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Motifs and themes

"He cried in a whisper at some image, at some vision,he cried out twice, a cry
that was no more than a breath'The horror! The horror!'"
T. S. Eliot's use o this amous !uotation rom The Heart of Darkness as an
epigraph to the original manuscript o The "aste #and contrasted with the
"light o civili$ation" and the ambiguity o both % the dar& motives o civili$ation
and the reedom o barbarism, as well as the "spiritual dar&ness" o several
characters. This sense o dar&ness also lends itsel to a related theme o
obscurity again, in various senses, re'ecting the ambiguities in the wor&.
(oral issues are not clear%cut) that which ought to be *in various senses+ on the
side o "light" is in act mired in dar&ness, and vice versa.
,rica was &nown as "The -ar& .ontinent" in long age the /ictorian Era with all
the negative attributes o dar&ness attributed to ,ricans by the English. 0ne o
the possible in'uences or the 1urt$ character was Henry (orton Stanley o "-r.
#ivingstone, 2 presume" ame, as he was a principal e3plorer o "The -ar& Heart
0 ,rica", particularly the .ongo. Stanley was inamous in ,rica or horri4c
violence and yet he was honoured by a &nighthood. However, an agent .onrad
himsel encountered when travelling in the .ongo, named 5eorges%,ntoine
1lein *1lein means 'small' in 5erman, as 1urt$ is 'short'+ could have possibly
served as an actual model or the 1urt$ that appears in Heart o -ar&ness.
1lein died aboard .onrad's steamer and was interred along the .ongo, much
li&e 1urt$ in the novel.
The moti o "dar&ness" rom the title recurs throughout the boo&. 2t is used to
re'ect the un&nown, the concept o the "dar&ness o barbarism" places (r.
1urt$, the ambiguous anti%hero o the story, at the dar& heart o the twentieth
century.
To emphasi$e the theme o dar&ness within all o man&ind, (arlow's narration
ta&es place on a yawl in the Thames tidal estuary. Early in the novella, (arlow
recounts how #ondon, the largest, most populous and wealthiest city in the
world at the time *where .onrad wrote and where a large part o his audience
lived+, was itsel a "dar&" place in 6oman times. The theme o dar&ness lur&ing
beneath the surace o even "civili$ed" persons is urther e3plored through the
character o 1urt$ and through (arlow's passing sense o understanding with
the ,ricans.
Themes developed in the novella's later scenes include the na7vet8 o
Europeans particularly women regarding the various orms o dar&ness in
the .ongo) the 9ritish traders and 9elgian colonialists' abuse o the natives)
and man's potential or duplicity. The symbolic levels o the boo& e3pand on all
o these in terms o a struggle between good and evil *light and dar&ness+, not
so much between people as within every ma:or character's soul.
Throughout the novel .onrad dramati$es a tension in (arlow between the
restraint o civili$ation and the savagery o barbarism. The dar&ness and
amorality which 1urt$ e3empli4es is argued to be the reality o the human
condition, upon which illusory moral structures are draped by civili$ation.
(arlow's conrontation with 1urt$ presents him with a 'choice o nightmares' %
to commit himsel to the savagery o the human condition, or to the lie and
veneer o civili$ed restraint. Though (arlow 'cannot abide a lie' and
subse!uently cannot perceive civili$ation as anything but a veneer hiding the
savage reality o the human condition, he is also horri4ed by the dar&ness o
1urt$ he sees in his own heart. ,ter emerging rom this e3perience, his 9uddha
li&e pose aboard the Nellie symboli$es a suspension between this choice o
nightmares.
Historical context
The novel is largely autobiographical, based upon ;oseph .onrad's si3%month
:ourney up the .ongo 6iver where he too& command o a steamboat in <=>?
ater the death o its captain. ,t the time, the river was called the .ongo, and
the country was the 9elgian .ongo. The area .onrad reers to as the .ompany
Station was an actual location called (atadi, a location two%hundred miles up
river rom the mouth o the .ongo. The .entral Station was a location called
1inshasa, and both these locations mar&ed a stretch o river impassable by
steamboat, upon which (arlow ta&es a "two%hundred mile tramp."
The .ompany was in reality a company ormed by 1ing #eopold 22 o 9elgium
charged with running the country o the .ongo @ree State in <==A. The .ongo
@ree State was voted into e3istence by the .ongress o 9erlin, which .onrad
reers to sarcastically in his novella as "the 2nternational Society or the
Suppression o Savage .ustoms."
#eopold 22 declared the .ongo @ree State his personal property in <=>B, legally
permitting the 9elgians to ta&e what ivory they wished rom the area without
having to trade with the ,rican natives. This caused a rise in atrocities
perpetrated by the 9elgian traders similar i not identical to those perpetrated
by the 4ctional 1urt$.
The .ongo @ree State was ta&en out o the personal property o the &ing and
made a regular colony o 9elgium, called 9elgian .ongo, in <>?=, ater the
e3tent o atrocities committed there became generally &nown in the "est,
partially through .onrad's novel. 9elgian .ongo received its independence rom
9elgium in <>C?, becoming the independent -emocratic 6epublic o the .ongo.
