Study Guide and Class Notes
Joseph Conrad, Heart of Darkness
A. The Thames Setting
1. What is the setting?
Why is it important that the tide has just turned?
Why does the author spend so much time dealing with the light?
Who has the light?
Who has the darkness?
How does the imagery create and develop the mood of the passage? Be sure that you
have annotated examples.
2. What does the frame narrator say distinguishes Marlow from other sailors?
Describe the occupants of the boat; are they civilized? Is Marlow?
What do these physical details of setting and character intimate about the story to come?
3. What does Marlow say about the Roman imperial project?
How did the Romans react to England?
What did England look like then?
How was it dark?
How does the Roman project compare to the Belgian (and British) motivations for seeking
an empire?
4. According to Marlow, what redeems the conquest of the earth?
Why did he break off?
B. Preparation for the Journey (Begin with “I flew about…” and end with “I left in a French
steamer.”)
1. The description of the map that Marlow studies as he contemplates his journey?
Symbolizes?
2. In what way do “the women” help Marlow? Keep track of the way women are presented in
the novel; look for the duality. Be sure to incorporate class presentation. Formulate a
concept of what YOU think Marlow’s attitude toward women is. Notice that even though his
aunt helps him, he observes that she is like other women. How? What does he mean?
3. Marlow builds a series of images to describe the Company Office. Many of these details
have traditional symbolic meanings. Think about the meanings of the following; connect
them to Biblical or classical sources.
a. “whited sepulcher”
b. narrow street
c. two women knitting
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d. the deadly snake
e. the map
f. the color black
g. doctor who prophesies madness
h. the archetypal journey
C. The Journey: The First Stage
1. As Marlow rides down the coast of Africa on the steamer, he is struck by the appearance
of the coastline, the brightness of the sun, the ridiculous shooting into the jungle by the
warship. What does the warship shooting into the jungle portend?
What feelings about Africa,
about Europeans,
about the job he is about to assume
are aroused by these first encounters?
2. Describe what Marlow sees at the Outer Station. What is signified by the abandoned
machinery?
 the chaotic appearance of everything?
 the suffering of the indigenous people?
What is the “devil of rapacious and pitiless folly?” Please note the repetition of devil
throughout the text!
3. Read the grove of death scene. Note the man wearing a bit of “white worsted” about his
neck. How does that detail connect to the theme of European conquest of Africa? Note the
light dark inversion here.
4. What is the first description we hear of Kurtz? For what is he praised?
5. Describe the Chief Accountant. Why does Marlow notice him? Hint: he’s a “miracle.”
What does he represent? Even though Marlow clearly admires him, do you admire or
dislike him? Why? Is he a victim of the weak-eyed devil?
6. Marlow emphasizes the motif of “paths” as he describes the land journey to the Central
Station. What is the symbolic significance? What does Marlow say about death?
D. The Central Station
1. Describe the station manager.
What is his supreme gift?
Why is Marlow so frustrated by what he sees in Africa and by the Europeans he meets?
What might be the meaning of having no “entrails”?
2. Marlow finds his steamer at the bottom of the river and a manager who seems to take it for
granted that nothing will be done efficiently. How does Marlow react?
How does he adjust?
What does he mean when he says there are “no external checks”?
What are the defining characteristics of the manager?
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3. Re-read the strange episode with the fire and watering pail. How does this event contribute
to Marlow’s and the reader’s sense of European life in Africa?
4. What view of Kurtz does the Brickmaker, favorite of the manager, take?
How does Kurtz describe the Brickmaker?
What are the implications of this description?
5. Review the description of the oil painting by Kurtz of the blindfolded woman. Remember
the image: it will have important connections later. What impression does the painting give
you NOW of Kurtz, the painter?
 of the woman?
6. What does Marlow say about lies and lying?
What does this indicate about his character?
Does this stated preference for truth hold true throughout the novella?
Does Marlow seem to understand his own character, or is he at times confused about
his interests and
beliefs? Discuss/Explain.
7. What does Marlow say about the boiler-maker? What do his comments reveal about
Marlow’s character and values?
8. Note the manner in which Marlow describes the Eldorado Exploring Expedition. What is
suggested by his diction choices and imagery?
E. Journey to the Inner Station: Kurtz/ Book II
1. How does the station manager survive?
How does he plan to “beat” Kurtz?
2. Who was the crew of the steamboat?
How were they more civilized than the “pilgrims”?
What, then, is the definition of civilized?
3. What do the drums symbolize?
What does the forest seem to be doing?
4. Re-read the pages just after Marlow interrupts the station manager and his nephew. How
does Marlow describe the Congo River and its environs?
What illusion does the river promote?
What insight does it provide, at least as far as Marlow is concerned?
What does the phrase The earth seemed unearthly mean?
How about “that was the worst of us, the suspicion that they weren’t human”?
5. What book do they discover?
What is admirable about the book?
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6. Marlow says that he came to an important realization as he neared Kurtz’s station. What is
the realization, and to what extent does it influence or explain his behavior in the rest of the
story?
7. Find and highlight the commentary Marlow offers on the issue of restraint. This is
important.
What accounts for the restraint shown by the native crew?
What accounts for the restraint shown by the Manager?
8. Marlow speaks of Kurtz as a voice. Soon thereafter how does Marlow’s manner of relating
his story change?
What seems to be the reason for his fascination with Kurtz’s voice?
9. Marlow meets the Russian devotee of Kurtz. What view of Kurtz does the Russian set
forth? How does he differ from Kurtz?
10. Find and highlight the description of the skulls lining Kurtz’s hut. What reflections do the
skulls lead Marlow to make regarding the nature of Kurtz’s downfall in the wilderness?
11. Read the description of Kurtz’s mistress. Note the descriptive words and phrases used to
describe her:
Does her presence affect your (and the other travelers) perception of Kurtz? If so, how?
12. After making less than condemnatory comments regarding Kurtz, Marlow is pegged as a
“fellow traveler” of Kurtz. How does Marlow react when he finally closes in upon and then
encounters Kurtz? Find and highlight the lines.
13. The two most famous lines in the book: The horror, the horror.
What has Marlow learned from Kurtz?
How does he interpret these lines?
F. The Intended
1. Describe the woman and her environment.
Recall the painting by Kurtz and the description of his mistress in Africa. What similarities
are there in colors and gestures?
What differences?
2. What interpretation of the Intended’s role in the novel is suggested by her appearance?
by the appearance of her surroundings?
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her statements?
3. Examine carefully each statement that is made by Marlow and by the Intended in their
interview.
Document/annotate the ironies.
4. What “lie” does Marlow tell?
Do you agree with his decision?
Why does he do it when he purportedly hates lying so much?
Does the lie reflect any insight he has gained from his trip up the Congo and to
“the Heart”?
How is this related to earlier comments about women?
5. Consider the possibility that in a certain way, Marlow does not lie to the intended. What is
the connection between “her name” and “the horror”?
6. What is Marlow again described as a Buddha? What is meant by the comment, We have
lost the first of the ebb…”?
Where does the novel end?
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