Heart of Darkness

By Joseph Conrad

Heart of Darkness is a novella written by Joseph Conrad. Before its 1903 publication, it appeared as a three-part series (1 99! in Blackwood's Magazine. "t was classified by the #odern $ibrary website editors as one of the %100 best novels% &1' and part of the (estern canon. )he story centres on Charles #arlow, who narrates *ost of the boo+. ,e is an -n.lish*an who ta+es a forei.n assi.n*ent fro* a Bel.ian tradin. co*pany as a riverboat captain in /frica. Heart of Darkness e0poses the dar+ side of -uropean coloni1ation while e0plorin. the three levels of dar+ness that the prota.onist, #arlow, encounters2 the dar+ness of the Con.o wilderness, the dar+ness of the -uropeans3 cruel treat*ent of the /frican natives, and the unfatho*able dar+ness within every hu*an bein. for co**ittin. heinous acts of evil.&4' /lthou.h Conrad does not .ive the na*e of the river, at the ti*e of writin. the Con.o 5ree 6tate, the location of the lar.e and i*portantCon.o 7iver, was a private colony of Bel.iu*3s 8in. $eopold "". "n the story, #arlow is e*ployed to transport ivory downriver. ,owever, his *ore pressin. assi.n*ent is to return 8urt1, another ivory trader, to civili1ation, in a cover-up. 8urt1 has a reputation throu.hout the re.ion. )his sy*bolic story is a story within a story or fra*e narrative. "t follows #arlow as he recounts his Con.olese adventure to a .roup of *en aboard a ship anchored in the )ha*es -stuary fro* dus+ throu.h to late ni.ht. )he passa.e of ti*e and the dar+enin. s+y durin. #arlow3s narrative parallels the at*osphere of the events he narrates. Key Facts
FULL TITLE 9 Heart of Darkness AUTHOR 9 Joseph Conrad TYPE OF WORK 9 :ovella (between a novel and a short story in len.th and scope! GENRE 9 6y*bolis*, colonial literature, adventure tale, fra*e story, al*ost a ro*ance

in its insistence on herois* and the supernatural and its preference for the sy*bolic over the realistic LANGUAGE 9 -n.lish TIME AND PLACE WRITTEN 9 -n.land, 1 9 ;1 99< inspired by Conrad=s >ourney to the Con.o in 1 90 DATE OF FIR T PU!LICATION 9 6eriali1ed in Blackwoods *a.a1ine in 1 99< published in 1904 in the volu*e Youth: A Narrative; and wo !ther "tories PU!LI HER 9 J. #. ?ent @ 6ons, $td.