The country then was called Dairium.
Controversy
2n a post%colonial reading, the Eigerian writer .hinua ,chebe amously
critici$ed the Heart of Darkness in his <>FA lecture ,n 2mage o ,ricaG 6acism
in .onrad's "Heart o -ar&ness", saying the novel de%humani$ed ,ricans,
denied them language and culture, and reduced them to a metaphorical
e3tension o the dar& and dangerous :ungle into which the Europeans venture.
,chebe's lecture prompted a lively debate, reactions at the time ranged rom
dismay and outrage % ,chebe recounted a Hroessor Emeritus rom the
Iniversity o (assachusetts saying to ,chebe ater the lecture, "How dare you
upset everything we have taught, everything we teachJ Heart of Darkness is
the most widely taught te3t in the university in this country. So how dare you
say itKs diLerentJ" to .edric "atts' A Bloody Racist: About Achebe's View of
Conrad *<>=M+, which sets out to reute ,chebe's criti!ue. 0ther criti!ues
include Hugh .urtler's Achebe on Conrad: Racism and reatness in Heart of
Darkness *<>>F+.
2n 1ing #eopold's 5host *<>>=+, ,dam Hochschild argues that literary scholars
have made too much o the psychological aspects o Heart of Darkness while
scanting the moral horror o .onrad's accurate recounting o the methods and
eLects o colonialism. He !uotes .onrad as saying, "Heart of Darkness is
e3perience...pushed a little *and only very little+ beyond the actual acts o the
case."
Heart o -ar&ness is also critici$ed or its characteri$ation o women. 2n the
novel, (arlow says that "2t's !ueer how out o touch with truth women are."
(arlow also suggests that women have to be sheltered rom the truth in order
to &eep their own antasy world rom "shattering beore the 4rst sunset."
Readings of Heart of Darkness
The most amous reading o .onradKs Heart o -ar&ness is @rancis @ord
.oppolaKs <>F> movie ,pocalypse Eow, which translates the conte3t o the
narrative rom the .ongo into /ietnam.
Some read this through the eyes and wor&s o Eiet$sche and N"ill to HowerK
theories, where society no longer wor&s or its own good but or the good o
one man. 1urt$ could be read as being the embodiment o Obermensch or
super man, an almost antichrist 4gure whom society has built itsel around. 2n
the novel, 1urt$ reuses to leave the station) he is N&ingK to the people, although
he is not rom those people. There is a star& contrast rom the middle station
where (arlow has a long tre& over land and laments on the slavery o the
blac&s to the almost godli&e 4gure 1urt$ has become or the same people at
the inland station.
Postimperial and postcolonial literature in English
The literal heart o dar&ness in .onrad's novel Heart o -ar&ness does not
merely incorporate the 9elgian .ongo, the ,rican savages, the :ourney to the
innermost soul, and England as the corruptor in its attempted coloni$ation o
the ,rican people or sel4sh and commercial purposes. 2n ",n 2mage o ,ricaG
6acism in .onrad's Heart of Darkness" ,chebe accuses .onrad o racism as the
essential "heart o dar&ness."
Heart of Darkness pro:ects the image o ,rica as 'the other world,' the
antithesis o Europe and thereore o civili$ation, a place where man's vaunted
intelligence and re4nement are 4nally moc&ed by triumphant bestiality... 2t is
not the diLerentness that worries .onrad but the lur&ing hint o &inship, o
common ancestry. @or the Thames too 'has been one o the dar& places o the
earth.' 2t con!uered its dar&ness, o course, and is now in daylight and at
peace. 9ut i it were to visit its primordial relative, the .ongo, it would run the
terrible ris& o hearing grotes!ue echoes o its own orgotten dar&ness, and
alling victim to an avenging recrudescence o the mindless ren$y o the 4rst
beginnings.
0ne might contend that this attitude toward the ,rican in Heart of Darkness
does not belong to .onrad, but rather to (arlow, and that ar rom endorsing it
".onrad might indeed be holding it up to irony and criticism." ,ccording to
,chebe ".onrad appears to go to considerable pains to set up layers o
insulation between himsel and the moral universe o his story." @or e3ample,
.onrad has a narrator behind a narrator %% he gives us (arlow's account
through the 4lter o a second person. ,chebe thus elucidates how ".onrad
seems...to approve o (arlow, with only minor reservations %% a act reinorced
by the similarities between their two careers."
@urthermore, ,chebe views .onrad as espousing a &ind o liberalism that
"touched all the best minds o the age in England, Europe and ,merica. 2t too&
diLerent orms in the minds o diLerent people but almost always managed to
sidestep the ultimate !uestion o e!uality between white people and blac&
people... P.onradQ would not use the word 'brother' however !uali4ed) the
arthest he would go was '&inship.'" in Heart of Darkness. 6ecogni$ing this
undamental 'aw in .onrad, ,chebe thus labels the white European author a
"thoroughgoing racist".
