Karl

One part of Karl's psychoanalytic criticism of Conrad's Heart of Darkness is when he compares Freud and Conrad to one another through their similar penetration into darkness. Karl then proceeds to explain the correlation between darkness and its parallel, and possibly even a metaphorical interpretation, as he links darkness to the darkness we enter as we sleep. Furthermore, Karl continues to propose that while one sleeps, in fact, their conscience also gets to sleep and thus the subconscience self is released free. In this sleep, they are then "free to pursue secret wishes." One specific statement I find interesting and I agree with is when Karl states "the key word is darkness, the black of the jungle for Conrad is the dark of the sleeping consciousness for Freud." I think this is a wonderful and powerful parallel between Conrad's story and Freud's psychoanalysis.