9 )here are two narrators2 an anony*ous passen.er on a pleasure ship, who listens to #arlow=s story, and #arlow hi*self, a *iddle-a.ed ship=s captain. POINT OF "IEW 9 )he first narrator spea+s in the first-person plural, on behalf of four other passen.ers who listen to #arlow=s tale. #arlow narrates his story in the first person, describin. only what he witnessed and e0perienced, and providin. his own co**entary on the story. TONE 9 /*bivalent2 #arlow is dis.usted at the brutality of the Co*pany and horrified by 8urt1=s de.eneration, but he clai*s that any thin+in. *an would be te*pted into si*ilar behavior. TEN E 9 Aast ETTING #TIME$ 9 $atter part of the nineteenth century, probably so*eti*e between 1 BC and 1 94 ETTING #PLACE$ 9 Dpens on the )ha*es 7iver outside $ondon, where #arlow is tellin. the story that *a+es up Heart of Darkness# -vents of the story ta+e place in Brussels, at the Co*pany=s offices, and in the Con.o, then a Bel.ian territory. PROTAGONI T 9 #arlow MA%OR CONFLICT 9 Both #arlow and 8urt1 confront a conflict between their i*a.es of the*selves as Ecivili1edF -uropeans and the te*ptation to abandon *orality co*pletely once they leave the conte0t of -uropean society. RI ING ACTION 9 )he brutality #arlow witnesses in the Co*pany=s e*ployees, the ru*ors he hears that 8urt1 is a re*ar+able and hu*ane *an, and the nu*erous e0a*ples of -uropeans brea+in. down *entally or physically in the environ*ent of /frica. CLIMA& 9 #arlow=s discovery, upon reachin. the "nner 6tation, that 8urt1 has co*pletely abandoned -uropean *orals and nor*s of behavior FALLING ACTION 9 #arlow=s acceptance of responsibility for 8urt1=s le.acy, #arlow=s encounters with Co*pany officials and 8urt1=s fa*ily and friends, #arlow=s visit to 8urt1=s "ntended THEME 9 )he hypocrisy of i*perialis*, *adness as a result of i*perialis*, the absurdity of evil MOTIF 9 ?ar+ness (very seldo* opposed by li.ht!, interiors vs. surfaces (+ernelGshell, coastGinland, stationGforest, etc.!, ironic understate*ent, hyperbolic lan.ua.e, inability to find words to describe situation adeHuately, i*a.es of ridiculous waste, upriver versus downriverGtoward and away fro* 8urt1Gaway fro* and bac+ toward civili1ation (Huest or >ourney structure! YM!OL 9 7ivers, fo., wo*en (8urt1=s "ntended, his /frican *istress!, 5rench warship shellin. forested coast, .rove of death, severed heads on fence posts, 8urt1=s E7eport,F dead hel*s*an, *aps, Ewhited sepulchreF of Brussels, +nittin. wo*en in Co*pany offices, *an tryin. to fill buc+et with hole in it FORE HADOWING 9 Aer*eates every *o*ent of the narrativeI*ostly operates on the level of i*a.ery, which is consistently dar+, .loo*y, and threatenin.
NARRATOR

Heart of Darkness Summary

A group of men are aboard an English ship that is sitting on the Thames. The group includes a Lawyer, an Accountant, a Company Director/Captain, and a man without a specific profession who is named Marlow. The narrator appears to be another unnamed guest on the ship. hile they are loitering about, waiting for the wind to

pic! up so that they might resume their "oyage, Marlow begins to spea! about London and Europe as some of the dar!est places on earth. The narrator and other guests do not seem to regard him with much respect. Marlow is a stationary man, "ery unusual for a seaman. The others do not understand him because he does not fit into a neat category in the same manner that the others do. #e mentions coloni$ation and says that car"ing the earth into pri$es or pieces is not something to e%amine too closely because it is an atrocity. #e then begins to narrate a personal e%perience in Africa, which led him to become a freshwater sailor and ga"e him a terrible glimpse of coloni$ation. ith the e%ception of two or three small paragraphs, the perspecti"e shifts to Marlow, who becomes the main narrator for the rest of the no"el. Marlow has always had a passion for tra"el and e%ploration. Maps are an obsession of his. Marlow decides he wants nothing more than to be the s!ipper of a steamship that tra"els up and down a ri"er in Africa. #is aunt has a connection in the Administration Department of a seafaring and e%ploration company that gathers i"ory, and she manages to get Marlow an appointment. #e replaces a captain who was !illed in a s!irmish with the nati"es. hen Marlow arri"es at the company office, the atmosphere is e%tremely dim and foreboding. #e feels as if e"eryone is loo!ing at him pityingly. The doctor who performs his physical as!s if there is a history of insanity in Marlow&s family. #e tells Marlow that nothing could persuade him to 'oin the Company down in the Congo. This pu$$les Marlow, but he does not thin! much of it. The ne%t day he embar!s on a one(month 'ourney to the primary Company station. The African shores that he obser"es loo! anything but welcoming. They are dar! and rather desolate, in spite of the flurry of human acti"ity around them. hen he arri"es, Marlow learns that a company member recently committed suicide. There are multitudes of chain(gang types, who all loo! at him with "acant e%pressions. A young boy approaches Marlow, loo!ing "ery empty. Marlow can do nothing but offer him some ship biscuits. #e is "ery relie"ed to lea"e the boy behind as he comes across a "ery well(dressed man who is the picture of respectability and elegance. They introduce themsel"es) he is the Chief Accountant of the Company. Marlow befriends this man and fre*uently spends time in his hut while the Accountant goes o"er the accounts. After ten days of obser"ing the Chief Accountant&s ill temper, Marlow departs for his +,,(mile 'ourney into the interior of the Congo, where he will wor! for a station run by a man named -urt$. The 'ourney is arduous. Marlow crosses many paths, sees deserted dwellings, and encounters blac! men wor!ing. Marlow ne"er describes them as humans. Throughout the no"el, the white characters refer to them in animalistic terms. Marlow finally arri"es at a secondary station, where he meets the Manager, who for now will o"ersee his wor!. .t is a strange meeting. The Manager smiles in a manner that is "ery discomfiting. The ship on which Marlow is supposed to set sail is bro!en. hile they await the deli"ery of the ri"ets needed to fi% it, Marlow spends his time on more mundane tas!s. #e fre*uently hears the name /-urt$/ around the station. Clearly e"eryone !nows his future boss. .t is rumored that he is ill. 0oon the entire crew will depart for a trip to -urt$&s station. The Manager&s uncle arri"es with his own e%pedition. Marlow o"erhears them saying that they would li!e to see -urt$ and his assistant hanged so that their station could be eliminated as i"ory competition. After a day of e%ploring, the e%pedition has lost all of their animals. Marlow sets out for -urt$&s station with the 1ilgrims, the cannibal crew, and the Manager. About eight miles from their destination, they stop for the night. There is tal! of an approaching attac!. 2umor has it that -urt$ may ha"e been !illed in a pre"ious one. 0ome of the pilgrims go ashore to in"estigate. The whirring

