Essay - The Texts Democracy in America by Alex De Tocqueville, Heart...

The texts Democracy in America by Alex de Tocqueville, Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad, and The Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx all reflect the Enlightenment in very different ways. The ***** is a term used to *****scribe the intellectual characteristics of the 18th Century. The Enlightenment marked major advances in science, rationalism ***** freedom. The key thinkers of the Enlightenment believed that human reason could be ***** against ignorance, superstition, and tyranny ***** to build a more humane world.

Alex de Tocqueville's Democracy in America is perhaps one of the best-known works that is rooted in the principles ***** the Enlightenment. Certainly, modern democracy itself, and thus de Tocuqeville's book sprung from the Enlightenment. de Tocqueville voiced his worries about individualism in ***** in *****. He suggested that individualism and selfishness ***** be a direct attack on the virtues of public life or *****mocracy.

***** Democracy in America, de Tocqueville espoused the Enlightenment idea that the truth ultimately emerges when c*****flicting ideas and opinions are allowed compete freely.

***** Conrad's ***** ***** of ***** is a sh*****t account given ***** a man named Marlow and h***** perilous journey into the Congo. Conrad's fable has a mor*****l ***** challenges the very nature of Enlightenment thinking.

Conrad's The Heart of Darkness warns that the ***** is evil thing, ***** ***** our civilized society has not accepted the ***** that is at ***** root of our nature. Instead, ***** morals and civilization simply mask the *****, that the true nature of the world is darkness, and evil. Conrad wrote The Heart of Darkness when Europeans were engrossed with Imperial*****m.

*****, the character of Kurtz goes mad ***** his light goes out. ***** light is symbolic of the civilized side of human ***** in *****. In contrast, the dark represents the savage or uncivilized side ***** our society and individual natures. In the *****, ***** *****gins to question the value of European society, ***** civilization. T***** is a ***** challenge to ***** principles of the *****.

***** states, "The brown current ran swiftly out of ***** heart ***** darkness..." Th***** describes the savage and uncivilized nature of the ***** that Marlow and Kurtz are attempting ***** escape. Interestingly, Kurtz is broken by staring into the "***** of the darkness," symbolizing mans' true evil nature. In contrast, ***** into the heart ***** darkness enlightens Marlow.

***** general, in ***** Communist Manifesto, Karl Marx rejected ***** philosophy of the Enlightenment (and indeed, ***** in general). Given Marx's ideological leanings, it is reasonable to assert that he likely viewed ***** Enlightenment writers who influenced him in h***** youth as members of the b*****geoisie. Interestingly, ***** reasoning ***** *****ized Enlightenment texts can also be seen in Marx's The ***** Manifesto. Both the Communist Manifesto and writings of the Enlightenment are generally all systematically thought out ***** meticulously