The unique features of a local environment always give special characteristics to its inhabitants. The living environment has a large influence on people. For example, customs, traditions and cultural changes in their environment due to the psychological and ideological. With the development of society, people are not limited to living in their own home, for various reasons, will go a different place to live or work. However, strange and adapt to a new environment for the first time will become more evident, and even feel alienated and existential crisis. Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad, Season of Migration to the North by Tayeb Salih and As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner are three novels, which deal in one way or another with the experience of alienation and existential crisis. The main character Kurtz in Heart of Darkness representing the mystery of the Congo insolubility of magic, he thought he had achieved the ideal in place and has conquered the wilderness, but the fact is that his mind was occupied by the wilderness. In Season of Migration to the North, Mustafa is a highly intelligent and solipsistic worldview person, but because of his learning experience, making him died in the cracks of different cultures, and ultimately committed suicide because he cannot find a way to exist. Addie was influenced by her father in childhood, aspires a sense of existence and feel alone, finally die with hopelessness from the bottom of her heart. All these three characters experience alienation and existential crisis, but the way they handle it is different.
In Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, the main character Kurtz is a hero in the eyes of Europeans, who had been a musician, poets, painters and reporters. He came to Congo 's main purpose is to educate the savage indigenous people, stressing civilization spread to the ignorance of the nation, but he took to meet and subservient attitude toward barbarism and was conquered by the brutal nature of these indigenous persons. He became a local indigenous people worship of idols, led his tribe brutal attacks of neighboring villages, fooled, cheating, slavery and killing Congo residents. “All Europe contributed to the making of Kurtz, and by and by I learned that most appropriately the International Society for the Suppression of Savage Customs had entrusted him with the making of a report for its future guidance.” (Conrad 49) His fiancee’s parents abandon him because of his poverty, his companions envy even against him just because of his talent. Civilized society to his unfair treatment, letting him that once left civilization, hidden in the heart of evil desires will regress to liquidate. Every time he appears in the novel are almost in the dark. Kurtz cannot control himself in this piece of the dark, White civilization of the society for his brutal act finally shown in the darkness. 'The horror! The horror!” (Conrad 86) This is all the adventures of his soul on this earth have experienced. This is for one's own soul on this earth had experienced all the risk, such as desire, temptation, yield and so on, and it is a true portrayal of the depths of his heart. “No eloquence could have been so withering to one’s belief in mankind as his final burst of sincerity.”(Conrad 83) After coming to Congo, Kurtz has transformed from a humanitarian envoy to an absolutely brutal colonialist, his heart is full of evil and darkness, has become a victim of the environment. And Kurtz indulges in his colonial career unrepentantly, even at the last gasp, he still is struggling to return to Congo to achieve his dream, because he can get the money and power while the colonists most wanted only at that place. Kurtz’s brutal behavior finally got retribution, he died on the homeward voyage with extremely harsh environments. The last word Kurtz shouted “horror” also means there still has survived consciences in the depths of the darkness. Before his death, he escapes from the “fear”, come back to see what he experienced and committed any wrongdoing, finally got exist.
In addition, the narrator Marlow comes from Europe to the Congo to find Kurtz, in this process, his understanding of the Kurtz is deepening. However, with the understanding deepen, Kurtz also has an important influence on Marlow, Kurtz like himself that hidden deep inside Marlow. “The wilderness has caressed him, loved him, embraced him, entered his blood, consumed his flesh and has taken complete possession of his soul.” (Conrad 59) Marlow experienced difficulties, but still finding Kurtz insistently, because Kurtz shows the existence of the real nature to attracting him. Marlow knows that real feeling hidden in the depths of his own heart that he had not found before, or even aware unwilling or afraid to admit it. Because of Kurtz’s behavior, many people are seeking the Congo in full of desire, even the appearance of pure and noble people, after getting on the wilderness of the land, hidden within the heart's desire will also emerge gradually.
It is difficult to integrate into the new environment, and want to retain the original environment is also difficult. In the book Season of Migration to the North, Mustafa did not feel the warmth of home at an early age, he has lost his father, and did not appreciate the warmth of maternal love. Due to the double lack of parents' love, Mustafa was brought up in the shadow of psychological exile and feel isolation. Without love, life would be a full of sorrow and desolate, lonely cold world. Although he intellectual, speak English fluently, the lack of parents’ love psychological exile brought him to become an extremely emotionally cold person. “I was cold as a field of ice, nothing in the world could shake me.”(Salih 20) Lack of parents’ love, let the young Mustafa feels missing home, he does not know where his home, so he decided to look for his home. So he was obliged to leave home, nobody waved to him, and also he did not shed tears for anyone. “Has your long stay in England made you forget Arabic or do you reckon we’ve become anglicized?”(Salih 14) In England, Mustafa is loved and praised, because of the inner extreme contradictions and social identity of swing, make him looks for comfort and vent from the England women. He believes that England women like him because he is a Sudanese. Mustafa is a self-contradictory man, his heart was completely assimilated by Western civilization, but intellectually not admits this fact. After returning Sudan from Europe, Mustafa lives in small villages, disguised himself with silence. He seems to be difficult to integrate into this society, his mind already filled with western civilization. He has a deep sense of loss of the root and under the east-west cultural collision, neither completely orientalize, nor completely westernized, he was trapped in the middle of the two cultures. “I found I was half-way between north and south. I was unable to continue, unable to return.”(Salih 138) At the end of the novel the narrator just wants to swim to the other side, jump into the river but in the middle of the river and then running out of energy. The north and the south represent different cultural worlds, and the narrator metaphorically is unable to belong to either one of them, and he can’t choose. In fact the narrator emulates the behavior of Mustafa that plunges himself, this does not take sides of the situation just as Mustafa constantly traveling to find “the other side”, but in the end the tragedy of drowning happens to the nameless village.