,lthough many students "will point out to you that .onrad is, i anything, less
charitable to the Europeans in the story than he is to the natives, that the point
o the story is to ridicule Europe's civili$ing mission in ,rica", and despite the
act that ,chebe recogni$es to a certain e3tent that ,rica serves as a setting
and bac&drop which eliminates the ,rican as a human actor, he challenges
readers o Heart of Darkness to "see the preposterous and perverse arrogance
in thus reducing ,rica to the role o props or the brea&%up o one petty
European mind." 9ut ,chebe does not see this as the real point. 2nstead, "the
real !uestion is the dehumani$ation o ,rica and ,ricans which this age%long
attitude has ostered and continues to oster in the world." Ruestioning
whether a novel which "celebrates this dehumani$ation, which depersonali$es
a portion o the human race, can be called a great wor& o art", ,chebe
responds by doubting .onrad's talents as a writer.
,chebe accounts or .onrad's racism against blac& ,ricans because o his
personal history%% "there remains still in .onrad's attitude a residue o antipathy
to blac& people which his peculiar psychology alone can e3plain. His own
account o his 4rst encounter with a blac& man is very revealingG
, certain enormous buc& nigger encountered in Haiti 43ed my P.onrad'sQ
conception o blind, urious, unreasoning rage, as maniested in the human
animal to the end o my days. 0 the nigger 2 used to dream or years
aterwards.
.ertainly .onrad had a problem with niggers."
Thus, ,chebe clearly sees Heart of Darkness as a racist te3t, one "which
parades in the most vulgar ashion pre:udices and insults rom which a section
o man&ind has suLered untold agonies and atrocities in the past and continues
to do so in many ways and many places today. PHe isQ tal&ing about a story in
which the very humanity o blac& people is called into !uestion" However,
,chebe partly does save the reputation o .onrad when he concedes that
".onrad did not originate the image o ,rica which we 4nd in his boo&. 2t was
and is the dominant image o ,rica in the "estern imagination... .onrad saw
and condemned the evil o imperial e3ploitation but was strangely unaware o
the racism on which it sharpened its iron tooth."
1. There has been serious criticism regarding the racism and gender bias of Conrad's Heart
of Darkness. Read the following extract from Chinua Achebe's An Image of Africa Racism in
Conrad's Heart of Darkness and then answer the !uestion below
""#tudents of Heart of Darkness will often tell $ou that Conrad is concerned not so much
with Africa as with the deterioration of one %uro&ean mind caused b$ solitude and sickness.
The$ will &oint out to $ou that Conrad is' if an$thing' less charitable to the %uro&eans in the
stor$ than he is to the nati(es' that the &oint of the stor$ is to ridicule %uro&e's ci(ili)ing
mission in Africa. A Conrad student informed me in #cotland that Africa is merel$ a setting
for the disintegration of the mind of *r +urt).
,hich is &artl$ the &oint Africa as setting and backdro& which eliminates the African as
human factor' Africa as a meta&h$sical battlefield de(oid of all recogni)able humanit$' into
which the wandering %uro&ean enters at his &eril. Can nobod$ see the &re&osterous and
&er(erse arrogance in thus reducing Africa to the role of &ro&s for the break-u& of one
&ett$ %uro&ean mind. /ut that is not e(en the &oint. The real !uestion is the dehumani)ation
of Africa and Africans which this age-long attitude has 0orstered and continues to 0orster in
the world. And the !uestion is whether a no(el which celebrates this dehumani)ation' which
de&ersonali)es a &ortion of the human race' can be called a great work of art11.
a2 Discuss Achebe's o&inion in relation to the text.
In the late 1345's' Chinua Achebe wrote a criticism of 6ose&h Conrad's no(el Heart of
Darkness entitled 7An Image of Africa Racism in Conrad's Heart of Darkness7. Throughout
his essa$' Achebe notes how Conrad sets Africa u& as a foil to %uro&e b$ &ro8ecting Africa as
the antithesis of %uro&e and therefore of ci(ili)ation. Achebe9s main argument in this essa$
is that 6ose&h Conrad is a 7thoroughgoing racist7 and his no(el is a reflection of that. He
e(en claims that Conrad was :a blood$ racist9.
Achebe accounts for Conrad's racism against black Africans because of his &ersonal histor$--
7there remains still in Conrad's attitude a residue of anti&ath$ to black &eo&le which his
&eculiar &s$cholog$ alone can ex&lain. His own account of his first encounter with a black man
is (er$ re(ealing A certain enormous buck nigger encountered in Haiti fixed m$ ;Conrad's<
conce&tion of blind' furious' unreasoning rage' as manifested in the human animal to the end
of m$ da$s. =f the nigger I used to dream for $ears afterwards. Certainl$ Conrad had a
&roblem with niggers.7
To Achebe' Conrad 7chose the role of &ur(e$or of comforting m$ths7 in his &ortra$al of the
nati(es.
Another bone of contention for Achebe is Conrad's &ortra$al of the African woman and of
+urt)'s 7Intended7. He suggests that Conrad endows one with language and the other
without> one's status is lo(er the other is mistress. The African woman 7fulfils a structural
re!uirement of the stor$ a sa(age counter&art to refined' %uro&ean woman who will ste&
forth to end the stor$.7 This reflects the essence of Conrad's failure to deal with the
ine!ualities between blacks and whites. Achebe claims that the blacks are de&icted as
cannibals' when the$ s&eak intimating Conrad has effecti(el$ &ainted the face of a cannibal.
