Heart of Darkness 7

• “Every day the coast looked the same, as though we had not moved; but we passed various places - trading places - with names like Gran’ Bassam, Little Popo; names that seemed to belong to some sordid farce acted in front of a sinister back-cloth.” (p. 49)

The Gran’ Bassam, or Grand Bassam, was a French colonial capital city. It was a key seaport, but once the capital city was moved to Bingerville, the commercial shipping slowly declined. Little Popo, or Aného, had a Portuguese slave market and became the first German capital of Togo. The town was especially known for its farming and fishing but lost its importance after coastal erosion. Conrad is comparing these names to a comedy act which is described as broad, often with vulgar, dirty, or degrading humor. His description creates a negative feel for readers as an evil, absurd, and offensive atmosphere is being illustrated.

(Works Cited)
"Aneho." Wikipedia. Web. 24 Aug. 2009. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/An%C3%A9ho.
Google. Web. 24 Aug. 2009. http://www.google.com/dictionary.
"Grand Bassam." Wikipedia. Web. 24 Aug. 2009. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand-Bassam.

(Photo Credit)

Photograph. Show Me What I'm Looking For. Web. 13 Sept. 2009. http://showme.debockwebdesign.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/evil_clown_by_namesjames1.jpg.