An analysis of the Heart of Darkness and Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland Essay Example for Free

An analysis of the sum of m iodiney of shadower and Alices Adventures in Wonderland EssayThe Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad and Alices Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll tell a journey into a knowledge domain which is a conflicting reflection of the protagonists real world. As the protagonists travel to new bottoms, they are some(prenominal) presented with clashing views on prevailing themes in their lives. In the case of Marlow in the Heart of Darkness, he is go about with opposing ideas on the most vital components in imperialism trade and slavery. As for Alice in Wonderland, the young girl is confronted with the ch totallyenge to accept the conflicting basis of due date following both rational and irrational complexities in the society. In both of the novels, the consanguinity between the two worlds were portrayed as the struggles which people had to face in order to formulate their own personal ideologies based on their varying views presented by the socie ty. Moreover, alienation (or the fact that each of the protagonists had to handle their struggles alone) was promoted as a necessity step towards the full appreciation of ones social construction of reality. Clashing views on imperialism Moral Responsibility vs. Pure SuppressionIn the Heart of Darkness, contrasting views of imperialism and slavery are challenged. Marlow, the protagonist of the story, comes from a world where the enslavement of the Afri force outs is considered as essential and customary pieces of the colonial enterprise. The men who were working for the Company upon which Marlow is besides a plane section of treats the blacks in an perverse, cruel, and often viciously violent manner. However, this harsh treatment is find outmingly excus adequate as Marlows world regards the slaves as uncivilized.Thus, the fulfil of slavery is non seen as it is. Rather, it is often deemed as a vital part of the benevolent project of civilizing the natives. As such, prior to his journey upriver to see the fabled Kurtz, Marlow maintains his role of masking the slavery and violence by the socially accepted idea that the subjugation is based on legitimate backgrounds of moral responsibility. As Marlow meets Kurtz however, Marlows idea of the glamour of subjugation and imperialism evolves into a struggle of morals.As he survives the river, meets the natives, and finally encounters the man that is reputed to be honorable and upright, his moral beliefs shatter. Technically, he is not faced with a world thats entirely different from where he came from. Instead, what Marlow encounters is a setting where there is a whole new definition of subjugation and trade the main activities upon which he was engaged in. Basically, Kurtz was not the man Marlow and other people envisioned him to be.In conflict with the prevailing social definition of conquest for the Company, Kurtz saw the truth in imperialism. The presumed praiseworthy man was in fact a tyrant among the na tives. He realized the fact that he was not occupation but rather forcing the natives to find ivory for him. Moreover, Kurtz was open to the idea that he was in no positive manner civilizing the natives. Rather, he was suppressing them, controlling them through determent and extreme brutality, and using them to his advantage, and the Companys benefit.As a result, Marlows encounter with Kurtz only served as a perplexing experience where he had to promontory what the real purpose was behind acts of conquest and slavery Are his actions just a tool for injustice and intimidation? Is there really no justifiable cause for intimidating the natives? To a certain degree, Marlows experience with the other world puts him in a crisis of whether he should continue believing that his worlds obviously unjust practices had a good and tolerable cause or not. Growing up Tolerating the illogical and irrationalIn the story Alices Adventures in Wonderland, conflicting views of maturity and growin g up is presented. On one hand, the real world equates maturity as the state where logic and rationality is used in reasoning, interpreting, and in maintaining harmony in the society. In contrast however, the young Alice equates adulthood as to what she sees in Wonderland a place where silly and illogical regulations are created on the basis of egoistic goals and ambitions, propelled by bad habits and wrong ideals that people resultingly developed throughout the course of history.In Wonderland, Alice faces a new world one wherein the ways of reasoning are every much in contrast of hers. To a certain sense, her new world is similar to the real world of adults because both are comprised of rules which are, most of the time, very confusing. A typical example is the character of the Duchess who always tries to find a moral in almost every topic that is misadventure around her. In the real world, adults are akin to the Duchess as they always try to live by the social norms which the y created from their own interpretation of their society. some other complex idea is the tolerance of the senseless orders of beheading given by the Queen of Hearts. Such scenario can be equated to the devastating wars often prompted by political leaders who are supposed to propagate