Examine the Significance of Blank Spaces in Conrads...

True, by this time it was not a blank space any more Â… it had become a place of darkness. (Heart of Darkness) Examine the significance of ‘blank spaces in THREE novels of the 19th and/or early 20th centuries. The ellipsis in the titular quote refers to an important omission: it [the blank space] had got filled since my boyhood with rivers and lakes and names. It had ceased to be a blank space of delightful mystery Ââ€" a white patch for a boy to dream gloriously over.1 Conrads Marlow highlights the major significance of the ‘blank space at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries here - that of ignorance, but a challenging ignorance; a temptation to the empirical enthusiasts of the Victorian era and beyond. In this essay, the†¦show more content†¦And I resolved that should I see indications which appeared to confirm my impression that I had indeed come upon the missing tribes, I would certainly convert them.18 At the end of the book, however, his motives for returning have changed somewhat: I have no doubtÂ…that we could fill our vessel with emigrants in three or four journeysÂ…We should then proceed to Greenland, and dispose of our engagement with the Erewhonians to the sugar-growers of that settlement, who are in great want of labourÂ…19 In the same way, by Lord Johns discovery of diamonds in the prehistoric plateau of The Lost World20, it is hard to see how any subsequent expedition could be anything but exploitative. This theme of exploitation and using blank spaces and their un-Westernised inhabitants for mercenary, territorial gain is one that also permeates throughout Heart of Darkness; ivory trading becomes the foundation on which the supposed exploration and civilising of the Africans is based: The word ivory rang in the air, was whispered, was sighed. You would think they were praying to it.21 The fact that many regions of Africa and South America were left unexplored and unmarked by Western civilisation in the mid-1800s has a great connection to the ferocity and imperviousness of the naturalShow MoreRelated Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness Through a Freudian Lens1194 Words   |  5 Pagesreaders are left to themselves to interpret literature. This can become challenging with more difficult texts, such as Joseph Conrad’s novella Heart of Darkness. 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