Exodus from Darkness: From Heart of Darkness to Where?
... idea of this journey resonates in men from generation to generation, as it is a quest for answers. Conrad’s dark Africa transcends today to the dark universe which modern physicists, of which the likes of Einstein and Hawking, have only briefly almost in the form of a nutshell been able to explain . Had Conrad enjoyed the wonders of Modern Science perhaps his philosophical narrative might have taken place as Gene Roddenberry’s (1921-91) did. Defining the whereabouts of a Heart of Darkness required only a sound geographic mind. In the late 19th century South America, the polar caps, the Yukon, and Africa were places sparsely mapped. The heart of any of these places, like the Congo region, fits the bill for a “dark” destination. If a place like the Congo invoked dark feelings in Conrad, why shouldn’t the idea of a home represent the antithesis of darkness, light. The cliché “home is where the heart is” engenders a feeling of journey and realization. The journey to leave home, go into darkness, and then return, if one should choose, back to light, is one a great many embark on. Conrad, a self-advocated seamen, lived at sea for an extended duration of his life; the question however is: Was he in dark seclusion, or in a tranquil home state? In his author’s notes, Conrad describes the metaphysical aspect of darkness like a desert(10). He recounted that after traveling into darkness the spoils he returned with were merely his stories. Conrad realized perhaps that going into darkness, once its essence discovered him, or he it, only made him not want to be there. His self-defined task in life, as quoted in the preface of The Nigger and the Narcissus was to “by the power of the written word…before all, to make you see. That - and no more, and it is everything. If I succeed, you shall find there, according to your deserts, encouragement, consolation, fear, charm, all you demand - and, perhaps, also that glimpse of truth for which you have forgotten to ask.” Conrad dwelt as a hermit in a cave of literature. Having traveled the dark sides of himself, society, and in those times, the dark sides of geographical earth, Conrad found comfort at sea for time enough to put some thoughts to paper. The darkness-journey theme, described by Conrad, is one that any theological, philosophical, for that matter cerebral being, can ...