world peace and progress. Also in Wonderland, trials seem to be very irrational and unjust in the comparable way, justice is as confusing in the real world where fairness and integrity are supposedly practiced and promoted. As Alice struggles to understand the complexity of what is happening in Wonderland, she challenges her own idea of what is rational and supposedly mature.Confronted with whats hypothetically mature, Alice gradually evolves into a mature person who is able to formulate reasonable and logical interpretations of history and her present experiences. While Alice is confronted with odd events and curious beings in Wonderland, she tries to formulate reasons based on her social interaction s with the creature and adjusts to the demands of the magical world. done the interpretations that Alice forms from wonderland, she fulfills what is expected from a mature individual the ability to tolerate the complexities of life.As she forms a basis of reasoning and logic, she then forms her own subjective norms which are, to a certain extent, still trammel within the prevalent ideas in Wonderland. These norms allow her to define her identity and at the same time, give her the chance to adjust and adapt to the situations that she faces in a place where everyone is mad. Through her adventures, Alice ultimately grows up and matures. CONCLUSIONS Two worlds as struggles towards the formulation personal idealsIn both of the novels, two opposing worlds were used as bases that will allow the main character to formulate his/her own personal ideologies and interpretations of prevailing themes in their lives. In the case of Marlow, the clash between the two worlds or rather their defin itions gave him a chance to weigh his morals not merely on the more popular and conforming idea that African enslavement was natural and acceptable. Through his confrontation with Kurtz, he became enlightened.The experience somehow liberated him from his blind adherence to the society and showed him the real circumstances of his actions and that of his society. As for Alice, the conflict between the real world and Wonderland also gave her the chance to construct an understanding of maturity. From a childs point of view of adulthood as something incoherent, illogical, egoistic, and irrational, Alice was able to realize that such complexities were part of real life and that tolerance to what is seemingly unreasonable must be achieved in order to be capable of surviving and adjusting to the different scenarios of living.As such, it can be noted that the incompatible apprisalships between the two worlds in each of the novels were presented as personal struggles towards the achievement of personal ideals formulated from varying views and interpretations that were present in the society. Alienation, an essential process for the social construction of reality It can be noted that both protagonists in the stories had to face alienation in the new worlds that they had to impinge on part of. The fact that each of the protagonists had to handle their struggles alone promoted the theme of personal conflict in the novels.Furthermore, this alienation heightened the level of conflict which existed in the clashing relationship between the two worlds that the characters had to take part of. In the case of Alice, she had to face different situations with different characters and different modes of reasoning all on her. Through this loneliness, she was able to fully grasp the idea that maturity is complex and that life itself was full of complexities and madness. This realization led her to construct her own set of interpretations, definitions, and realities which paved her w ay towards maturity.Marlow, on the other hand, became alienated as he became exposed to a world where slavery among Africans was regarded as what it really is a mere act of unmercifulness for the benefit of the White people. He was alienated in the sense that he formerly had a different more consoling view of the trade that he was participating in. However, through this alienation, Marlow then achieved a more careful analysis of his societys actions. By being exposed to the new world all on his own, he was given the chance to liberate himself from the beliefs that he was encompassed within.In general, both of the characters endured alienation as an essential component which emphasized the conflicting relation of the worlds that they were exposed to. This alienation prompted them to think beyond what they were used to and such allowed them to construct their social reality based on conventional and unconventional truths. References Caroll, Lewis (n. d. ) Alice in Wonderland. Retri eved from Bedtime fabrication Classics (Accessed 06 Apr 2009 from http//www. the-office. com/bedtime-story/classics-alice-1. htm) Conrad, Joseph (n. d.) Heart of Darkness. Retrieved from Project Gutenberg Website (Accessed 06 Apr 2009 from http//www. gutenberg. org/etext/526) Maatta, Jerry (1997) An Analysis of Alices Adventures in Wonderland. (Accessed 06 Apr 2009 from http//www. alice-in-wonderland. net/explain/alice841. html) __________ (n. d. ) Themes and Motives in Alice in Wonderland. (Accessed 06 Apr 2009 from http//www. alice-in-wonderland. net/school/themes. html) __________ (n. d. ) eNotes on Heart of Darkness Themes. (Accessed 06 Apr 2009 from http//www. enotes. com/ unfairness/themes)