ngo, and finishing by showing that civilized life can still exist in the jungle.Diction plays two pertinent roles in the passage: to produce imagery and to label objects or people. Diction reflects the extent of the contrasting light and darkness of the station that the imagery creates. In the midst of “mounds of turned-up earth by the shore… a waste of excavations,” Marlow notes “a blinding sunlight drowned all this at times in a sudden recrudescence of glare.” “Blinding,” “glare,” and “drowned” all produce the affect that the image is blocked from view, conveying the message that light will overcome darkness. This is the nave mentality of the Europeans contained in the theme. Exemplified by the French man of war, they believed the fight for imperialism had reason to shine their light upon the dark Congo. “In the empty immensity of earth, sky, and water, there she was, incomprehensible, firing into a continent. Pop, would go one of the six inch guns; a small flame would dart and vanish, a little white smoke would disappear, a tiny projectile would give a feeble screech – and nothing happened… it was not dissipated by somebody on board assuring me earnestly there was a camp of natives – he called them enemies! – hidden out of sight somewhere (Pg.222-223).”Marlow is watching this occurrence, referring to the great firearms as simple “tiny projectiles” producing a measly “pop.” The Europeans see themselves fighting an honorable war against savage enemies in the name of imperialism. These enemies were no where to be seen, but a European crewmate assured him that the enemies were “hidden out of sight somewhere.” This is the nave mentality of the Europeans at the time, blinded by the “glare” of imperialism.Labels are much more than words, they display judgment of a person or event. &...
