Topics are in order according to the story and have been grouped to ensure a fair and equitable workload for each group although each group will not receive the same number of topics. Please use quotes and direct examples from the novella to support your presentation. Use information from the pre-reading seminars. Groups must have a visual component to their presentations, but they are NOT to provide handouts. Everyone will take their own notes.
Juxtaposed = this term describes how an author implies an association between two people (or groups of people)/objects/ideas/situations in a story for the purpose of suggesting that readers compare the two. This comparison is IMPLIED and not stated outright by the author. The two things may be COMPARED for similarity or CONTRASTED to show how they are different from each other.
Group One
Part One
1.
Mist/Haze/Fog – the first narrator describes the Nellie as surrounded by a mist/haze/fog as it drops anchor.
Think about what you know about mist/haze/fog, about how it affects your vision and perception, and examine what the mist may symbolize in this story. How does this mist help to establish atmosphere ? In relation to the mist, the narrator repeatedly uses terms like
“mournful,” “brooding,” “sombre,” “gloom.”
What atmosphere do those terms suggest? The haze is also related to the time of day as the novella begins at dusk , a time between light and dark. Think about what associations we usually make with both light and dark , and examine the type of story that might begin at a time in between the two … but also at a time trending toward darkness (night) instead of light (day, which would be dawn). Please also address who is on board the Nellie with Marlow.
2.
Tidal Current
– the frame narrator mentions the tidal current, the tide they have missed, forcing them to drop anchor at the mouth of the Thames River. Think about the power and importance of how the tides work around the globe. Why is this tide important to this story? How might the tide be compared to life?
In relation to the tide, he also mentions Sir Francis Drake and Sir John Franklin – who are they (look it up!), how does the first narrator seem to feel about them, and when you find out about them, why has
Conrad chosen to mention them in the book? Be sure to address the narrator’s statement, “They all had gone out on that stream (the Thames River), bearing the sword, and often the torch, … bearers of a spark from the sacred fire. What greatness had not floated on the ebb of that river into the mystery of an unknown earth!” Given what you know about what Marlow’s story will address, why is it significant to mention the tidal current on the first page? What does water typically symbolize in stories?
3.
Marlow‟s Introduction – his first words -
“And this also has been one of the dark places of the earth.”
Where is he talking about? He also says, “darkness was here yesterday” – what does that mean? Marlow speaks about how the Romans first came to Britain, using a lot of light/dark imagery while doing so, and what an experience that must have been for Roman ship commanders/crew. Examine what he says about the Romans’ arrival. Describe what the first narrator tells us about Marlow , and address how he compares
Marlow’s storytelling to a “cracked nut.”
How is this entire novella itself told in the same style as
Marlow tells his own tales? Marlow also suggests that humans have a
“fascination of the abomination.”
What does this mean (look up “abomination” if required)? Why are we like this? How might this suggestion impact the story? The narrator then compares Marlow to a Buddha – what’s the symbolism here? Finally, Marlow points out how the
“conquest of the earth … is not a pretty thing when you look into it too much.”
What does this mean? What does he say makes conquest sometimes okay?
4.
The Congo River – Marlow confesses to an obsession with maps and wonders what is in all the parts that were still blank in the mid-1800s. He uses dark imagery to describe Africa, but he is especially fascinated by the Congo River, comparing it to a snake that had “charmed” him as a snake charms a bird . What does this mean? Review the Biblical story of Adam and Eve , and explain how it may apply to this situation.
Given what water typically symbolizes , does its symbolism here seem to agree with its usual symbolism?
What associations do we traditionally make with snakes, and why might the Congo River be compared to a snake?

Group Two
5.
Fresleven – Describe what Marlow tells us about him – his personality, what happens to him in the
Congo, and what the natives do afterwards. Why is he particularly important to Marlow’s story?
Address the colour imagery (black hens) in Marlow’s story about him and the symbols of grass and bones
. How does Marlow’s tale about Fresleven show the stream-of-consciousness style in which the book is written?
6.
Belgian Ivory Trading Company in Brussels – Marlow goes here to sign papers and receive a medical check-up before leaving for the Congo. He says Brussels reminds him of a
“whited sepulchre”
– look up the Biblical reference being made here ( Matthew 23:27 – use the King
James version, not a modern one) and explain the comparison being made between the meaning of that passage and this city. Look up
“sepulchre”
if necessary. Here, Marlow meets two knitting women = look at colour imagery (black wool), how they compare to the Three Fates (on whom they are based), how he thinks of them as guardians to the “door of Darkness,”
and look up the meaning and significance of the Latin phrase he attributes to them:
“Ave! Morituri te salutant.”
