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Heart of Darkness
by Joseph Conrad

Introduction of the writer?

Joseph Conrad was a Polish-British writer regarded as one of the greatest novelists to write in the
English language. Though he did not speak English fluently until his twenties, he came to be regarded
a master prose stylist who brought a non-English sensibility into English literature.
Born: December 3, 1857, Berdychiv, Ukraine
Died: August 3, 1924, Bishopsbourne, United Kingdom

Introduction of the Novella?

Heart of Darkness is a novella by Polish-English novelist Joseph Conrad in which the sailor Charles
Marlow tells his listeners the story of his assignment as steamer captain for a Belgian company in the
African interior.

Originally published: April 1899

Author: Joseph Conrad
Genres: Novella, Fiction, Roman à clef
Original language: English

How many pages is the heart of darkness?

The Heart of Darkness is a 72-page controversial novel written in 1899. Typically, it would take an
average reader at least 3 hours and 45 minutes to read it, but you can finish it in 77 minutes reading
at a pace of 500 words per minute
What is the setting in Heart of Darkness?
Setting (time) Latter part of the nineteenth century, probably sometime between 1876 and 1892
Setting (place) Opens on the Thames River outside London, where Marlow is telling the story that
makes up Heart of Darkness. Events of the story take place in Brussels, at the Company’s offices, and
in the Congo, then a Belgian territory.

What is Heart of Darkness main idea?

Heart of Darkness examines the horrors of Western colonialism, depicting it as a phenomenon that
tarnishes not only the lands and peoples it exploits but also those in the West who advance it.

What is the heart of darkness literally?

Generally, 'heart' in the phrase 'heart of darkness' means 'center', where 'darkness' symbolizes one
of two things: evil, or the unknown. The literal heart of darkness is the African jungle, into which
Marlow is venturing to find a mysterious coworker named Kurtz.

What is the theme of the story Heart of Darkness?

Heart of Darkness explores the issues surrounding imperialism in complicated ways. As Marlow
travels from the Outer Station to the Central Station and finally up the river to the Inner Station, he
encounters scenes of torture, cruelty, and near-slavery.

How does the title Heart of Darkness connect to imperialism?

Firstly, the imperialistic ideals shown in the heart of darkness is through economic exploitation
which was the main motives of colonizers. Novel depicts the western imperialism by the Belgian
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company. They came in Congo to exploit and grip its resources by brutalizing and making the natives
as their slaves.

Who is the hero of Heart of Darkness?

Marlow. The protagonist of Heart of Darkness. Marlow is philosophical, independent-minded, and
generally skeptical of those around him. He is also a master storyteller, eloquent and able to draw
his listeners into his tale.

How is Heart of Darkness an autobiographical text?

This very novel is an autobiographical note per se. It reveals the grim reality that the writer himself
faced during his sea life, depicting a vivid picture of the malpractices of the white in Africa. This novel
has been debated and discussed by many critics and scholars.

