Explore the theme of danger with reference to the extracts from ‘Heart of Darkness’ and ‘Blood River’

Joseph Conrads Heart of Darkness and Tim Butchers Blood River both research the theme of danger through and throughout. This is achieved through Conrad and Butchers choice of lexis. The extract from Heart of Darkness is taken from chapter eleven. In this extract, Marlow and the rest of the crew of the steamboat atomic number 18 being fireed by the natives of the congo. The extract from Blood River is taken from chapter ten (Bend in the River).In this extract, Butcher describes how a child pickpocket is being attacked by an African mob. Both novels be written in inaugural person, but Heart of Darkness is fiction, whereas Blood River is non-fiction. Heart of Darkness was make in 1899 and Blood River was published in 2007. The characterisation and narrative methods of the extracts are quite similar. In Heart of Darkness, Joseph Conrad gives a burnished image of how brutal the natives in the congo might of been the arrows came in swarms. They might have been poisoned This sugge sts to the subscriber that in the Congo, nobody is fully aware of the harm they caexercising to others or cares about the consequences of their actions as enormous as it does not affect them and highlights the austere nature of the Congo environment. In Blood River, Tim Butcher gives a acute image of violent deportment in the Congo the mob parted and there was the boy, with his arms deformed loafer his back.This implies to the reader of how punishment is taken actually seriously in the Congo, even when it is a small child being involved and shows just how danger is so common, it uprises naturally to the natives of the Congo. The contexts of the extracts are very disparate to each other. In Heart of Darkness, Conrad expresses to the reader that when the novel was published in 1899, emotional state in the Congo was quite dodgy, so when Marlow is attacked by the natives, while on the steamboat, it came as a move for him, although the danger was make loven to him Arrows by JoveWe were being shot at The use of the say Jove emphasises to the reader that the attack came as a shock for Marlow and highlights the natives and their reaction to foreigners. In Blood River, Butcher expresses to the reader that at the moment, life in the Congo is different to what it was half a century ago, in the sense that people know more because of travel, news, etc, but the Congo itself has become more brutal and dangerous I had witnesses legion(predicate) multiplication during my stint covering AfricaAfrican mob justice was a terrifying amour. This implies to the reader that the Congo has changed dramatically over time and that violence is now a common thing to occur. The contextual factors of the two texts are very different as they were written in different times and so the historical backgrounds behind them are different. For example, when Heart of Darkness was written, black men were called niggers and it was thought to be normal to do so back then, but nowaday s it would be an offence.In Blood river, Bucher mentions how violent mobs is a thing he has witnessed numerous times, but half a century ago was a very rare thing to find in the Congo. The genres of the texts are slightly different. Heart of Darkness has a sense of danger and misadventure throughout most of the novel The side of his head hit the wheel twice, and the end of what appeared a long cane clattered round and knocked over a little camp-stool. This suggests to the reader that the novel has elements of danger in it and highlights the dangerous environment of the Congo.Blood River also has the same elements of danger imprinted in the novel, but is presented in an informational manner In Swahili, toleka means lets go, so shouting toleka, toleka, I urged my peddler to find the Cohydro offices. This suggests to the reader that the genre of Butchers novel is adventurous, but is laid out in a literal manner that might not be received in the same way as Conrads exciting manner of expressing danger in the Congo. The social, moral and political agendas of both texts are very different in the sense that the authors treat certain situations different morally.In Heart of Darkness, Marlow shows that he has morals when he navigates the steamboat to safety and tries to overhaul his fellow crew members He stood before the wide opening, glaring, and I yelled at him to come back, while I straightened the sudden twist out of that steamboat. This suggests to the reader that Marlow is heroic as he saves many lives during the attack on the steamboat. In Blood River, however, Tim Bucher settlems to abandon his moral standards even though to help people in the Congo is considered pointless I was too preoccupied by my own soupcon to worry about the boys plight.This too emphasises the futility of the crisis in the Congo and highlights the dangerous nature of the Congo environment. The features of language change in the extracts are only slight. In Heart of Darkness, when Marlow and the steamboat crew are attacked by the natives, the language seems archaic to a modern reader in the sense that the language use is no longer in everyday use, but sometimes used to impart an old-fashioned savour Arrows by JoveThe use of the word Jove shows the reader that the novel is very old-fashioned as nowadays we would use the expression Oh my God instead. In Blood River, Butcher frequently uses modern language when explaining the dangers of the Congo The boys mouth was bleeding and the side of his face was squashed flat on the uneven cover of the forecourt. It was a scene I had witnessed numerous times during my stint covering Africa.The use of the contemporary word stint, which means job, suggests to the reader that Butcher is trying to sound more modern when explaining the barbarity of the Congo and the dangerous nature of the Congo environment, and the casualness of the word highlights that violence is quite commonplace in the Congo. It could also suggest that Butcher is at ease when discussing African violence as he has come across so much of it in the past. In conclusion, both extracts of Heart of Darkness and Blood River explore the theme of danger in similar ways, but have different effects on the readers.For example, Conrad pretended writing, although based on true events, could be seen by the reader as just fiction and dangerous aspects of the novel might not be as taken across as important as Butchers real expedition of the Congo and the dangers it contains. Both Conrad and Butcher have shown their own views of the Congo very carefully within the texts, to an extent where the reader can see the views of both authors as their own, and allowing them to see how dangerous the Congo environment really is.