Allen
Heart of Darkness
Applying Literary Theory
Postcolonial reading
 How does black and white imagery both reinforce and subvert racial attitudes?
 How does the portrayal of “civilized” and “primitive” cultures both reinforce
and subvert racial attitudes?
 How does the comparison of the Thames and the Congo relate to a discussion
of race?
 Compare how Africans and Europeans are portrayed. Look at power
structures—how has power and how is that power maintained? Who’s
condemned? Who’s admired? For what reasons? What complexities surface?
 To what extent does Marlow return to Britain physically and mentally altered
from his colonial experiences.
 Is there a possibility for resolution in the societies Conrad creates? Do any of
Conrad’s characters exhibit a high moral standard? If so, what kinds of
characters stick to their principles?
 Are Marlow’s attitudes also Conrad’s attitudes?
 Is this a racist book?
Feminist reading
 How is Marlow’s aunt portrayed? How is she described?
 What does Marlow mean early in Part 1 when he suggests that women are
“out of touch with truth” and live in a beautiful world of their own?
 At the appointment with the Company in Brussels, how are the two women
portrayed and what might be their symbolic meaning?
 What role does Kurtz’s African mistress play? What kind of language is used
to describe her? Is it consistent? How is she representative or not
representative of her culture and race?
 Discuss the portrayal of Kurtz’s Intended. How is she representative or not
representative of her culture and race?
 What is Marlow’s attitude toward women? Are Marlow’s attitudes also
Conrad’s? How can you tell?
 What is the significance of Marlow’s lie to the Intended? What’s Marlow’s
attitude toward lying? Is his lie justified or not?
Archetypal reading
 Apply the pattern of the archetypal journey, a grail (grail-less?) quest, to
Marlow’s journey to the Heart of Darkness. Pay attention to the descriptions
of each stage of Marlow’s journey. Does application of this kind of reading
contribute to an understanding of the book?
 How does an examination of Marlow as archetypal hero enhance our
understanding of the novel?
 What archetypal imagery, characters, and/or symbols does Conrad employ and
do the archetypal meanings contribute to an understanding of the meaning of
the book? Consider the lack of named characters. What effect does this have?
Allen
Formalist reading
 Examine how the novel is structured and how this structure relates to the
meaning of the work
 Why are there two narrators, story within a story. What effect does
this?
 Look at the structure of Marlow’s journey down the Congo. How is this
structure echoed in other aspects of the book? How is the book both a
linear journey and a circle? Tie structure to meaning.
 Examine the mini-episode at the company in Belgium. How does this
relate to the structure of the novel?
 Examine how Conrad paces the book—for example, how much space
does he allot to different stages of Marlow’s journey? At what point
does Marlow meet Kurtz? How might this relate to meaning and/or
structure?
 Examine images that function as motifs because of their repeated use—
light/dark; fog; snakes; machinery; devils; and any other you might notice.
 Make note of the numerous contrasts—places, characters, images, behaviors,
etc.—and tie those contrasts to meaning
 Conrad’s style has been called impressionistic rather than realistic. In what
ways might this be so?
 Choose three passages you consider key to the meaning of the book and do a
close reading of each. Why do you consider these passages key and what do
they contribute to the meaning of the work as a whole?
Psychological/Freudian Reading
 Apply Freud’s model of the mind, composed of id, ego, and superego, to
Marlow’s journey.
 How is HOD a study of human nature in symbolic terms? What might the
journey, the river, the jungle, Kurtz, etc. represent?
 What role do dreams and/or nightmare play in an understanding of the novel?
(Not necessarily literal dreams, but aspects of the book or characters with
dreamlike qualities?
 How is HOD a quest for identity? How might Freud’s theories contribute to
an understanding of such an identity?
 What is “the horror, the horror” in psychological terms?
 How reliable a narrator is Marlow? (An unreliable narrator, in a literary sense,
means that what the character reports is not necessarily accurate, but an
interpretation of the world through that character’s prejudices and failings,
that character’s “psychology.” If the character doesn’t perceive accurately,
he/she can’t report accurately. Unreliable doesn’t mean “can’t be counted
on.”)
 Please go easy on the application of Freud. Only apply what is useful in giving
insight into the meaning of the book.
Allen