Themes
The Hypocrisy of Imperialism.
Madness as a Result of Imperialism.
The Absurdity of Evil.
Futility ("the horror and futility of war")
Contradiction and Ambivalence.
Hollowness.
Character List
Marlow
The protagonist of Heart of Darkness. Marlow is philosophical, independent-minded, and generally
skeptical of those around him. He is also a master storyteller, eloquent and able to draw his listeners
into his tale. Although Marlow shares many of his fellow Europeans’ prejudices, he has seen enough
of the world and has encountered enough debased white men to make him skeptical of imperialism.
Kurtz
The chief of the Inner Station and the object of Marlow’s quest. Kurtz is a man of many 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 ability to lead men. Kurtz is a man who understands the power of words, and his
writings are marked by an eloquence that obscures their horrifying message. Although he remains
an enigma even to Marlow, Kurtz clearly exerts a powerful influence on the people in his life. His
downfall seems to be a result of his willingness to ignore the hypocritical rules that govern European
colonial conduct: Kurtz has “kicked himself loose of the earth” by fraternizing excessively with the
natives and not keeping up appearances; in so doing, he has become wildly successful but has also
incurred the wrath of his fellow white men.
General manager
The chief agent of the Company in its African territory, who runs the Central Station. He owes his
success to a hardy constitution that allows him to outlive all his competitors. He is average in
appearance and unremarkable in abilities, but he possesses a strange capacity to produce
uneasiness in those around him, keeping everyone sufficiently unsettled for him to exert his control
over them.
Brickmaker
The brickmaker, whom Marlow also meets at the Central Station, is a favorite of the manager and
seems to be a kind of corporate spy. He never actually produces any bricks, as he is supposedly
waiting for some essential element that is never delivered. He is petty and conniving and assumes
that other people are too.
Chief accountant
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An efficient worker with an incredible habit of dressing up in spotless whites and keeping himself
absolutely tidy despite the squalor and heat of the Outer Station, where he lives and works. He is
one of the few colonials who seems to have accomplished anything: he has trained a native woman
to care for his wardrobe.
Pilgrims
The bumbling, greedy agents of the Central Station. They carry long wooden staves with them
everywhere, reminding Marlow of traditional religious travelers. They all want to be appointed to a
station so that they can trade for ivory and earn a commission, but none of them actually takes any
effective steps toward achieving this goal. They are obsessed with keeping up a veneer of civilization
and proper conduct, and are motivated entirely by self-interest. They hate the natives and treat
them like animals, although in their greed and ridiculousness they appear less than human
themselves.
Cannibals
Natives hired as the crew of the steamer, a surprisingly reasonable and well-tempered bunch.
Marlow respects their restraint and their calm acceptance of adversity. The leader of the group, in
particular, seems to be intelligent and capable of ironic reflection upon his situation.
Russian trader
A Russian sailor who has gone into the African interior as the trading representative of a Dutch
company. He is boyish in appearance and temperament, and seems to exist wholly on the glamour
of youth and the audacity of adventurousness. His brightly patched clothes remind Marlow of a
harlequin. He is a devoted disciple of Kurtz’s.
Helmsman
A young man from the coast trained by Marlow’s predecessor to pilot the steamer. He is a
serviceable pilot, although Marlow never comes to view him as much more than a mechanical part
of the boat. He is killed when the steamer is attacked by natives hiding on the riverbanks.
Kurtz’s African mistress
A fiercely beautiful woman loaded with jewelry who appears on the shore when Marlow’s steamer
arrives at and leaves the Inner Station. She seems to exert an undue influence over both Kurtz and
the natives around the station, and the Russian trader points her out as someone to fear. Like Kurtz,
she is an enigma: she never speaks to Marlow, and he never learns anything more about her.
Kurtz’s Intended
Kurtz’s naïve and long-suffering fiancée, whom Marlow goes to visit after Kurtz’s death. Her
unshakable certainty about Kurtz’s love for her reinforces Marlow’s belief that women live in a
dream world, well insulated from reality.
Aunt
Marlow’s doting relative, who secures him a position with the Company. She believes firmly in
imperialism as a charitable activity that brings civilization and religion to suffering, simple savages.
She, too, is an example for Marlow of the naïveté and illusions of women.
The men aboard the Nellie
Marlow’s friends, who are with him aboard a ship on the Thames at the story’s opening. They are
the audience for the central story of Heart of Darkness, which Marlow narrates. All have been sailors
at one time or another, but all now have important jobs ashore and have settled into middle-class,
middle-aged lives. They represent the kind of man Marlow would have likely become had he not
gone to Africa: well-meaning and moral but ignorant as to a large part of the world beyond England.
The narrator in particular seems to be shaken by Marlow’s story. He repeatedly comments on its
obscurity and Marlow’s own mysterious nature.

