruption is everywhere. If you search in a dark area you will continue to just find more darkness. I beleive that Conrad focuses on setting in order to show the corruption. The contrast of light and dark things will raise a flag for me while reading the novel.
I agree with Marice when she says that dark areas are more morose than lighter areas. Of course I'm not as emo as her (just joking, dont hurt me) and try to look for places that are dark when I'm feeling down. But I don't think it's just because the scenery is dark. I think the fact that a person is isolated from the world makes something much more gloomy. IF I wanted to be emo, I would much rather prevent myself from being mobbed in the dark and go to a place that puts me away from the world. Solitude is the ultimate to be lonely. Either way, the solitude in darkness does indeed affect people. In fact any environment will affect a person's attitude and actions. More on that later, i think I wrote too much lol
I had the same initial reaction as both of the people who posted before me. Darkness is generally used as the kind of environment that spawns negativity. And why wouldn't a dark environment encourage dark behavior when bad environments encourage bad behavior? We all know how difficult it is to be good when everyone else around you is bad. You wonder what gives them the right to break the rules when you cannot, and eventually you reach the end of your rope, cave in, and possibly become bad yourself. [As it is in human nature to want to fit in with yoru surroundings.]
What causes people to have a fear of the dark is that feeling that something unknown exists within it. Social corruption is all about having dark secrets hidden from the outside world, so it makes sense that social corruption would exist in a dark environment such as the one Conrad describes.
I find it humorous that Marcie (or Marice according to Darwin :] ) mentioned how her environment affects her emotions because I went through that just today. My grandmother's house is generally very, very warm; it just doesn't breathe well. And today was a fairly warm day; warm would have been all right if there had been any WIND, but there wasn't! So I was in a bad mood until I moved myself into a cooler environment. Therefore I could see how someone could get caught up in social corruption when they are consistently surrounded by it.
I also do not like being around people who are exceptionally moody (for no reason) because I always end up feeling like a martyr for putting up with them. This kind of attitude does not exactly improve my character though.
Environment most definately affects a person's actions and feelings. Doesn't it seem that on gloomy and rainy days that people move much slower, and that there are fewer smiles as compared to a sunny and warm day??
Light and dark heavily influence people's moods and actions. My room is dark because much of the sun light is kept out by my curtains, so when ever i'm in my room i feel calm and some times sleepy. At other times when i'm extremely mad i'll lock myself in my room because the darkness fuels my anger.
Environment not only implies the physical surroundings, but also the people that exist there as well. I've been in situations where my mood and attitude completely changed because of the people that i was surrounded by. When you're surrounded by positive people, its hard not to be optimistic, and the opposite goes with being around negative people. From these experiences i've learned to try to always surround myself with people with good morals, who have positive attitudes becuase i find that it makes me a better person. I'm not sure that was even on topic, but i thought i'd bring it up becuase its something i was thinking about while reading the prompt =]
Physical setting: The most obvious thing to me is environment as in urban, country and city. I don't believe that the environment changes a person, but rather brings out what has been inhibited in a person. A person in the country would be confined to corn fields and cows, but placed in a more city environment would open up broader opportunities for the person to express himself. I think it's partially due to the array of opportunities available.
Another factor would be the social aspect of the environment. A person's actions can be heavily influenced by another's and another's until the whole society is uniform in attitude.
Example: Boy from Nebraska goes to NYC and is introduced to alcohol and partying. Although he experiments (due to curiousity) it does not become habitual until he makes friends for whom alcohol and partying is a norm.
Am I even touching the subject matter? If not, here's another example that hopefully heads in the right direction.
Example 2 (stereotype alert!): Compton, Harlem and the Bronx have not so great reputations. They are considered "slums" and ganglands. These areas house low income families where living is tough and the only way to survive is to join gang a gang for protection and sell drugs for money. If a child is raised in this type of environment, he will turn out to be exactly the type of person with morals the environment fosters. If that child were born in New Canaan, Connecticut he would most likely be an upstanding socialite instead of a gangmember/drug dealer.
Now to realign myself to the posts before mine, I think should an artist paint a scene of Harlem, it would be with dark colors opposed to Oregon which would be with bright colors(depends). Shades reflect the general feeling of things, places and people. Dark and gloomy and bright and happy. Bright room filtered with sunshine opposed to sinister dark basement.
I think that one's environment would undoubtedly affect that person as a whole. It would only make sense to then apply this statement to Conrad's message of social corruption. Metaphorically speaking, if one's landscape or surroundings is dark, evil, or bad then that person would be negatively affected by it causing such an influence that leads to corruption.
I then beleive that environment must include your surroundings. Not so much the shallow things like sunny or dark, but rather the people, the actions, and the occurreces that are all around you. We may see africans as evil for treating their woman like cattle, but the fact is according to ther morale, it is acceptable, two different environments, two different sets of morals.
The best example for me is definately when i moved to Hawaii. At first i felt like an outcast and was teased, but once i settled in and actually started to indulge myself in my surroundings i began to realize how culturally enriched Hawaii is. Because of this and growing up with it throughout my teenage years, i beleive i myself became mcuh more aware and even am more culturalized, which makes me more open minded.