Discuss the significance of that phrase to the story. Marlow also visits the company doctor.
Describe this visit, and be sure to address the doctor’s repeated references to madness, calm, and the fact that he never sees any man after his initial check-up before leaving for the Congo. Why does he measure Marlow’s head? (take a quick look at the “science” of phrenology!)
7.
Women – Before leaving Europe, Marlow goes to visit his aunt and offers his thoughts about women as a result. First, flip back a few pages and look at what he says about having to ask the women in his family to help him get a job.
How does he seem to feel about this and why?
Describe his visit with his aunt. How does he perceive women in general and why ? As he leaves his aunt’s home, he says he feels like an “impostor.”
Why? He adds that he feels as though he is headed to the
“centre of the earth.”
Since you can’t literally travel to the centre of the earth, what do you think he means? What might the “centre of the earth” symbolize ?
8.
Journey to the Congo – Marlow spends about a month as a passenger on board a French steamer taking him from Europe to the Congo. Why does Marlow hate being a passenger? Why does he feel like he is
“away from the truth of things” while aboard this ship? Describe Marlow’s sighting of a canoe paddled by African natives , and why does he associate them with truth, reality, and find them a comfort to look at ? Describe their encounter with a French man-of-war just off the African coast (look up “man-of-war” if necessary, and be sure to mention the term
“enemies”
when you see it used in this incident). What is Marlow’s opinion of what this ship appears to be doing and why does Marlow tell us about this ship?

Group 3
9.
The Outer Station – Marlow is dropped off here first, and he mentions several symbols that turn up at this station – a boiler in the grass, blasting on the face of a cliff, drainage pipes, and random holes dug in the ground . Examine what each symbolizes in the story. Here, Marlow also encounters a row of native men chained by the neck to one another. Describe this group (be sure to mention the term
“criminals”
!), what they symbolize , who is
“guarding”
them, and why this so-called “guard” seems to feel a kinship with Marlow. Describe the
“grove of death”
Marlow discovers as he nears the station itself, and be sure to address its significance , the symbolism of the white worsted string around one man’s neck, and the native who crawls to the river to drink from it. Describe the ivory company’s chief accountant who works at this station – note the significance of his white clothing (whited sepulchre?), how he reveals that his clothing is maintained in such good condition, his focus on his work , his complaints about a sick man in his hut and the natives, and what he tells Marlow about Kurtz – he is the first to mention Kurtz to Marlow! What stage of
Freud‟s subconscious
does this station represent?
10.
The Foot Journey – Marlow must travel on foot (a journey of about 2 weeks) from the Outer to the Central Station, which is where he will pick up his steamboat. Describe his travelling party .
Examine his many references to
“grass”,
to “ abandoned” villages in which the dwellings are also gone, and the comparison of native drums to church bells in Christian countries. Describe his meeting with the
“road maintenance”
man, and examine the symbolism of this man. Describe the issues surrounding the feverish man who is travelling with Marlow. Examine why this man is in the Congo in the first place, his reaction to being dropped, and why Marlow tells us about him.
11.
The Central Station – Describe Marlow’s first impressions of this place. What does he mean when he uses the image of a
“flabby devil”?
What has happened to
Marlow‟s steamer
, and what does he
“fancy he sees now”
about this situation? Why does he set to work right away to repair it and sleep on board it too? Provide a detailed description of the manager, and describe the conversation they have about Kurtz . Marlow calls the other white men at the station
“faithless pilgrims”
– what does that mean (look up the definition of “pilgrim”)? Describe the significance of the shed fire , the pail with the hole in it, and the native who is punished and then “welcomed” by the jungle. Describe Marlow’s conversation with the brick maker who never manufactures a brick. Be sure to include why Marlow calls him a
“papier-mâché Mephistopheles”
(look it up!), what this man tells Marlow about Kurtz , and break down the many symbolisms of Kurtz‟s painting which this man has in his hut. Why does the brick maker keep this painting? How does
Marlow
“toy with”
this man, and why does Marlow sort of lie to him? Why does Marlow hate lying ? What are rivets and what do they symbolize ? Describe the arrival of the Eldorado
Expedition . Who is their
“leader,”
why does Marlow describe him as resembling
“a butcher in a poor neighbourhood
,” and what are they doing in the Congo? What state of
Freud‟s subconscious does this station represent?

Group Four
Part Two
1.
The Manager and His Uncle – At the start of Part Two, Marlow is lying on the deck of his steamer one night and overhears a private conversation between the manager and his uncle. At first, Marlow only hears snippets of their chat, but he catches the words
“he” and “him.”
