Snake/Map- Lauren and Emily

Looking at pg. 8 first, we saw that Marlow struggles with his discussion of appearances vs. what actually lies underneath. He uses his childhood recollection to set up his initial desire for maps by seeing "rivers," "lakes," and "names." Using those words enunciates the fact that as a child, he only visualized these things on a map, and assumed an interest of venturing into them. The reality is that now he is beginning to see what those "rivers" are in the real world putting aside his imagination. This diction helps emphasize how he now can look more deeply into reality by actually stepping into the map, and not just looking at it on paper. He refers to the river as looking like a "snake" and the connotations that we have of snake are not ones that would ask for adventure seekers or happy discovery. His initial thought of the appearance of the river on a map foreshadows what he currently and most likely in the future, is realizing about it. Also, he says that the snake has "its head in the sea" which led us to come up with it drowning only adding to the eeriness of the map and his conclusions. "The snake had charmed me," is a line he uses that opposes what happens in reality. "A silly little bird" appears to parallel Marlow as a bird examines a snake below him, and Marlow wonders about the river on the map he looks at, both being positively interested in what they are looking at. The snake is normally charmed, and because he turns that around and puts it on himself, the reader questions whether this is a positive occurrence or not. It makes it seem like he is allowing a snake to hypnotize him, and almost trap him in a deceiving world of its own. Because Marlow talks about being on the river that looks like this snake, he might have been distracted at the time, and actually under a spell in a sense by the mysterious of the river that the "snake" or the reality behind it caused. On pg. 10, the further mention of the map leads to Marlow's thoughts concerning imperialism. He points out the "vast amount of red" on the map which automatically sounded like he could have said blood which was a small observation of ours. It represents the outcomes of imperialism to the losing side, and then he goes to say in dashes causing emphasis of his actual opinion, "good to see at any time because one knows that some real work is done in there." This attempted to be hidden comment allows the reader to see how Marlow feels about imperialism, and ponder his contradictions so far. He repeats the word "dead" when discussing the river, but also says "fascinatingly" about it, reemphasizing a spell he could be under.