Question

heart of darkness is an 1899 novella by joseph conrad. the story follows charles marlows journey up the congo river to retrieve the enigmatic ivory trader kurtz. conrad portrays nature as a sentient, active entity. which quotation from heart of darkness most effectively illustrates the claim? a \the conquest of the earth, which mostly means the taking it away from those who have a different complexion or slightly flatter noses than ourselves, is not a pretty thing when you look into it too much.\ b \i dont like work—no man does—but i like what is in the work—the chance to find yourself. your own reality—for yourself, not for others—what no other man can ever know.\ c \the wilderness had patted him on the head, and behold, it was like a ball—an ivory ball; it had caressed him, and—lo!—he had withered; it had taken him, loved him, embraced him, got into his veins, consumed his flesh, and sealed his soul to its own.\ d \going up that river was like traveling back to the earliest beginnings of the world, when vegetation rioted on the earth and the big trees were kings. an empty stream, a great silence, an impenetrable forest.\

Explanation:

The claim is that Conrad portrays nature as a sentient, active entity. Option C describes the wilderness as patting, caressing, taking, loving, embracing, etc.—actions that a sentient, active entity would do. Option A is about conquest, B about self - discovery in work, D about the river being like early world (more descriptive of setting than active/sentient nature). So C best illustrates the claim.

Answer:

C. “The wilderness had patted him on the head, and, behold, it was like a ball—an ivory ball; it had caressed him, and—lo!—he had withered; it had taken him, loved him, embraced him, got into his veins, consumed his flesh, and sealed his soul to its own.”