Heart of Darkness: Analysis

In Conrad's Heart of Darkness, p. 394 discusses a familiar topic to American literature, "Going up that river was like travelling back to the earliest beginnings of the world, when vegetation rioted on the earth adn the  big trees were king." In class, we discussed how this idea similarly relates to Alice in Wonderlands journey as she falls into the rabbit hole, taking away all things familiar to her and disturbing the natural proccess of life. As Marlow goes up the river, he looses most things familiar to him and goes back in time, watching life in reverse, just like Alice through the looking glass as her life moves backwards. This passage also focuses on nature's roots like the wonderland that Alice enters in as she leaves her proper and perfect life behind. "The air was warm, thick, heavy, sluggish. There was no joy in the brilliance of sunshine." As Marlow enters new territory, this passage reflects the desolate and mysterious atmosphere he as entered into, one so separate from the life he is used to. Through this passage, Marlow has entered his own wonderland, but one that he has no expected.