sound of arrows is heard3 an attac! is underway. The 1ilgrims shoot bac! from the ship with rifles. The helmsman of the ship is !illed, as is a nati"e ashore. Marlow supposes that -urt$ has perished in the ine%plicable attac!. This upsets him greatly. 4"er the course of his tra"els, he has greatly loo!ed forward to meeting this man. Marlow shares -urt$&s bac!ground) an English education, a woman at home waiting for him. .n spite of Marlow&s disappointment, the ship presses onward. A little way down the ri"er, the crew spot -urt$&s station, which they had supposed was lost. They meet a 2ussian man who resembles a harle*uin. #e says that -urt$ is ali"e but somewhat ill. The nati"es do not want -urt$ to lea"e because he has e%panded their minds. -urt$ does not want to lea"e because he has essentially become part of the tribe. After tal!ing for a while with the 2ussian, Marlow has a "ery clear picture of the man who has become his obsession. 5inally, he has the chance to tal! to -urt$, who is ill and on his deathbed. The nati"es surround his hut until he tells them to lea"e. hile on watch, Marlow do$es off and reali$es that -urt$ is gone. #e chases him and finds -urt$ in the forest. #e does not want to lea"e the station because his plans ha"e not been fully reali$ed. Marlow manages to ta!e him bac! to his bed. -urt$ entrusts Marlow with all of his old files and papers. Among these is a photograph of his sweetheart. The 2ussian escapes before the Manager and others can imprison him. The steamboat departs the ne%t day. -urt$ dies onboard a few days later, Marlow ha"ing attended him until the end. Marlow returns to England, but the memory of his friend haunts him. #e manages to find the woman from the picture, and he pays her a "isit. 0he tal!s at length about his wonderful personal *ualities and about how guilty she feels that she was not with him at the last. Marlow lies and says that her name was the last word spo!en by -urt$6the truth would be too dar! to tell her.

y'(o)s 6hoes - )hese sy*boli1e civili1ation and protection. "vory - )he sy*boli1es the pa.an Jod that is so worshipped by 8urt1 and other whites. (histle - )his sy*boli1es the unsupported fear each *an has. ty)e Conrad=s prose is very descriptive and infor*ative. ,e portrays terrifyin. i*a.es and conveys horrifyin. truths in a *ystic voice that contrasts effectively with the true horrors of his *essa.e. 5oreshadowin. and suspense is used to hei.hten this e0citin. novel. Do'*nant P+*)oso,+y Conrad deals in this novel with the dar+ heart of *an+ind, a topic he see*s to en>oy writin. about. ,e tells us that *an in inherently evil and his evils is only *as+ed by civili1ation. ett*n-s

