Colleen Burke's Jungian Reading of Heart of Darkness
What is the meaning or purpose of life? Why is each of us here?
Psychologist Carl Jung believed that each of us unique human beings is here for the purpose of individuation. Jung invented this word (along with the word archetype) as a means of describing the goal of psychoanalysis, which to him was all about striving for self-knowledge, wholeness, and integration. Here is one way of defining the term individuation and, as a corollary, defining what Jung believed to be the purpose of every of human life, the goal of psychology, and the process that each of us must experience in order to become a “whole” and “integrated” person:
Individuation: The process of becoming as fully as possible the unique, authentic individual one is meant to be. This process requires knowing oneself as fully as possible—by integrating the unknown or hidden parts of us into our conscious understanding of who we are—to become ever more “whole” and complete.
This essay by Colleen Burke looks at Heart of Darkness through the lens of Jungian psychology, discussing how we can understand Conrad’s novel as a metaphor for the Jungian journey of individuation that every human being must undertake in order to become “whole.” Please read it and mark it up (either by writing on your paper copy, or by saving the pdf version of the essay and annotating it on your computer). Be ready to discuss the essay in class.