Ad(ices for writing an essa$
,hen writing $our essa$ $ou must assess to what extent was Conrad reflecting the (iews of
his era as well as whether Achebe's &olemic is aimed against Conrad' or against an entire
s$stem of thought. In this sense' $ou should also assess whether Conrad is an exem&lar in
this account' or a sca&egoat.
?ou should also consider the two (er$ different historical contexts for the texts the
colonial &eriod' for Conrad's no(el and this &ostmodern &ostcolonial &eriod for Achebe's
essa$. Include an e(aluation of how the different historical moments affect diffrerent
readings.
Include an anal$sis considering that Achebe treats *arlowe's character as the s&eaker of
Conrad's theories.
Conclude b$ stating whether $ou agree or disagree with Achebe's (iews.
HEART OF DARKNESS. Joseph Conrad
CONTEXT
Conrads works, Heart of Darkness in particular, provide a bridge between Victorian values and the
ideals of modernism !ike their Victorian predecessors, these novels rel" on traditional ideas of
heroism, which are nevertheless under constant attack in a changing world and in places far from
England #omen occup" traditional roles as arbiters of domesticit" and moralit", "et the" are
almost never present in the narrative
Heart of Darkness is about alienation, confusion, and profound doubt as it is about imperialism
$mperialism is nevertheless at the center of Heart of Darkness. %" the &'()s, most of the worlds
*dark places+ had been placed at least nominall" under European control, and the ma,or European
powers were stretched thin, tr"ing to administer and protect massive, far-flung empires Cracks
were beginning to appear in the s"stem. riots, wars, and the wholesale abandonment of commercial
enterprises all threatened the white men living in the distant corners of empires Heart of Darkness
suggests that this is the natural result when men are allowed to operate outside a social s"stem of
checks and balances. power, especiall" power over other human beings, inevitabl" corrupts /t the
same time, this begs the 0uestion of whether it is possible to call an individual insane or wrong
when he is part of a s"stem that is so thoroughl" corrupted and corrupting Heart of Darkness, thus,
at its most abstract level, is a narrative about the difficult" of understanding the world be"ond the
self, about the abilit" of one man to ,udge another
Plot Overvie
1E/2T O3 4/25NE66 centers around 7arlow, an introspective sailor, and his ,ourne" up the Congo
2iver to meet 5urt8, reputed to be an idealistic man of great abilities 7arlow takes a ,ob as a
riverboat captain with the Compan", a %elgian concern organi8ed to trade in the Congo /s he
travels to /frica and then up the Congo, 7arlow encounters widespread inefficienc" and brutalit"
in the Compan"s stations The native inhabitants of the region have been forced into the
Compan"s service, and the" suffer terribl" from overwork and ill treatment at the hands of the
Compan"s agents The cruelt" and s0ualor of imperial enterprise contrasts sharpl" with the
impassive and ma,estic ,ungle that surrounds the white mans settlements, making them appear to
be tin" islands amidst a vast darkness
7arlow arrives at the Central 6tation, run b" the general manager, an unwholesome, conspiratorial
character 1e finds that his steamship has been sunk and spends several months waiting for parts to
repair it 1is interest in 5urt8 grows during this period The manager and his favourite, the
brickmaker, seem to fear 5urt8 as a threat to their position 5urt8 is rumoured to be ill, making the
dela"s in repairing the ship all the more costl" 7arlow eventuall" gets the parts he needs to repair
his ship, and he and the manager set out with a few agents 9whom 7arlow calls pilgrims because of
their strange habit of carr"ing long, wooden staves wherever the" go: and a crew of cannibals on a
long, difficult vo"age up the river The dense ,ungle and the oppressive silence make ever"one
aboard a little ,ump", and the occasional glimpse of a native village or the sound of drums works
the pilgrims into fren8"
7arlow and his crew come across a hut with stacked firewood, together with a note sa"ing that the
wood is for them but that the" should approach cautiousl" 6hortl" after the steamer has taken on
the firewood, it is surrounded b" a dense fog #hen the fog clears, the ship is attacked b" an unseen
band of natives, who fire arrows from the safet" of the forest The /frican helmsman is killed
before 7arlow frightens the natives awa" with the ships steam whistle Not long after, 7arlow and
his companions arrive at 5urt8s $nner 6tation, e;pecting to find him dead, but a half-cra8ed
2ussian trader, who meets them as the" come ashore, assures them that ever"thing is fine and
informs them that he is the one who left the wood The 2ussian claims that 5urt8 has enlarged his
mind and cannot be sub,ected to the same moral ,udgments as normal people /pparentl", 5urt8 has
established himself as a god with the natives and has gone on brutal raids in the surrounding