Central 6tation - )his is the station where #arlow *eets the accountant and observes the way the whites do nothin. but e0ploit the blac+s to do pointless labor. "nner 6tation - )his is the station where 8urt1 wor+s and where #arlow finds hi* bein. worshipped by the sava.es. )ha*es 7iver - #arlow tells his story to various people here.
Analysis of Major Characters
Marlow Although Marlow appears in several of Conrads other works, it is important not to view him as merely a surrogate for the author. Marlow is a complicated man who anticipates the figures of high modernism while also reflecting his Victorian predecessors. Marlow is in many ways a traditional hero: tough, honest, an independent thinker, a capable man. et he is also !broken" or !damaged," like #. $. %liots &. Alfred 'rufrock or (illiam )aulkners *uentin Compson. #he world has defeated him in some fundamental way, and he is weary, skeptical, and cynical. Marlow also mediates between the figure of the intellectual and that of the !working tough." (hile he is clearly intelligent, elo+uent, and a natural philosopher, he is not saddled with the angst of centuries worth of (estern thought. At the same time, while he is highly skilled at what he does,he repairs and then ably pilots his own ship,he is no mere manual laborer. (ork, for him, is a distraction, a concrete alternative to the posturing and e-cuse.making of those around him. Marlow can also be read as an intermediary between the two e-tremes of /urt0 and the Company. 1e is moderate enough to allow the reader to identify with him, yet open.minded enough to identify at least partially with either e-treme. #hus, he acts as a guide for the reader. Marlows intermediary position can be seen in his eventual illness and recovery. 2nlike those who truly confront or at least acknowledge Africa and the darkness within themselves, Marlow does not die, but unlike the Company men, who focus only on money and advancement, Marlow suffers horribly. 1e is thus !contaminated" by his e-periences and memories, and, like Coleridges Ancient Mariner, destined, as purgation or penance, to repeat his story to all who will listen. Kurtz /urt0, like Marlow, can be situated within a larger tradition. /urt0 resembles the archetypal !evil genius": the highly gifted but ultimately degenerate individual whose fall is the stuff of legend. /urt0 is related to figures like )austus, $atan in Miltons Paradise Lost, Moby-Dicks Ahab, and Wuthering Heightss 1eathcliff. 3ike these characters, he is significant both for his style and elo+uence and for his grandiose, almost megalomaniacal scheming. 4n a world of mundanely malicious men and !flabby devils," attracting enough attention to be worthy of damnation is indeed something. /urt0 can be critici0ed in the same terms that Heart of Darkness is sometimes critici0ed: style entirely overrules substance, providing a 5ustification for amorality and evil. 4n fact, it can be argued that style does not 5ust override substance but actually masks the fact that /urt0 is utterly lacking in substance. Marlow refers to /urt0 as !hollow" more than once. #his could be taken negatively, to mean that /urt0 is not worthy of contemplation. 1owever, it also points to /urt0s ability to function as a !choice of nightmares" for Marlow: in his essential emptiness, he becomes a cipher, a site upon which other things can be pro5ected. #his emptiness should not be read as benign, however, 5ust as

/urt0s elo+uence should not be allowed to overshadow the malice of his actions. 4nstead, /urt0 provides Marlow with a set of parado-es that Marlow can use to evaluate himself and the Companys men. 4ndeed, /urt0 is not so much a fully reali0ed individual as a series of images constructed by others for their own use. As Marlows visits with /urt0s cousin, the 6elgian 5ournalist, and /urt0s fianc7e demonstrate, there seems to be no true /urt0. #o his cousin, he was a great musician8 to the 5ournalist, a brilliant politician and leader of men8 to his fianc7e, a great humanitarian and genius. All of these contrast with Marlows version of the man, and he is left doubting the validity of his memories. et /urt0, through his charisma and larger.than.life plans, remains with Marlow and with the reader.

