Tides, "Heart of Darkness," and the Pattern of Human Thought

Have you ever had an essay to write where the topic was your choice, and you managed to land yourself with the hardest one you could think of? I do believe I have managed to do so. In my AP English class, we recently read Joseph Conrad's "Heart of Darkness," and now we have an essay to write. As I was reading through the critiques in the back of the book, completely clueless as to what I wanted to write about, as I only have a basic understanding of the novel and symbolism continually confounds me, I stumbled across "The Journey Within," by Albert J. Guerard. While reading it, this leapt out at me, demanding my attention and interest:

"...the narrative advances and withdraws as in a succession of long dark waves borne by an incoming tide..."

Thank you, Mr. Guerard, you've given me a topic. It absolutely astounds me how much the entire novel is like the ebb and flow of the tide, like waves falling upon the shore. And the more I thought about it, the more I became convinced that this is what I must write about. It is the pattern of human thought, going in and out, a bit repetitive, then all at once, leaping ahead before retreating back to resume where the thought was left off. And it has invaded every pore, every nook and cranny of "Heart of Darkness," from the mentioning of the tide at both begining and end, the way Marlow tells his narrative, and even the way the characters reveal information.

Now the curse. I have my topic, but I need more information on half a million things to make a decent essay out of it. I need to reread the novel, making note of all passages I can reference, and I feel inclined to read some of Sigmund Freud's writings, though I have no doubt they'll leave me with a headache. Wonderful. I have a lot of work ahead of me, and no idea where to start with it all. I wanted something simpler, but this idea attached itself to me and refused to leave me alone. Goodness gracious, an impending journey through my own Congo is ahead...

And on top of it all, I've found myself addicted to Conrad's writings. ^_^;

::edit::
I've finished my essay! It's late by, like, a week, but I'm immensely proud of it and would like to share it with anyone who wishes to read it. And if you wanna tell me what you think, that's great, too!

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