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Heart of Darkness
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Joseph Conrad
A unique figure in English literature, not only because of his genius as a writer of novels,
short stories, and essays but also because of the variety of his experience, Joseph
Conrad (original name Jozef Teodor Konrad Korzeniowski) born in Berdyczow, Poland, on
December 3, 1857, died in 1924, came from the nobility of Russian-dominated Poland.
During his lifetime Conrad was admired for the richness of his prose and his renderings
of dangerous life at sea and in exotic places. But his initial reputation as a masterful teller
of colourful adventures of the sea masked his fascination with the individual when faced
with nature’s invariable unconcern, man’s frequent malevolence, and his inner battles with
good and evil. To Conrad, the sea meant above all the tragedy of loneliness. A writer of
complex skill and striking insight, but above all of an intensely personal vision, he has been
increasingly regarded as one of the greatest English novelists.
An extract from the opening of ‘Heart of Darkness’
by Joseph Conrad 1898
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Jozef Konrad Korzeniowski
(Joseph Conrad)
1857-1924
The Nellie a cruising yawl, swung to her anchor without a flutter of the sails, and was at rest. The flood had
made, the wind was nearly calm, and being bound down the river, the only thing for it was to come to and
wait for the turn of the tide.
The sea-reach of the Thames stretched before us like the beginning of an interminable waterway. In the
offing the sea and the sky were welded together without a joint, and in the luminous space the tanned sails
of the barges drifting up with the tide seemed to stand still in red clusters of canvas sharply peaked, with
gleams of varnished sprits. A haze rested on the low shores that ran out to sea m vanishing flatness. The
air was dark above Gravesend, and farther back Still seemed condensed into a mournful gloom, brooding
motionless over the biggest, and the greatest, town on earth.
The Director of Companies was our captain and our host. We four affectionately watched his back as he
stood m the bows looking to seaward. On the whole river there was nothing that looked half so nautical.
He resembled a pilot, which to a seaman is trustworthiness personified. It was difficult to realize his work
was not out there in the luminous estuary, but behind him, within the brooding gloom.
Between us there was, as I have already said somewhere, the bond of the sea. Besides holding our hearts
together through long periods of separation, it had the effect of making us tolerant of each other’s
yarns - and even convictions. The Lawyer the best of old fellows - had, because of his many years and
many virtues, the only cushion on deck, and was lying on the only rug. The Accountant had brought out
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20 already a box of dominoes, and was toying architecturally with the bones. Marlow sat cross-legged right
aft, leaning against the mizzen-mast. He had sunken cheeks, a yellow complexion, a straight back, an ascetic
aspect and, with his arms dropped, the palms of hands outwards, resembled an idol. The Director, satisfied
the anchor had good hold, made his way aft and sat down amongst us. We exchanged a few words lazily.
Afterwards there was silence on board the yacht. For some reason or other we did not begin that game
of dominoes. We felt meditative, and fit for nothing but placid staring. The day was ending in a serenity of
still and exquisite brilliance. The water shone pacifically; the sky, without a speck, was a benign immensity
of unstained light; the very mist on the Essex marshes was like a gauzy and radiant fabric, hung from the
wooded rises inland, and draping the low shores in diaphanous folds. Only the gloom to the west, brooding
over the upper reaches, became more somber every minute, as if angered by the approach of the sun.
And at last, m its curved and imperceptible fall, the sun sank low, and from glowing white changed to a dull
red without rays and without heat, as if about to go out suddenly, stricken to death by the touch of that
gloom brooding over a crowd of men.