Who are they discussing? Describe in detail what they say about “him.” Focus particularly on the assistant whom the manager sent to the Inner
Station and who was quickly returned with a note. Also, examine in detail the story about Kurtz being 300 miles from the Inner Station one time and then turning his back on the Central Station to return to his own station. Why would he do that? What effect does this story have on Marlow and why? What does the uncle mean when he says, “
Anything – anything can be done in this country
”? What does the uncle mean when he says,
“Trust to this – I say, trust to this”
accompanied by a gesture in which he motions toward the jungle and “ to the profound darkness of its heart.”
Why is Marlow startled by this?
2.
The Journey To Kurtz – This journey lasts about two months in total, so we will deal with it in a few separate stages. What does Marlow mean when he says, “ Going up that river was like travelling back to the earliest beginnings of the world, when vegetation rioted the earth and the big trees were kings ”?
Of what is Marlow’s journey along the Congo River really symbolic (think about the journey he’s already gone on just to get to the Central Station and then how it’s progressed to now)? Who is on board the steamer with Marlow? He also tells us that, from time to time, the boat passes native villages along the shore, and he says the natives “ howled and leaped, and spun, and made horrid faces; but what thrilled you was just the thought of their humanity – like yours – the thought of your remote kinship with this wild and passionate uproar. Ugly. Yes, it was ugly enough; but if you were man enough you would admit to yourself that there was in you just the faintest trace of a response to the terrible frankness of that noise … And why not? The mind of man is capable of anything – because everything is in it, all the past as well as all the future. What was there after all? Joy, fear, sorrow, devotion, valour, rage
… truth – truth stripped of its cloak of time. Let the fool gape and shudder – the man knows, and can look on without a wink … Of course, a fool … is always safe … You wonder I didn‟t go ashore for a howl and dance? Well, no – I didn‟t … I had no time
.”
Thoroughly examine the meaning of this quote.
Describe Marlow’s “fireman,” and examine what he symbolizes in the story. Describe the small abandoned hut they come upon one day, the book they find there (a symbol!), and why Marlow is so impressed with this book.
3.
The Attack on the Steamer – At dawn (examine the significance of time of day) the steamer is enveloped in fog (again, examine the symbol of fog/mist) when suddenly the men hear a cry from the jungle. After the cry, Marlow juxtaposes the pilgrims and the cannibals as far as their reactions to the sound – describe the reactions of each group and how their reactions are symbolic. Marlow then relates a “side” story about the cannibals and how they want the natives in the jungle captured so that they can eat them. Describe what
Marlow tells us about the cannibals , what happened to their food , and how this story also juxtaposes the pilgrims and the cannibals . How do the cannibals indicate that an attack is imminent while the white men seem to have no idea? How do the pilgrims behave once the attack begins, and why is this significant to the story (remember the man-of-war)? Describe Marlow’s helmsman , how he reacts during the attack, and what happens to him. What finally ends the attack, and how is this somewhat ironic? Why does
Marlow throw his shoes overboard into the river (take a look at the mythological River Styx for part of your answer)? Why is Marlow’s mind immediately drawn to
Kurtz after the attack? Indeed, he flashes forward for a moment to when he actually met Kurtz – what does he say about Kurtz , his
“business”
at the
Inner Station, and the report with which he eventually entrusts Marlow? Marlow also scolds the men aboard the Nellie about how they can never really understand the meaning of his entire story, and he again compares
“fools” and “devils .” Explain why his listeners (including us) can never truly grasp the full meaning of his story, and explain his repeated references to both fools and devils.

Group Five
4.
The Russian “Harlequin” – When Marlow arrives at the Inner Station, he is beckoned ashore by a man he describes as a
“harlequin”
(look it up!) Examine Marlow’s early impressions of this man and the conversation between him and Marlow, particularly what he says about Kurtz . We learn that the book
Marlow found at the hut actually belongs to him – why is this important and symbolic … and kind of ironic?
How does the harlequin explain the attack on the steamer?
Part Three
1.
The Harlequin and Kurtz – This part opens with the harlequin giving Marlow considerable insight into
Kurtz and into his affiliation with Kurtz. What does he tell Marlow? Pay particular attention to the following quotes:
“I did not envy him his devotion to Kurtz … it appeared about the most dangerous thing in every way [the harlequin] had come upon so far”; “We talked of everything … I had forgotten there was such a thing as sleep”; “There‟s a good lot of cartridges left even yet”; “[The natives] adored him (Kurtz)”; “You can‟t just Mr. Kurtz as you would an ordinary man”; “[Kurtz] wanted to shoot me, too, one day … there was nothing on earth to prevent him killing whom he jolly well pleased … I couldn‟t leave him”; “[Kurtz] suffered too much. He hated all this, and somehow he couldn‟t get away.”