In the book As I Lay Dying, Addie's character is complex, the heart is full of contradictions. At an early age, she was alone, no relatives, no friends, eager to communicate with people but don't know how to do it. She is extremely selfish, never thought about caring for others, but put herself on others to feel self-existence, only deeper despair and loneliness surrounding by her. “My father said that the reason for living is getting ready to stay dead.” (Faulkner 175) Addie’s thought influenced by his father’s nihilism. She doesn't have a positive outlook on life and values, unable to establish normal relationships, however, she is eager to be part of the lives of others, she is not to communicate with others, and express her feelings, but with the extreme measures to prove her existence. Addie cannot stand the loneliness and decide to marry to Anse. Under the influence of nihilism Addie called love are “just a shape to fill a lack”. (Faulkner 172) She does not have the feeling to Anse and exclude him from her heart, her feeling of isolation cannot stop just because she marry to Anse. She tried to make her own salvation through sin. Addie adulterous with pastor Whitfield and give birth to Jewel. The purpose of adultery is to obtain sins, choose the pastor as adultery can make her more serious and evil. This incredible behavior is exposed Addie despair, she does not know where to export her own souls. In this selfish indifference, crazy, lonely appearance, in fact, are wrapped Addie’s lonely heart. Addie is a victim, her father's nihilism harm her, making her life living in a lonely circle. She tried to escape, but could not find the right approach. In marriage with Anse, no love makes Addie's character turns to more and more distorted, she even thought about how to revenge on her death, and Anse will never know this is revenge. She asks Anse takes her back to her hometown after her death. This revenge is not only making her husband suffer from the journey, but also makes him feel tortured soul greatly after telling him. Finally, after burying Addie, Anse fills with a new denture and marry with a new wife, Cash the eldest son broke his leg, almost lose, second son Darl is sent to a mental hospital, the daughter Dewey Dell does not abortion but is seduced, the little son has a strange behavior. Addie gets rid of all the tortures after her death, and finally let herself get relief from alienation.
All three novel depicts the culture from different aspects, the living environment's influence on the character cause them alienation and existential crisis in different degrees. Kurtz has a European civilization and superiority, but after arriving in Congo, the inner desire is accentuated by the mystery of this land, and consumed by it successfully. When someone finds him and want to bring him back to Europe, he refuses. Because he cannot escape this piece of land, he would like to achieve his ideal, but does not know the wilderness has already been changed. Mastafa wants to find himself and steps on the road to Europe. He takes root in Europe, study in a famous university, and finally become a lecture. But in the process of his inner sense, contradictions cannot handle so he needs to vent which cause his wife died directly. When he wanders into a nameless village, he decides to hide everything to live there. He put his into to the local one, does not think about any of the knowledge learned from Europe, even to remind person does not forget the Arabic, but his subconscious thoughts betrayed himself. He learns the remarkable European ideas and talent, but he hated the colonists, forcing himself into the original culture and people, unfortunately, do not succeed. This process is very painful, he endured the thoughts of torture, because he had to admit that in the deep of his heart Europe culture has taken root. Addie endured torture and solitary because of her father, no matter what she does still cannot extricate, so she can only choose revenge, cruelty toward others in order to make her feel her presence. The passages pick from three novels is receivable for each of them. All three characters are missing love, even do not know how to love. They survive in the cracks, cannot be integrated into the left and right sides, inner struggle to do with the environment, no matter what methods they use they still cannot get relief. One side is to integrate into the new environment is accompanied by his original heart, one side is insisting on keeping his original heart, but unknowingly be changed, and the other is always cannot find original heart. They are all sad, their hearts are cold because of a lack of love, they live in misery, loneliness and existential crisis. And ultimately, death takes them out of this sense of isolation, it is able to get relief completely.
Environment can affect a person, culture can change a person, but when the conflict of different cultures and environments, people will become victims. Kurtz becomes a two-faced because a new environment, he cannot give up the huge benefits, and let himself be swallowed, it is painful but cannot extricate himself. Mastafa influences of European culture, cause he forces himself to never forget his roots, but he lives in the middle of two cultures, miserable, inner emotions and talents have no way to stretch, alone with him, that no one can understand him. Addie lives in her father's influence, the loneliness accompanied her. She wants to be concerned for others but does not know how to do it, with a very extreme way to prove her existence, but in the end she still does not get out of the shadows. The influence of culture on people is huge, it can let a person feel full and rich, but also can let a person antipathetic, sense of loneliness, alienation and existential crisis.