territor" in search of ivor" The collection of severed heads adorning the fence posts around the
station attests to his *methods+ The pilgrims bring 5urt8 out of the station-house on a stretcher, and
a large group of native warriors pours out of the forest and surrounds them 5urt8 speaks to them,
and the natives disappear into the woods
The manager brings 5urt8, who is 0uite ill, aboard the steamer / beautiful native woman,
apparentl" 5urt8s mistress, appears on the shore and stares out at the ship The 2ussian implies that
she is somehow involved with 5urt8 and has caused trouble before through her influence over him
The 2ussian reveals to 7arlow, after swearing him to secrec", that 5urt8 had ordered the attack on
the steamer to make them believe he was dead in order that the" might turn back and leave him to
his plans The 2ussian then leaves b" canoe, fearing the displeasure of the manager 5urt8
disappears in the night, and 7arlow goes out in search of him, finding him crawling on all fours
toward the native camp 7arlow stops him and convinces him to return to the ship The" set off
down the river the ne;t morning, but 5urt8s health is failing fast
7arlow listens to 5urt8 talk while he pilots the ship, and 5urt8 entrusts 7arlow with a packet of
personal documents, including an elo0uent pamphlet on civili8ing the savages which ends with a
scrawled message that sa"s, *E;terminate all the brutes<+ The steamer breaks down, and the" have
to stop for repairs 5urt8 dies, uttering his last words=*The horror< The horror<+= in the presence
of the confused 7arlow 7arlow falls ill soon after and barel" survives Eventuall" he returns to
Europe and goes to see 5urt8s $ntended 9his fianc>e: 6he is still in mourning, even though it has
been over a "ear since 5urt8s death, and she praises him as a paragon of virtue and achievement
6he asks what his last words were, but 7arlow cannot bring himself to shatter her illusions with the
truth $nstead, he tells her that 5urt8s last word was her name
Chara!ter "ist
#arlo - The protagonist of Heart of Darkness. 7arlow is philosophical, independent-minded,
and generall" sceptical of those around him 1e is also a master stor"teller, elo0uent and able to
draw his listeners into his tale /lthough 7arlow shares man" of his fellow Europeans pre,udices,
he has seen enough of the world and has encountered enough debased white men to make him
sceptical of imperialism
K$rt% - The chief of the $nner 6tation and the ob,ect of 7arlows 0uest 5urt8 is a man of man"
talents=we learn, among other things, that he is a gifted musician and a fine painter=the chief of
which are his charisma and his abilit" to lead men 5urt8 is a man who understands the power of
words, and his writings are marked b" an elo0uence that obscures their horrif"ing message
/lthough he remains an enigma even to 7arlow, 5urt8 clearl" e;erts a powerful influence on the
people in his life 1is downfall seems to be a result of his willingness to ignore the h"pocritical
rules that govern European colonial conduct. 5urt8 has *kicked himself loose of the earth+ b"
fraterni8ing e;cessivel" with the natives and not keeping up appearances? in so doing, he has
become wildl" successful but has also incurred the wrath of his fellow white men
&eneral #ana'er - The chief agent of the Compan" in its /frican territor", who runs the Central
6tation 1e owes his success to a hard" constitution that allows him to outlive all his competitors
1e is average in appearance and unremarkable in abilities, but he possesses a strange capacit" to
produce uneasiness in those around him, keeping ever"one sufficientl" unsettled for him to e;ert his
control over them
(ri!)*a)er - The brickmaker, whom 7arlow also meets at the Central 6tation, is a favourite of
the manager and seems to be a kind of corporate sp" 1e never actuall" produces an" bricks, as he
is supposedl" waiting for some essential element that is never delivered 1e is pett" and conniving
and assumes that other people are, too
Chie+ A!!o$ntant - /n efficient worker with an incredible habit of dressing up in spotless whites
and keeping himself absolutel" tid" despite the s0ualor and heat of the Outer 6tation, where he lives
and works 1e is one of the few colonials who seems to have accomplished an"thing. he has trained
a native woman to care for his wardrobe
Pil'ri*s - The bumbling, greed" agents of the Central 6tation The" carr" long wooden staves
with them ever"where, reminding 7arlow of traditional religious travelers The" all want to be
appointed to a station so that the" can trade for ivor" and earn a commission, but none of them
actuall" takes an" effective steps toward achieving this goal The" are obsessed with keeping up a
veneer of civili8ation and proper conduct, and are motivated entirel" b" self-interest The" hate the
natives and treat them like animals, although in their greed and ridiculousness the" appear less than
human themselves
Canni,als - Natives hired as the crew of the steamer, a surprisingl" reasonable and well-tempered