Themes, Motifs & Symbols

Themes Themes are the fundamental and often universal ideas e !lored in a literary "ork# The Hypocrisy of Imperialism Heart of Darkness e-plores the issues surrounding imperialism in complicated ways. As Marlow travels from the 9uter $tation to the Central $tation and finally up the river to the 4nner $tation, he encounters scenes of torture, cruelty, and near.slavery. At the very least, the incidental scenery of the book offers a harsh picture of colonial enterprise. #he impetus behind Marlows adventures, too, has to do with the hypocrisy inherent in the rhetoric used to 5ustify imperialism. #he men who work for the Company describe what they do as !trade," and their treatment of native Africans is part of a benevolent pro5ect of !civili0ation." /urt0, on the other hand, is open about the fact that he does not trade but rather takes ivory by force, and he describes his own treatment of the natives with the words !suppression" and !e-termination": he does not hide the fact that he rules through violence and intimidation. 1is perverse honesty leads to his downfall, as his success threatens to e-pose the evil practices behind %uropean activity in Africa. 1owever, for Marlow as much as for /urt0 or for the Company, Africans in this book are mostly ob5ects: Marlow refers to his helmsman as a piece of machinery, and /urt0s African mistress is at best a piece of statuary. 4t can be argued that Heart of Darkness participates in an oppression of nonwhites that is much more sinister and much harder to remedy than the open abuses of /urt0 or the Companys men. Africans become for Marlow a mere backdrop, a human screen against which he can play out his philosophical and e-istential struggles. #heir e-istence and their e-oticism enable his self.contemplation. #his kind of dehumani0ation is harder to identify than colonial violence or open racism. (hile Heart of Darkness offers a powerful condemnation of the hypocritical operations of imperialism, it also presents a set of issues surrounding race that is ultimately troubling. Madness as a Result of Imperialism Madness is closely linked to imperialism in this book. Africa is responsible for mental disintegration as well as physical illness. Madness has two primary functions. )irst, it serves as an ironic device to engage the readers sympathies. /urt0, Marlow is told from the beginning, is mad. 1owever, as Marlow, and the reader, begin to form a more complete picture of /urt0, it becomes apparent that his madness is only relative, that in the conte-t of the Company insanity is difficult to define. #hus, both Marlow and the reader begin to sympathi0e with /urt0 and view the Company with suspicion. Madness also functions to establish the necessity of social fictions. Although social mores and e-planatory 5ustifications are shown throughout Heart of Darkness to be utterly false and even leading to evil, they are nevertheless necessary for both group harmony and individual security. Madness, in Heart of Darkness, is the result of being removed from ones social conte-t and allowed to be the sole arbiter of ones own actions. Madness is thus linked not only to absolute power and a kind of moral genius but to mans fundamental fallibility: /urt0 has no authority to whom he answers but himself, and this is more than any one man can bear.

