Transcript Psychology in Heart of Darkness By: Molly Shepley and

Psychological Symbolism in
Heart of Darkness
By: Molly Shepley and Molly Pantaleoni
Knowing your own darkness is the
best method for dealing with the
darknesses of other people.
-Carl Gustav Jung
Jungian Archetypes
• The Anima- inner opposites
• The Shadow- the personification of that part
of human, psychic possibility that we deny
in ourselves and project onto others
Jung Archetypes in Heart of Darkness
• Kurtz himself (the Anima)- “His intelligence
was perfectly clear, concentrated…But his
soul was mad…I saw the inconceivable
mystery of a soul that knew no restraint, no
faith, and no fear, yet struggled blindly with
itself…(65-66)”
Site pages: 22, 30, 59, 61, 69, 71,
• Kurtz (Marlow’s Shadow)- “I did not betray
Mr. Kurtz- it was ordered I should never
betray him- it was written I should be loyal
to the nightmare of my choice. I was
anxious to deal with this shadow by myself
alone…(64)”
Site pages: 2 from p.65, 72
“From the same root that produces wild, untamed, blind instinct their
grows up the natural laws and cultural forms that tame and break its
pristine power. But when the animal in us is split off from
consciousness by being repressed, it may easily burst out in full force,
quite unregulated and uncontrolled. An outburst of this sort always
ends in catastrophe- the animal destroys itself.
~Richard Hughs excerpt from Colleen Burke essay
Freud and Heart of Darkness
Id, Ego, Superego
Levels of Consciousness1.
Anything that is thought perceived or
understood is in the conscious level.
2.
Below this level, memories and thoughts which
threaten to break into the conscious level is the
preconscious level.
3.
The unconscious- the wishes, urges, memories,
and thoughts that represent an individual’s
personal experience. Impulses that threaten to
destabilize if they break.
Freud Explained
• The ID- the impulse, the pleasure principle,
the primitive motivational force
• The EGO- balancing act (services and calms
the ID), the individual becomes a self
instead of needs and wants
• The SUPEREGO- authority, guilt, pride (if
acceptable to SUPEREGO), pushes for right
and wrong and ideals
Freudian Psychology in Heart of Darkness
• “No. Still, I was curious to see whether this
man, who had come out equipped with moral
ideas of some sort, would climb to the top after
all…(37)”
• “The inner truth is hidden- luckily, luckily
(42).”
• “The man presented himself as a voice (58).”
Site pages: 27, 43, 2 on p. 44
THIS IS THE HEART OF DARKNESS
“It had ceased to be a blank
space of delightful mystery- a
white patch for a boy to dream
gloriously over. It had
become a place of darkness
(12).”