bunch 7arlow respects their restraint and their calm acceptance of adversit" The leader of the
group, in particular, seems to be intelligent and capable of ironic reflection upon his situation
R$ssian trader - / 2ussian sailor who has gone into the /frican interior as the trading
representative of a 4utch compan" 1e is bo"ish in appearance and temperament, and seems to
e;ist wholl" on the glamour of "outh and the audacit" of adventurousness 1is brightl" patched
clothes remind 7arlow of a harle0uin 1e is a devoted disciple of 5urt8s
Hel*s*an / "oung man from the coast trained b" 7arlows predecessor to pilot the steamer 1e is
a serviceable pilot, although 7arlow never comes to view him as much more than a mechanical part
of the boat 1e is killed when the steamer is attacked b" natives hiding on the riverbanks
K$rt%-s A+ri!an *istress - / fiercel" beautiful woman loaded with ,eweller" who appears on the
shore when 7arlows steamer arrives at and leaves the $nner 6tation 6he seems to e;ert an undue
influence over both 5urt8 and the natives around the station, and the 2ussian trader points her out
as someone to fear !ike 5urt8, she is an enigma. she never speaks to 7arlow, and he never learns
an"thing more about her
K$rt%-s .ntended - 5urt8s naive and long-suffering fianc>e, whom 7arlow goes to visit after
5urt8s death 1er unshakable certaint" about 5urt8s love for her reinforces 7arlows belief that
women live in a dream world, well insulated from realit"
A$nt - 7arlows doting relative, who secures him a position with the Compan" 6he believes firml"
in imperialism as a charitable activit" that brings civili8ation and religion to suffering simple
savages 6he, too, is an e;ample for 7arlow of the na@vet> and illusions of women
The *en a,oard the Nellie - 7arlows friends, who are with him aboard a ship on the Thames at
the stor"s opening The" are the audience for the central stor" of Heart of Darkness, which 7arlow
narrates /ll have been sailors at one time or another, but all now have important ,obs ashore and
have settled into middle-class, middle-aged lives The" represent the kind of man 7arlow would
have likel" become had he not gone to /frica. well meaning and moral but ignorant as to a large
part of the world be"ond England The narrator in particular seems to be shaken b" 7arlows stor"
1e repeatedl" comments on its obscurit" and 7arlows own m"sterious nature
Fresleven - 7arlows predecessor as captain of the steamer 3resleven, b" all accounts a good-
tempered, nonviolent man, was killed in a dispute over some hens, apparentl" after striking a village
chief
Anal/sis o+ #a0or Chara!ters
#arlo
/lthough 7arlow appears in several of Conrads other works, it is important not to view him as
merel" a surrogate for the author 7arlow is a complicated man who anticipates the figures of high
modernism while also reflecting his Victorian predecessors 7arlow is in man" wa"s a traditional
hero. tough, honest, an independent thinker, a capable man Aet he is also *broken+ or *damaged,+
like T 6 Eliots B /lfred Crufrock or #illiam 3aulkners Duentin Compson The world has
defeated him in some fundamental wa", and he is wear", sceptical, and c"nical 7arlow also
mediates between the figure of the intellectual and that of the *working tough+ #hile he is clearl"
intelligent, elo0uent, and a natural philosopher, he is not saddled with the angst of centuries worth
of #estern thought /t the same time, while he is highl" skilled at what he does=he repairs and
then abl" pilots his own ship=he is no mere manual labourer #ork, for him, is a distraction, a
concrete alternative to the posturing and e;cuse-making of those around him
7arlow can also be read as an intermediar" between the two e;tremes of 5urt8 and the Compan"
1e is moderate enough to allow the reader to identif" with him, "et open-minded enough to identif"
at least partiall" with either e;treme Thus, he acts as a guide for the reader 7arlows intermediar"
position can be seen in his eventual illness and recover" Enlike those who trul" confront or at least
acknowledge /frica and the darkness within themselves, 7arlow does not die, but unlike the
Compan" men, who focus onl" on mone" and advancement, 7arlow suffers horribl" 1e is thus
*contaminated+ b" his e;periences and memories, and, like Coleridges /ncient 7ariner, destined,
as purgation or penance, to repeat his stor" to all who will listen
K$rt%
5urt8, like 7arlow, can be situated within a larger tradition 5urt8 resembles the archet"pal *evil
genius+. the highl" gifted but ultimatel" degenerate individual whose fall is the stuff of legend
5urt8 is related to figures like 3austus, 6atan in 7iltons Paradise Lost, Moby-Dicks /hab, and
Wuthering Heightss 1eathcliff !ike these characters, he is significant both for his st"le and
elo0uence and for his grandiose, almost megalomaniacal scheming $n a world of mundanel"
malicious men and *flabb" devils,+ attracting enough attention to be worth" of damnation is indeed
something 5urt8 can be critici8ed in the same terms that Heart of Darkness is sometimes critici8ed.