The Absurdity of Evil #his novella is, above all, an e-ploration of hypocrisy, ambiguity, and moral confusion. 4t e-plodes the idea of the proverbial choice between the lesser of two evils. As the idealistic Marlow is forced to align himself with either the hypocritical and malicious colonial bureaucracy or the openly malevolent, rule.defying /urt0, it becomes increasingly clear that to try to 5udge either alternative is an act of folly: how can moral standards or social values be relevant in 5udging evil: 4s there such thing as insanity in a world that has already gone insane: #he number of ridiculous situations Marlow witnesses act as reflections of the larger issue: at one station, for instance, he sees a man trying to carry water in a bucket with a large hole in it. At the 9uter $tation, he watches native laborers blast away at a hillside with no particular goal in mind. #he absurd involves both insignificant silliness and life.or.death issues, often simultaneously. #hat the serious and the mundane are treated similarly suggests a profound moral confusion and a tremendous hypocrisy: it is terrifying that /urt0s homicidal megalomania and a leaky bucket provoke essentially the same reaction from Marlow. Motifs Motifs are recurring structures, contrasts, or literary devices that can hel! to develo! and inform the te ts ma$or themes# Observation and Eavesdropping Marlow gains a great deal of information by watching the world around him and by overhearing others conversations, as when he listens from the deck of the wrecked steamer to the manager of the Central $tation and his uncle discussing /urt0 and the ;ussian trader. #his phenomenon speaks to the impossibility of direct communication between individuals: information must come as the result of chance observation and astute interpretation. (ords themselves fail to capture meaning ade+uately, and thus they must be taken in the conte-t of their utterance. Another good e-ample of this is Marlows conversation with the brickmaker, during which Marlow is able to figure out a good deal more than simply what the man has to say. Interiors and Exteriors Comparisons between interiors and e-teriors pervade Heart of Darkness# As the narrator states at the beginning of the te-t, Marlow is more interested in surfaces, in the surrounding aura of a thing rather than in any hidden nugget of meaning deep within the thing itself. #his inverts the usual hierarchy of meaning: normally one seeks the deep message or hidden truth. #he priority placed on observation demonstrates that penetrating to the interior of an idea or a person is impossible in this world. #hus, Marlow is confronted with a series of e-teriors and surfaces,the rivers banks, the forest walls around the station, /urt0s broad forehead,that he must interpret. #hese e-teriors are all the material he is given, and they provide him with perhaps a more profound source of knowledge than any falsely constructed interior !kernel." Dar ness <arkness is important enough conceptually to be part of the books title. 1owever, it is difficult to discern e-actly what it might mean, given that absolutely everything in the book is cloaked in darkness. Africa, %ngland, and 6russels are all described as gloomy and somehow dark, even if the sun is shining brightly. <arkness thus seems to operate metaphorically and e-istentially rather than specifically. <arkness is the inability to see: this may sound simple, but as a description of the human condition it has profound implications. )ailing to see another human being means failing to understand that individual and failing to establish any sort of sympathetic communion with him or her.

Symbols %ymbols are ob$ects, characters, figures, or colors used to re!resent abstract ideas or conce!ts# !og )og is a sort of corollary to darkness. )og not only obscures but distorts: it gives one 5ust enough information to begin making decisions but no way to 5udge the accuracy of that information, which often ends up being wrong. Marlows steamer is caught in the fog, meaning that he has no idea where hes going and no idea whether peril or open water lies ahead. The "#hited $epulchre% #he !whited sepulchre" is probably 6russels, where the Companys head+uarters are located. A sepulchre implies death and confinement, and indeed %urope is the origin of the colonial enterprises that bring death to white men and to their colonial sub5ects8 it is also governed by a set of reified social principles that both enable cruelty, dehumani0ation, and evil and prohibit change. #he phrase !whited sepulchre" comes from the biblical 6ook of Matthew. 4n the passage, Matthew describes !whited sepulchres" as something beautiful on the outside but containing horrors within =the bodies of the dead>8 thus, the image is appropriate for 6russels, given the hypocritical 6elgian rhetoric about imperialisms civili0ing mission. =6elgian colonies, particularly the Congo, were notorious for the violence perpetuated against the natives.> #omen 6oth /urt0s 4ntended and his African mistress function as blank slates upon which the values and the wealth of their respective societies can be displayed. Marlow fre+uently claims that women are the keepers of na?ve illusions8 although this sounds condemnatory, such a role is in fact crucial, as these na?ve illusions are at the root of the social fictions that 5ustify economic enterprise and colonial e-pansion. 4n return, the women are the beneficiaries of much of the resulting wealth, and they become ob5ects upon which men can display their own success and status. The River #he Congo ;iver is the key to Africa for %uropeans. 4t allows them access to the center of the continent without having to physically cross it8 in other words, it allows the white man to remain always separate or outside. Africa is thus reduced to a series of two.dimensional scenes that flash by Marlows steamer as he travels upriver. #he river also seems to want to e-pel %uropeans from Africa altogether: its current makes travel upriver slow and difficult, but the flow of water makes travel downriver, back toward !civili0ation," rapid and seemingly inevitable. Marlows struggles with the river as he travels upstream toward /urt0 reflect his struggles to understand the situation in which he has found himself. #he ease with which he 5ourneys back downstream, on the other hand, mirrors his ac+uiescence to /urt0 and his !choice of nightmares."