How is the harlequin “proof” of Marlow’s already established opinion that a fool is always safe from temptation?
Many readers believe that the harlequin symbolizes a younger, foolish
Joseph Conrad, and Marlow symbolizes an older, wiser Joseph Conrad. Examine this suggestion.
2.
Kurtz‟s Fence – While Marlow is speaking to the harlequin, he scans Kurtz’s station with his binoculars and notices a “fence” around Kurtz’s hut, which he had noticed before but had not really examined.
Describe what he now sees. Explain the symbolism of this fence. Make sure to also address the following:
“[The fence] only showed that Mr. Kurtz lacked restraint in the gratification of his various lusts …
But the wilderness had found him out early … had whispered to him things about himself which he did not know … It echoed loudly within him because he was hollow at the core”; “I suppose it did not occur to [the harlequin] that Mr. Kurtz was no idol of mine”; “Rebels! What would be the next definition I was to hear? There had been enemies, criminals, workers – and these were rebels”; “You don‟t know how such a life tries a man like Kurtz … He was shamefully abandoned. A man like this, with such ideas. Shamefully!”
3.
The Native Woman –
As the harlequin attempts to explain Kurtz’s fence, a native woman emerges from the forest. Describe her appearance. Marlow is clearly implying something about her involvement with
Kurtz … what does he imply and of what is she symbolic with regard to Kurtz ? Particularly look at the following quotes:
“[She was] a wild and gorgeous apparition of a woman”; “She must have had the value of several elephant tusks upon her. She was savage and superb, wild-eyed and magnificent”;
“She came abreast of the steamer … she stood looking at us without a stir and like the wilderness itself … suddenly she opened her bare arms and threw them up rigid above her head … she turned away slowly, walked on.”
How does the harlequin clearly feel about her? He says,
“If she had offered to come aboard, I really think I would have tried to shoot her,” and “I‟ve been risking my life every day for the last fortnight to keep her out of the house … she talked like a fury to Kurtz for an hour, pointing at me now and then.”
We see her again a few pages later, right before the steamer leaves with
Kurtz aboard. She emerged from the jungle “put out her hands, shouted something, and all that wild mob took up the shout … only the barbarous and superb woman did not so much as flinch, and stretched tragically her bare arms after us” when the pilgrims begin randomly shooting at the natives on shore. What do her gestures suggest she is doing? Based on Kurtz’s fence and this woman, what stage of
Freud‟s subconscious does this station clearly represent?

Group Six
4.
Marlow is Forever Linked to Kurtz – After the native woman returns to the jungle, Marlow catches the tail end of an argument between Kurtz and the manager in which Kurtz insists that they are not saving him, that he is actually saving them, and that he will return to the Congo if they remove him. The manager emerges to inform Marlow that Kurtz’s
“method is unsound.”
What does this mean ? Does this seem ironic coming from a guy like the manager? Explain the significance of Marlow saying that, at this point,
“I turned mentally to Kurtz for relief … I think Mr. Kurtz is a remarkable man … I found myself lumped along with Kurtz as a partisan of methods for which the time was not ripe … but it was something to have at least a choice of nightmares … I had turned to the wilderness really.” When
Marlow then assures the harlequin that Kurtz‟s reputation is safe with him, what does the harlequin tell him about the attack on the steamer? Does this change how Marlow feels – why or why not?
***This is the most important event in the novel *** – Kurtz is sleeping on board the steamer in anticipation of their departure the following morning when Marlow awakens in the night to find Kurtz gone from his bed. Instead of raising an alarm, Marlow decides to pursue Kurtz alone and boasts that he
“did not betray Mr. Kurtz – it was ordered I should never betray him – it was written I should be loyal to the nightmare of my choice .” What does that mean ? Describe in detail Marlow’s late-night confrontation with Kurtz. Address references to the knitting women ,
“grass” symbolism
, the light/dark imagery
(fire/night), the symbolism of fire , and the time of day . Also, detail the following quotes:
“„You will be lost,‟ I said – „utterly lost‟ … he could not have been more irretrievably lost than he was at this very moment”; “I had immense plans … I was on the threshold of great things”; “I tried to break the spell
– the heavy, mute spell of the wilderness – that seemed to draw him … towards the gleam of fires, the throb of drums, the drone of weird incantations … I had to deal with a being to whom I could not appeal in the name of anything high or low”; “If anyone ever struggled with a soul, I am the man … I had – for my sins, I suppose – to go through the ordeal of looking into it myself … He struggled with himself, too. I saw it … I saw the inconceivable mystery of a soul that knew no restraint, no faith, no fear.”