Summary
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The novel is structured as a story Marlow tells his friends onboard a boat on the Thames. As the sun
sets, Marlow becomes introspective and begins to reminisce about the time when, struggling to find
work, he decides to take a job on a steamboat in the Congo. Through his aunt he is awarded a job
working for the Company, a Belgian colonial firm that trades in ivory in Africa. From London, he
travels to an unnamed Belgian city and interviews his employers. He passes a medical exam and is
soon dispatched on a ship to the Congo.

Along the way, he begins to discover the bureaucracy and the violence of the colonial endeavor. At
his first stop in the Congo, the Outer Station, he witnesses that the Company has forced the locals
into service, whereupon they are overworked and brutalized in the name of profit. He begins to hear
rumors of a man named Kurtz, the Company’s best ivory trader who operates far up the Congo
River.

After travelling up the river to the Central Station, Marlow discovers that the steamboat he is meant
to captain has been damaged. He spends a long time repairing it, all the while hearing more about
the mysterious Kurtz. Marlow meets the General Manager (a suspicious, unwholesome man) and the
Brickmaker (an ambitious and unscrupulous person), both of whom fear Marlow and view him as a
threat to their chances of promotion. Marlow learns that Kurtz is sick, though Kurtz continues to
send ivory to the Company. When Marlow’s ship is finally repaired, he departs the Central Station
with a crew of locals and Europeans, including the General Manager. They pass by the dense jungle,
and Marlow is perturbed by the eerie silence that surrounds them. Occasionally, they hear the locals
chanting or drumming in the distance but rarely see anyone.

Further up the river, Marlow discovers an abandoned cabin with a sign offering free firewood to
anyone passing by. The sign also tells travelers to proceed with caution. After stocking up on wood,
the steamboat continues upriver and is soon enveloped by a thick fog. Marlow is worried about
damaging the boat, while the crew is worried about being attacked. The next day, as the fog lifts, the
boat comes under fire from a flurry of small arrows. Marlow cannot see the attackers but glimpses
their bodies in the forest. The crew fires rifles in response but hits nothing; Marlow ends the fight by
pulling on the steam whistle and scaring the attackers away. The boat’s African helmsman is hurt
during the attack and dies at Marlow’s feet. Marlow pushes his body in the river, annoying the
Europeans (who want to bury him in a Christian fashion) and the Africans (who want to eat him).

Shortly after, the boat arrives at Kurtz’s Inner Station. Marlow expects to find Kurtz already dead, but
a Russian trader intercepts them at the camp and tells stories of Kurtz’s inspirational actions.
Marlow believes the Russian to be half-mad but discovers that Kurtz has won the support of a local
tribe and become involved in their superstitious ceremonies. The Russian reveals that it was his
abandoned cabin that provided the wood to the men; he tries to convince Marlow that Kurtz is not
to be judged like normal people.

Marlow reads articles Kurtz has written and realizes Kurtz has tried to make himself into a god to the
local people. He has been raiding villages, killing villagers and taking their ivory; he has become
untethered from traditional conceptions of morality whilst in the jungle. Marlow sees several
severed heads stuck on stakes in the camp as evidence of Kurtz’s methods. Kurtz is carried out of his
cabin on a stretcher by the crew; when the locals try to stop them, Kurtz tells them to relent. Kurtz is
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taken to a cabin on the steamboat. He is very sick and needs urgent medical attention. Marlow sees
Kurtz’s mistress—a local woman—and the Russian implies that she has corrupted Kurtz. As the crew
plan to take Kurtz away, the Russian flees on a canoe. Before the ship departs, Kurtz tries to escape
by crawling into the jungle, but Marlow stops him.

They travel back down the river while Kurtz’s health worsens. Marlow spends most of his time with
Kurtz and is eventually entrusted with safeguarding the man’s memory. The boat breaks down,
delaying their return. Kurtz dies from his sickness. Soon, Marlow also falls sick. He is forced to return
to Europe and is nursed back to health by his aunt. People visit him to learn more about Kurtz.
Marlow visits Kurtz’s fiancé but cannot tell her the truth about what Kurtz became, so he lies to her.
Marlow ends his story, reflecting on the profound impact Kurtz made on him in a short space of
time.