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 Aim- Sarah Cook

The purpose of Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness was to inform about this discoveries in the Congo. While in the Congo, Conrad discovered the horrible things that people were capable of. Conrad wanted the readers to realize that without moral boundaries, people have the ability to do many awful things. From “Miranda’s blog”, the author states, “People can become insensible monsters, killing innocent people without having a single second thought. Everyone is capable of evil” (Borrelli 1). Conrad wanted to get across that a human mind can change and begin to think in an immoral way if exposed to evil long enough. He wanted to show people that evil is out there. To get his point across, Conrad wrote from his personal experiences. He revealed the concept that people are able to change their morals which leads to evil behavior and atrocities.

Works Cited "Joseph Conrad's Purpose to Heart of Darkness." Miranda’s Blog. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 July 2014.

 Historical- Genesis Barron

The historical events affect the written text by turning it into a dark and horrid story about the exploration of colonies and the desire to spread around the world. Throughout the entire story of Joseph Conrad, he tells the story of how rough it was on the Africans when England went to invade their country. Leszek Berezowski states in one of her essays, “Joseph Conrad’s Heart Of Darkness invites us to reflect on and ask ourselves when does progress and expansion become rape” (The Shaman of Heart Of Darkness). In this book, it goes to show how rough the times were for the Africans. England invaded the Congo because of its natural sources, but not only that, but they abused the people of the Congo and turned them into slaves in their own home. The text of the story makes people visualize and picture how the lives of the Congo people had to suffer, even their hands ordered to be cut of if not working hard enough, or disobeyed. By adding all these visuals the story turns into a shocking yet depressing book about the everyday life in the Congo. With this time period in history, history transforms this book into a horrid story rather than being a tale about exploration.

Works Cited “The Shaman of Heart Of Darkness.” Leszek Berezowski. NYU Class Blogs. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 July 2014.

 Cultural- Alex Manville

In the book Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad, he shows how rough western colonialism was and how imperialism did not help the society. In one article it states that, “Heart of Darkness can certainly be read as an unflinching critique of Western colonialism and a disturbingly realistic exposé of its evils” (Agatucci). The story took place in Africa where slavery was common and the Africans were being treated horribly by the Europeans. Conrad showed the readers that people were getting hurt in Africa and how imperialism was affecting them. The Europeans believed that they were better than them and that is why they were allowed to treat them horribly. Conrad shows the readers that he believes what they are doing is wrong. He explains to the audience the poor conditions they are living in and puts a sort of image in the audiences head what was going on. The cultural events influenced Conrads relationship with the audience by sharing his feelings with them and showing them what was happening during that time.

Works Cited Agatucci, Cora. "Conrad's Heart of Darkness, Modernism, Short Story."Conrad's Heart of Darkness, Modernism, Short Story. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 July 2014.

 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Audience- Hannah Morse

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">The audience Joseph Conrad intended for his book Heart of Darkness included an older age group, as younger people may not be able to understand the darker themes presented in the novel. Heart of Darkness is a book about how imperialism affects the natives of countries that have fallen to it. In Heart of Darkness, the beginning of the book contains scenes of native people being enslaved and beaten. This is not suitable for younger age groups. According to Rutgers, “For many years, modern realistic fiction has been considered the most popular genre among young readers, perhaps because it was closer to the lives they know and, therefore, easier to read. If horror is overtaking realism in popularity, we certainly need to consider the causes for this change.” Younger people prefer realistic fiction that is more modern and that they can feel closer to. Although Heart of Darkness is not a modern book, young people at the time this book was written probably would not find it a very appealing book to read. It is also common sense to not expose children to themes of death and torture, which are found in this book. Overall, it can be seen that Heart of Darkness is a book meant for older audiences.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Works Cited <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">"VANDERGRIFT'S CHILDREN'S LITERATURE PAGE." Children's Literature. The State University of New Jersey, 2014. Web. 26 July 2014.