5.
“The horror! The horror!” – Marlow manages to get Kurtz back on board the steamer and away from the station, detailing their time together as they head back down the Congo River toward the Central Station.
Specifically examine the following quotes:
“The pilgrims looked upon me with disfavour. I was, so to speak, numbered with the dead. It is strange how I accepted this unforeseen partnership, this choice of nightmares forced upon me”; “Kurtz discoursed. A voice! A voice! … Oh, he struggled! He struggled! … My Intended, my station, my career, my ideas … both the diabolical love and the unearthly hate of the mysteries it had penetrated fought for the possession of that soul satiated with primitive emotions”; “Of course, you must take care of the motives – right motives – always”; “„Oh, but I will wring your heart yet!‟ he cried at the invisible wilderness”; “His was an impenetrable darkness”; “Anything approaching the change that came over his features I have never seen before, and hope never to see again … „The horror! The horror!‟”; “I remained to dream the nightmare out to the end, and to show my loyalty to Kurtz once more … Droll thing life is … the most you can hope from it is some knowledge of yourself – that comes too late – a crop of regrets”; “This is the reason why I affirm that Kurtz was a remarkable man. He had something to say. He said it”; “Perhaps all the wisdom, and all truth, and all sincerity, are just compressed into that inappreciable moment of time in which we step over the threshold of the invisible. I like to think my summing-up would not have been a word of careless contempt. Better his cry – much better … it was a victory … That is why I have remained loyal to Kurtz to the last, and even beyond.”

Group Seven
6.
Back to Europe – after nearly dying of fever en route out of the Congo, Marlow returns to Brussels. Here, he is very annoyed by everyone he encounters because
“they were intruders whose knowledge of life was to me an irritating pretence, because I felt so sure they could not possibly know the things I knew.”
What does he mean ? Describe the various individuals who come to see Marlow, looking for items belonging to Kurtz or information about him – why? What does this show us about Kurtz ?
Marlow‟s Visit to Kurtz‟s Intended –
Marlow’s final act is to see
Kurtz‟s fiancée
and to deliver her some papers and a picture of herself that was among Kurtz’s effects. He goes at dusk – deal with the time of day, especially as things grow darker and darker while he’s there! – and he is shown into a parlour containing a black grand piano that he describes as a
“polished sarcophagus .” What does that mean (look it up!) and why does he mention it? She is dressed in black (explain the colour imagery) despite Kurtz’s death having been well over a year ago. Particularly examine the following quotes:
“You admired him. It was impossible to know him and not to admire him”; “no one knew him so well as I! I had all his noble confidence. I knew him best”; “I want you – you who have heard his last words – to know I have been worthy of him”; “He drew men towards him by what was best in them. It is the gift of the great”; “What a loss to me – to us! – to the world”; “You know what vast plans he had … I could not perhaps understand – but others knew of them. Something must remain … his example. Men looked up to him – his goodness shone in every act.” She then extends her arms to Marlow, by which he clearly juxtaposes her with Kurtz‟s native mistress – how else can these two women be compared/contrasted?
Finally, she asks Marlow about Kurtz’s final words, and he tells her, “The last word he pronounced was – your name.”
Why does he lie to her – literally and symbolically – especially given how much he hates lying? How is she connected to the woman in Kurtz‟s painting
that hangs in the brick maker’s hut? As she sits crying, certain that Kurtz’s final word was her name, Marlow wonders if the sky is about to fall on him for what he’s done, but he then says, “Would [the heavens] have fallen, I wonder, if I had rendered
Kurtz that justice which was his due? Hadn‟t he said he wanted only justice? But I couldn‟t. I could not tell her. It would have been too dark – too dark altogether.” What does this mean ?
7.
The End – The first/frame narrator concludes the novella after Marlow finishes his story. He describes
Marlow again as resembling a sitting Buddha – what does this posture symbolize now that we are at the end of the book? The Director of Companies, the captain of the Nellie , refers again to the tide , by saying that they’ve actually missed the start of it because they were listening to Marlow’s tale.
Why mention the tide again now? How does their missing the early tide sort of make
Marlow‟s “voice”
similar to Kurtz’s?
Using words like “black,” “sombre,” and “overcast,” how does the narrator continue to maintain atmosphere at the end of the book? He calls the Thames River a “ tranquil waterway leading to the uttermost ends of the earth [which] seemed to lead into the heart of an immense darkness
.” Explain the messages and symbolism here. Is this how the narrator described the Thames River at the start?