“Heart of Darkness”
 Notes on the Theme of
Transformation
From Savagery
to Civilization,
and Back
 Rome conquers Europe, Europe
conquers Africa – Each country is
transformed from “savagery” to
“civilization.”
 “And this also has been one of the
dark places of the earth.” (p.67) –
England has been transformed from
darkness into the light.
Setting / Tone
 In the beginning, the Thames is
“placid,” “serene,” “tranquil” (p.66) –
but the Congo grows gradually more
menacing as they leave civilization,
and near the heart of darkness.
Setting /
Tone
 The Company’s Offices – In the city
“that always makes me think of a
whited sepulchre.” (p73)
 A sense of foreboding: the doctor’s
comments about insanity, the
“civilizing mission” of the aunt,
Fresleven’s quarrel.
Setting / Tone
 The Company’s Offices
 “An eerie feeling came over me. She
seemed uncanny and fateful. Often
far away there I thought of these
two, guarding the door of Darkness,
knitting black wool as for a warm
pall… Ave! Old knitter of black wool.
Morituri te salutant.” (p.75)
Setting / Tone
 Outer Station – Sense of decay and
absurdity.
 “…rivers, streams of death in life, whose
banks were rotting into mud, whose
waters, thickend with slime, invaded the
contorted mangroves that seemed to
writhe at us in the extremity of an
impotent despair.” (p.80)
Setting / Tone
Outer Station
Sense of decay and absurdity.
The man-o-war shells the bush
The well-dressed accountant is
frustrated by the cries of the dying
natives.
 The introduction of slavery,
brutality, sickness, and death.
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Setting /
Tone
 Central Station
 Sense of chaos, confusion, and
frustration.
 Marlow’s boat is sunk.
 No rivets for repairs
 Long delay
 Corruption of the Pilgrims, the
Manager, the Expedition
Setting /
Tone
Inner Station
Sense of danger and lurking insanity.
Fog = confusion and lack of vision
They are attacked and the helmsman
is killed
 They are greeted by a harlequin,
heads on stakes, savagery, and the
madness of Kurtz
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Setting / Tone
 The Twist: Returning to “civilization”
Marlow finds it transformed: “I
found myself back in the sepulchral
city resenting the sight of people
hurrying through the streets to filch
a little money from each other…
They were intruders whose
knowledge of life was to me an
irritating pretence… (p. 156)
Setting /
Tone
 The Twist: Even the “placid” and
“pacifical” Thames is transformed:
“The offing was barred by a black
bank of clouds, and the tranquil
waterway leading to the uttermost
ends of the earth flowed sombre
under an overcast sky – seemed to
lead into the heart of an immense
darkness.” (p. 164)
Characters
 Marlow is shown savagery, and
chooses it over civilization (prefers
Kurtz’s evil to the Manager’s)
 He is shown madness, but chooses
sanity
 He is shown the truth, (the horror)
and chooses a lie (his message to the
Intended).
Characters
 Marlow’s reflection on the journey
 “I don’t want to bother you much
with what happened to me personally,
yet to understand the effect of it on
me you ought to know how I got out
there, what I saw, how I went up
that river to the place where I first
met the poor chap.” (p. 70)
Characters
 “It was the farthest point of navigation
and the culminating point of my
experience. It seemed somehow to throw
a kind of light on everything about me –
and into my thoughts. It was sombre
enough, too – and pitiful – not
extraordinary in any way – not very clear
either. No, not very clear. And yet it
seemed to throw a kind of light.” (p.70)
Characters
 Kurtz: Begins as a promising man, a
“universal genius” (p.157) who “could get
himself to believe anything – anything.”
 Sees the edge of sanity and crosses over
 He has the ability to persuade and
influence men – accepts the role of God
and is consumed by it.
 (Elements of Tragedy)
Characters
Kurtz as Tragic Hero:
Great man with promise
Hamartia (fatal flaw)
Leads to his inevitable
downfall & death.
 Can you think of another
tragic character like Kurtz?
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Macbeth