st"le entirel" overrules substance, providing a ,ustification for amoralit" and evil
$n fact, it can be argued that st"le does not ,ust override substance but actuall" masks the fact that
5urt8 is utterl" lacking in substance 7arlow refers to 5urt8 as *hollow+ more than once This
could be taken negativel", to mean that 5urt8 is not worth" of contemplation 1owever, it also
points to 5urt8s abilit" to function as a *choice of nightmares+ for 7arlow. in his essential
emptiness, he becomes a cipher, a site upon which other things can be pro,ected This emptiness
should not be read as benign, however, ,ust as 5urt8s elo0uence should not be allowed to
overshadow the malice of his actions $nstead, 5urt8 provides 7arlow with a set of parado;es that
7arlow can use to evaluate himself and the Compan"s men
$ndeed, 5urt8 is not so much a full" reali8ed individual as a series of images constructed b" others
for their own use /s 7arlows visits with 5urt8s cousin, the %elgian ,ournalist, and 5urt8s
fianc>e demonstrate, there seems to be no true 5urt8 To his cousin, he was a great musician? to the
,ournalist, a brilliant politician and leader of men? to his fianc>e, a great humanitarian and genius
/ll of these contrast with 7arlows version of the man, and he is left doubting the validit" of his
memories Aet 5urt8, through his charisma and larger-than-life plans, remains with 7arlow and
with the reader
The*es
The H/po!ris/ o+ .*perialis*
Heart of Darkness e;plores the issues surrounding imperialism in complicated wa"s /s 7arlow
travels from the Outer 6tation to the Central 6tation and finall" up the river to the $nner 6tation, he
encounters scenes of torture, cruelt", and near-slaver" /t the ver" least, the incidental scener" of
the book offers a harsh picture of colonial enterprise The impetus behind 7arlows adventures, too,
has to do with the h"pocris" inherent in the rhetoric used to ,ustif" imperialism The men who work
for the Compan" describe what the" do as *trade,+ and their treatment of native /fricans is part of a
benevolent pro,ect of *civili8ation+ 5urt8, on the other hand, is open about the fact that he does not
trade but rather takes ivor" b" 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 honest" leads to his downfall, as his success threatens to e;pose the
evil practices behind European activit" in /frica
1owever, for 7arlow as much as for 5urt8 or for the Compan", /fricans in this book are mostl"
ob,ects. 7arlow refers to his helmsman as a piece of machiner", and 5urt8s /frican mistress is at
best a piece of statuar" $t can be argued that Heart of Darkness participates in an oppression of
nonwhites that is much more sinister and much harder to remed" than the open abuses of 5urt8 or
the Compan"s men /fricans become for 7arlow a mere backdrop, a human screen against which
he can pla" out his philosophical and e;istential struggles Their e;istence and their e;oticism
enable his self-contemplation This kind of dehumani8ation is harder to identif" than colonial
violence or open racism #hile Heart of Darkness offers a powerful condemnation of the
h"pocritical operations of imperialism, it also presents a set of issues surrounding race that is
ultimatel" more troubling
#adness as a Res$lt o+ .*perialis*
7adness is closel" linked to imperialism in this book /frica is responsible for mental
disintegration as well as for ph"sical illness 7adness has two primar" functions 3irst, it serves as
an ironic device to engage the readers s"mpathies 5urt8, 7arlow is told from the beginning, is
mad 1owever, as 7arlow, and the reader, begin to form a more complete picture of 5urt8, it
becomes apparent that his madness is onl" relative, that in the conte;t of the Compan" insanit" is
difficult to define Thus, both 7arlow and the reader begin to s"mpathi8e with 5urt8 and view the
Compan" with suspicion 7adness also functions to establish the necessit" of social fictions
/lthough social mores and e;planator" ,ustifications are shown throughout Heart of Darkness to be
utterl" false and even leading to evil, the" are nevertheless necessar" for both group harmon" and
individual securit" 7adness, 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 7adness is thus linked not onl" to
absolute power and a kind of moral genius but to mans fundamental fallibilit". 5urt8 has no
authorit" to whom he answers but himself, and this is more than an" one man can bear
The A,s$rdit/ o+ Evil
This novella is, above all, an e;ploration of h"pocris", ambiguit", and moral confusion $t e;plodes
the idea of the proverbial choice between the lesser of two evils /s the idealistic 7arlow is forced
to align himself with either the h"pocritical and malicious colonial bureaucrac" or the openl"
malevolent, rule-def"ing 5urt8, it becomes increasingl" clear that to tr" to ,udge either alternative is
an act of foll". how can moral standards or social values be relevant in ,udging evilF $s there such
thing as insanit" in a world that has alread" gone insaneF The number of ridiculous situations
7arlow witnesses act as reflections of the larger issue. at one station, for instance, he sees a man
tr"ing to carr" water in a bucket with a large hole in it /t the Outer 6tation, he watches native
labourers blast awa" at a hillside with no particular goal in mind The absurd involves both
insignificant silliness and life-or-death issues, often simultaneousl" That the serious and the
mundane are treated similarl" suggests a profound moral confusion and a tremendous h"pocris". it
is terrif"ing that 5urt8s homicidal megalomania and a leak" bucket provoke essentiall" the same
reaction from 7arlow
#oti+s
O,servation and Eavesdroppin'
7arlow gains a great deal of information b" watching the world around him and b" overhearing
others conversations, as when he listens from the deck of the wrecked steamer to the manager of
the Central 6tation and his uncle discussing 5urt8 and the 2ussian trader This phenomenon speaks
to the impossibilit" of direct communication between individuals. information must come as the
result of chance observation and astute interpretation #ords themselves fail to capture meaning
ade0uatel", and thus the" must be taken in the conte;t of their utterance /nother good e;ample of
this is 7arlows conversation with the brickmaker, during which 7arlow is able to figure out a
