Shane Morris
Eng 1020
Project Two Rhetorical Analysis on Heart of Darkness
The book “Heart of Darkness” written by Joseph Conrad in 1902 provides a bridge
between Victorian values and the ideals of modernism. Imperialism is nevertheless at the
center of Heart of Darkness. By the 1890s, most of the world's “dark places” had been placed at
least nominally under European control, and the major European powers were stretched thin,
trying to administer and protect massive, far-flung empires. (Sparknote, Heart of Darkness,
par.2) Problems were beginning to appear in society: 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 this is the natural result when men are allowed
to operate outside a social system of checks and balances: power, especially power over other
humans, eventually becomes corrupt. At the same time, this begs the question of whether it is
possible to call an individual insane or wrong when he is part of a system that is so thoroughly
corrupted and corrupting. Heart of Darkness, thus, at its most abstract level, is a narrative
about the difficulty of understanding the world beyond the self, about the ability of one man to
judge another. (Sparknote, Heart of Darkness, par.4)
Heart of Darkness centers around Marlow, an introspective sailor, and his journey up
the Congo River to meet Kurtz, reputed to be an idealistic man of great abilities. Marlow takes a
job as a riverboat captain with the Company, a Belgian concern organized to trade in the Congo.
As he travels to Africa and then up the Congo, Marlow encounters uncivil ethics and brutality in
the Company's stations. The native inhabitants of the region have been forced into the
Company's service, and they suffer terribly from overwork and ill treatment at the hands of the
Company's men. The cruelty of imperial enterprise contrasts sharply with the impassive and
majestic jungle that surrounds the white man's settlements, making them appear to be tiny
civilizations amidst a vast darkness. Marlow and his companions arrive at Kurtz's Inner Station,
expecting to find him dead, but a half-crazed Russian trader, who meets them as they come
ashore, assures them that everything is fine. The Russian claims that Kurtz has enlarged his
mind and cannot be subjected to the same moral judgments as normal people. Apparently,
Kurtz has established himself as a god with the natives and has gone on brutal raids in the
surrounding territory in search of ivory. Marlow listens to Kurtz talk while he pilots the ship,
and Kurtz entrusts Marlow with a packet of personal documents, including an eloquent
pamphlet on civilizing the savages which ends with a scrawled message that says, “Exterminate
all the brutes!” The steamer breaks down, and they have to stop for repairs. Kurtz dies,
mumbling his last words “The horror! The horror!” in the presence of the confused Marlow.
As the story unfolds it becomes clear that Marlow; the protagonist, 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 off centered white men to make him skeptical of imperialism. In this next selection you
can interpret Marlows dislike for imperialism ways. “The word 'ivory' rang in the air, was
whispered, was sighed. You would think they were praying to it. A taint of imbecile rapacity
blew through it all, like a whiff from some corpse. By Jove! I've never seen anything so unreal in
my life. And outside, the silent wilderness surrounding this cleared speck on the earth struck
me as something great and invincible, like evil or truth, waiting patiently for the passing away of
this fantastic invasion.”(pg.72). The word “ivory” has taken on a life of its own for the men who
work for the Company. To them, it is far more than the tusk of an elephant; it represents
economic freedom, social advancement, an escape from a life of being an employee. The word
has lost all connection to any physical reality and has itself become an object of worship.
Marlow's reference to a decaying corpse is both literal and figurative: elephants and native
Africans both die as a result of the white man's pursuit of ivory/imperialism, and the entire
enterprise is rotten at the core. The brutality and the greed are both part of a greater, timeless
evil, yet they are petty of the greater order of the world.
This next selection shows how the "darkness" or uncivilized part of the word leaves an
extraordinary effect on the ships crew. “The brown current ran swiftly out of the heart of
darkness, bearing us down towards the sea with twice the speed of our upward progress; and
Kurtz's life was running swiftly, too, ebbing, ebbing out of his heart into the sea of inexorable
time. . . . I saw the time approaching when I would be left alone of the party of 'unsound
method.'”(pg.143). Kurtz and his ivory aboard, brings together the images of the river and the
“heart of darkness” which it penetrates. The river is something that separates Marlow from the
African interior: while on the river he is exterior to, even if completely surrounded by, the
jungle. Furthermore, despite its “brown current,” the river inexorably brings him back to white
civilization. The first sentence of this quote suggests that Marlow and Kurtz have been able to
leave the “heart of darkness” behind, but Kurtz's life seems to be receding along with the
“darkness,” and Marlow, too, has been permanently scarred by it, since he is now marked as
being of Kurtz's party. Then it must seem that the “darkness” is in fact internalized, that it is
part of some fundamental if ironic “unsoundness.” (Monkey notes study guide edited by Diane
Sauder, par.7)
The last point to bring to your attention is the hypocrisy of imperialism this book
presents. Marlows adventure has to do with the hypocrisy inherent in the rhetoric used to
justify imperialism. The characters of Heart of Darkness claim they are only following the
natural order of man, but at the same time they are enslaving and murdering any human they
view as part of the “darkness.” The men in the company describe what they do as “trade,” and
their treatment of native Africans is part of a project of “civilization.”
Throughout the book Conrad takes an ambivalent tone. He uses Marlow as a passage
way to demonstrate 18th century society. Marlow is two minded about how imperialism
controls the world. Marlow is aware of the tragedies that are happening all around him, the
devastation that the center and inner stations display is appalling to the minds of the 21st
century. This book shows how much the world has changed as far as morals and the way we
now portray society.
Shane Morris
ENG 1020
Work Cited
Moran, Daniel. CliffsNotes on Heart of Darkness. 2000-2008 by Wiley Publishing, Inc.
Study guide book store. Retrieved October 27, 2008. From
<http://www.cliffsnotes.com/WileyCDA/LitNote/id-4.html>.
Grewe, Gene. Heart of Darkness Address. English 4 senior year.
Catholic Central High School, Novi, MI. 23 February 2008.
Schrock, Kathy. Discovery Education. 2008 Discovery Education is
a Division of Discovery Communications, LLC. Retrieved October 20, 2008. From
http://school.discoveryeducation.com/lessonplans/programs/heartofdarkness/#obj