Monday The rise of white terrorism around the world is leading liberals like me to question some of our basic assumptions. Are our democratic institutions, which we took for granted, strong enough to withstand the murderous resentment of entitled people who feel threatened? Amongst the entitled I include both those wealthy individuals who countenance violence […]
Tag Archives: Heart of Darkness
The World’s White Heart of Darkness
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged authoritarianism, Donald Trump, Joseph Conrad, white terrorism Comments closed
My “Last Lecture”
I share here my “last lecture” from my retirement ceremony. (But rest assured: I will not be retiring from this blog.)
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Aristotle, Bertolt Brecht, Chinua Achebe, Divine Comedy, Goethe, Horace, Huckleberry Finn, integration, Jane Austen, Joseph Conrad, Mark Twain, Martha Nussbaum Wayne Booth, Matthew Arnold, Percy Shelley, Plato, Rachel Blau DuPlessis, Samuel Johnson, segregation, Sir Philip Sydney, Terry Eagleton, W. E. B. Du Bois, Wayne Booth Comments closed
Trump in Chaucer, Shakespeare & Conrad
When compared to people called “dotard” in Chaucer and Shakespeare, Trump fits the insult hurled at him by Kim Jong-un. His statement to African leaders, meanwhile, makes him sound like a “Heart of Darkness” ivory trader.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Africa, Capitalism, Donald Trump, Geoffrey Chaucer, Joseph Conrad, Kim Jong-un, King Lear, Wife of Bath, William Shakespeare Comments closed
Speaker Paul Ryan in Literature
I’ve written a lot about Paul Ryan and his aspiration to be a John Galt figure. Now that he is Speaker of the House, I review other literary parallels I’ve drawn over the years.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Alice in Wonderland, Ayn Rand, Chinua Achebe, GOP, Hard Times, Joseph Conrad, Lewis Carroll, Oliver Twist, Paul Ryan, politics, Tess of the D'Urbervilles, Things Fall Apart, Thomas Hardy Comments closed
A Guide’s Conradian Revenge Fantasy
Do tour guides ever dream of doling out to their chargers what the porters in “Heart of Darkness” do with one of the visiting English?
The CIA’s Heart of Darkness
Published details about the CIA’s torture program reveal that America descended into a Conradian heart of darkness.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged CIA, Joseph Conrad, Senate Intelligence Committee's torture report, torture Comments closed
Why GOP Right Is Beating Up on the Poor
Paul Ryan projects upon the poor as Joseph Conrad did upon Africans.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged GOP, Joseph Conrad, Paul Ryan, politics, war against the poor Comments closed
America’s Heart of Darkness Beginnings
America’s bloody beginnings are part of who we still are.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Colonia America, colonization, Joseph Conrad, U. S. history, violence, Wayne Karlin, Wished For Country Comments closed
Sweethearts Now Cleared for Combat
Tim O’Brien’s Vietnam War story about a woman who goes rogue has things to teach us about the recent suspension of the Pentagon ban on women in combat.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged crimes against humanity, Joseph Conrad, Things They Carried, Tim O'Brien, war, women in combat Comments closed