Thus, environment does make a person who they are in most cases and will cause a difference in morals from place to place, creating the vast diversity in culture, morals, and feelings we get throughout the world today.
Places that have longer hours of night and darkness have larger suicide rates than those that don't. I definitely agree that the darkness of an environment can lead to the darkness or corruption in a society, person, or culture.
A personal example would be when I went to Japan and everyone was so much more courteous and hard-working (whiter too). It was happy, and it was really such an amazing experience to see the difference in american culture and japanese culture. When i came back, i wanted to work hard in the same way. I wanted to be more like them, and in a small way I am more like them just because I went there.
Cultures are very different from each other depending on location, however cultures also are similar in nearby locations. This may be a factor that points to how the environment affects expectations and culture/morals. Things that are considered immoral and uncivilized may not be the same somewhere else because of limitations the environment provides, or influences on the society due to environment.
Well literally speaking, I do believe that the actual darkness of one's surroundings affects their attitude and definately ther feelings (which would lead to their actions as well). I know that when the power goes out at night in my house, I feel an immediate attitude change from easygoing into anxiety. I get uncomfortable with the dark, as do most people I know. I think it is the fact that we don't know exactly what is in the dark.
As far as leading to social corruption, I thin the statement itself is speaking matephorically. When the attitudes of a people are down, such as a wide-spread depression, or panic, or confusion, or especially hopelessness, it will likely lead to times of social corruption. Certain individuals or groups might take advantage of the situation and twist society's needs to fit their own agenda.
In response to something Eric said (and others as well I think) when he mentioned that it is important to consider the culture being spoken of in regards to a society being corrupt. I didn't think of it in those terms, I just based it off of my own interpretations of corrupt. He makes a good point that what may be societally wrong to me might be ok in other areas. Tying this back to the prompt, the darkness of an environment may have a negative impact on people in the environment, but it may be the norm for those people. So in all, it puts a very different perspective on whether or not I agree with the given statement.
I never took the time to think of this topic on a shallow level, and i do think that this is important to do. As regards to what sarah the judo master said, i do agree that little things like sunlight, rain, or shaded can definately create a mood for you. I love the rain and get irritated by the heat; thus, it seems very plausible to me to say that environment in terms of small things affect the way we act.
Okay, I think that this post will go through now. Sorry for the delay.
I believe that with a certain amount of time (depending on the person) anyone can feel the impacts of their environment. Some may be more tolerant than others and others may be very accustomed to assimilating into their environment. Environment is important in any situation such as novel senarios, the teaching of a child, and political influence.
Humans are a very adaptive species. I believe this is why most people consider themselves the top of the evolutionary chain, or whatever it is that they are judging with. We have survived all of these years because we have adapted. To be completely ignorant of one's environment is to be ignorant of the world itself. Everything is interconnected and people need the environment like the environment needs it. This can be in nature or in situations in reference to businesses, organizations, etc. Humans do not develope well (as in fast and efficiently)when they are isolated.
A change I deal with all of the time is when I am with, or talking to, my friends. When I am in the JROTC environment I will sometimes use military terms and try to execute everything with a certain strackness because there I am to be a role model. When I am with "the scholars" I talk more along philosophical lines and about things that challenge the mind. I don't neccessarily change whenever I am with a different group of people, I adapt. If that required change then I welcome it. I see this all as a process of growth.
In response to others: I think we all are basically thinking the same thoughts. For once, almost all of us agree on every point brought up talking about one topic.
Darkness can be considered in a myriad of ways. One way to interpret is as a source of blindness, i.e. with darkness there is no light, thusly no sight. The second way to interpret darkness is more traditional, something that is hidden in the dark is mysterious, dangerous, and evil. The first reference to darkness can imply how one 's environment can blind them which causes them to lose their senses, be thrown into a state of confusion. In that state they can be influenced or even just desire corrupt actions.
One's environment definitely has an effect on one's being and state of mind. In the most basic of examples, when one is in the scorching valleys of Texas they are more irritable due to the heat and are more likely to snap and lash out at anything that aggravates them, despite it being completely out of their nature to do so. Contrarily, if that same person found themselves in the cool cliffs of Colorado, they will be more demure, relaxed, and mellow because of the pleasantness of the surrounding.
Mindset reacting to the environment can manifest without their being a physical change within the person. A simple example would be when one attends a sporting event. Imagine a person who never speaks out of turn, in fact when they do speak you can barely hear them. Then take that person and put them at a sporting event that they enjoy. The adrenaline of the crowd will encourage that person to do something they would not normally do, cheer and yell for their team.
One's surroundings definitely influences their mental state. Without going too much into specifics on my own experiences, I can confidently say that people need other people. It matters little whether or not they get along, but social interaction is a necessity of life. When I'm alone the depression I feel is permeable, but when I'm with other people, it's there but not noticeable. :) All jokes aside I feel more comfortable with family and friends that being left alone with my thoughts.
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