good deal more than simpl" what the man has to sa"
.nteriors and E1teriors
Comparisons between interiors and e;teriors pervade Heart of Darkness. /s the narrator states at
the beginning of the te;t, 7arlow is more interested in surfaces, in the surrounding aura of a thing
rather than in an" hidden nugget of meaning deep within the thing itself This inverts the usual
hierarch" of meaning. normall" one seeks the deep message or hidden truth The priorit" placed on
observation demonstrates that penetrating to the interior of an idea or a person is impossible in this
world Thus, 7arlow is confronted with a series of e;teriors and surfaces=the rivers banks, the
forest walls around the station, 5urt8s broad forehead=that he must interpret These e;teriors are
all the material he is given, and the" provide him with perhaps a more profound source of
knowledge than an" falsel" constructed interior *kernel+
4arkness is important enough conceptuall" to be part of the books title 1owever, it is difficult to
discern e;actl" what it might mean, given that absolutel" ever"thing in the book is cloaked in
darkness /frica, England, and %russels are all described as gloom" and somehow dark, even if the
sun is shining brightl" 4arkness thus seems to operate metaphoricall" and e;istentiall" rather than
specificall" 4arkness is the inabilit" to see. this ma" sound simple, but as a description of the
human condition it has profound implications 3ailing to see another human being means failing to
understand that individual and failing to establish an" sort of s"mpathetic communion with him or
her
S/*,ols
Fo'
3og is a sort of corollar" to darkness 3og not onl" obscures but distorts. it gives one ,ust enough
information to begin making decisions but no wa" to ,udge the accurac" of that information, which
often ends up being wrong 7arlows 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 2hited Sep$l!hre
The *whited sepulchre+ is probabl" %russels, where the Compan"s head0uarters are located /
sepulchre implies death and confinement, and indeed Europe is the origin of the colonial enterprises
that bring death to white men and to their colonial sub,ects? it is also governed b" a set of reified
social principles that both enable cruelt", dehumani8ation, and evil and prohibit change The phrase
*whited sepulchre+ comes from the biblical %ook of 7atthew $n the passage, 7atthew describes
*whited sepulchres+ as something beautiful on the outside but containing horrors within 9the bodies
of the dead:? thus, the image is appropriate for %russels, given the h"pocritical %elgian rhetoric
about imperialisms civili8ing mission 9%elgian colonies, particularl" the Congo, were notorious
for the violence perpetuated against the natives:
2o*en
%oth 5urt8s $ntended and his /frican mistress function as blank slates upon which the values and
the wealth of their respective societies can be displa"ed 7arlow fre0uentl" claims that women are
the keepers of naive illusions? although this sounds condemnator", such a role is in fact crucial, as
these naive illusions are at the root of the social fictions that ,ustif" economic enterprise and
colonial e;pansion $n return, the women are the beneficiaries of much of the resulting wealth, and
the" become ob,ects upon which men can displa" their own success and status
The River
The Congo 2iver is the ke" to /frica for Europeans $t allows them access to the centre of the
continent without having to ph"sicall" cross it? in other words, it allows the white man to remain
alwa"s separate or outside /frica is thus reduced to a series of two-dimensional scenes that flash b"
7arlows steamer as he travels upriver The river also seems to want to e;pel Europeans from
/frica altogether. its current makes travel upriver slow and difficult, but the flow of water makes
travel downriver, back toward *civili8ation,+ rapid and seemingl" inevitable 7arlows struggles
with the river as he travels upstream toward 5urt8 reflect his struggles to understand the situation in
which he has found himself The ease with which he ,ourne"s back downstream, on the other hand,
mirrors his ac0uiescence to 5urt8 and his *choice of nightmares+
NARRATOR
There are two narrators. an anon"mous passenger on a pleasure ship, who listens to 7arlows stor",
and 7arlow himself, a middle-aged ships captain
PO.NT OF 3.E2
The first narrator speaks in the first-person plural, on behalf of four other passengers who listen to
7arlows tale 7arlow narrates his stor" in the first person, describing onl" what he witnessed and
e;perienced, and providing his own commentar" on the stor"
ACHE(E4S CR.T.56E
This novel opens with 7arlow noting that England was once one of the dark places of the earth
This can be read two wa"s 3irst, 7arlow ma" mean that *#estern+ civili8ation is ,ust as barbarous
as /frican civili8ations This reading ma" contradict the European belief that white men are more
*civili8ed+ than their colonial sub,ects, but it hardl" mitigates racist notions about primitive or
degraded *savages+. it ,ust means that Europeans are as *bad+ as that which the" have constructed
as the lowest form of humanit" The second wa" to read 7arlows comment is as a reference to the
historical precedent for coloni8ation of other peoples England, after all, was once a 2oman colon"
/gain, this reading is more ambiguous than it seems On the one hand, it implies that all peoples
need a more advanced civili8ation to come along and save them? on the other hand, though, it also
implies that the %ritish would and did react to an e;ploitative colonial presence in the same wa" the
/fricans are reacting The ambiguit" and angst inherent in the statements this book makes about
imperialism suggest that /chebes condemnation is too simple /dditionall", moments of iron" and
narrative unreliabilit" are scattered throughout the te;t, suggesting that Conrad does indeed provide
a framework against which 1eart of 4arkness can be read as critical or ironic /t the same time, the
fact that /frica is set up as a place where white men can go to have profound e;periences and think
philosophicall" could be read as reinforcing /chebes claim that */frica Gis usedH as GaH setting and
backdrop which eliminates the /frican as human factor+ in a troubling wa"

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