Forthwith a change came over the waters, and the serenity became less brilliant but more profound. The
old river m its broad reach rested unruffled at the decline of day, after ages of good service done to the
race that peopled its banks, spread out in the tranquil dignity of a waterway leading to the uttermost ends of
the earth. We looked at the venerable stream not m the vivid flush of a short day that comes and departs
for ever, but in the august light of abiding memories. And indeed nothing is easier for a man who has, as
the phrase goes, “followed the sea” with reverence and affection than to evoke the great spirit of the past
upon the lower reaches of the Thames.
of men and ships it had borne to the rest of home or to the battles of the sea. It had known and served
all the men of whom the nation is proud, from Sir Francis Drake to Sir John Franklin, knights all, titled
and untitled - the great knights-errant of the sea. It had borne all the ships whose names are like jewels
flashing in the night of time, from the Golden Bind returning with her round flanks full of treasure, to be
visited by the Queen’s Highness and thus pass out of the gigantic tale, to the Erebus and Terror, bound on
other conquests - and that never returned. It had known the ships and the men. They had sailed from
Deptford, from Greenwich, from Erith - the adventurers and the settlers; kings’ ships and the ships of
men on ‘Change; captains, admirals, the dark “interlopers” of the Eastern trade, and the commissioned
“generals” of East India fleets. Hunters for gold or pursuers of fame, they all had gone out on that
stream, bearing the sword, and often the torch, messengers of the might within the land, 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! . . . The dreams of men, the seed of commonwealths, the germs of empires.
The sum set; the dusk fell on the stream, and lights began to appear along the shore. The Chapman
lighthouse, a three-legged thing erect on a mud-flat, shone strongly. Lights of ships moved in the fairway
- a great stir of lights going up and going down. And farther west on the upper reaches the place of the
monstrous town was still marked ominously on the sky, a brooding gloom in sunshine, a lurid glare under the
stars.
“And this also,” said Marlow suddenly, “has been one of the dark places of the earth.”
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An extract from the opening of ‘Heart of Darkness’ (cont.)
He was the only man of us who still “followed the sea.” The worst that could be said of him was that he
did not represent his class. He was a seaman, but he was a wanderer, too, while most seamen lead, if one
may so express it, a sedentary life. Their minds are of the stay-at-home order, and their home is always with
them - the ship; and so is their country - the sea. One ship is very much like another, and the sea is always
the same. In the immutability of their surroundings the foreign shores, the foreign faces, the changing
immensity of life, glide past, veiled not by a sense of mystery but by a slightly disdainful ignorance; for
there is nothing mysterious to a seaman unless it be the sea itself, which is the mistress of his existence
and as inscrutable as Destiny.
For the rest, after his hours of work, a casual stroll or a casual spree on shore suffices to unfold for him the
secret of a whole continent, and generally he finds the secret not worth knowing. The yarns of seamen
have a direct simplicity, the whole meaning of which lies within the shell of a cracked nut. But Marlow was
not typical (if his propensity to spin yarns be excepted), and to him the meaning of an episode was not
inside like a kernel but outside, enveloping the tale which brought it out only as a glow brings out a haze,
in the likeness of one of these misty halos that sometimes are made visible by the spectral illumination of
moonshine.
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Heart of Darkness
Joseph Conrad was born Josef Teodor Konrad Korzeniowski in 1857, in the Polish
Ukraine. When Conrad was quite young, his father was exiled to Siberia on suspicion
of plotting against the Russian government. After the death of the boy’s mother,
Conrad’s father sent him to his mother’s brother in Krakow to be educated, and
Conrad never again saw his father. He travelled to Marseilles when he was seventeen
and spent the next twenty years as a sailor. He signed on to an English ship in 1878,
and eight years later he became a British subject. In 1889, he began his first novel,
Almayer’s Folly, and began actively searching for a way to fulfil his boyhood dream
of travelling to the Congo. He took command of a steamship in the Belgian Congo in
1890, and his experiences in the Congo came to provide the outline for Heart of
Darkness.
This famous novella begins by describing ships at sunset on the Thames River (London),
as well as discussing the importance of ‘journeying’ in the life of a sailor. Heart of
Darkness involves a physical journey, but also demonstrates the internal impact that such
a journey can have on a person. When Conrad was writing, Africa was seen as a dark
and mysterious place, threatening evil and savagery. But through the experiences of his
character Marlow, Conrad exposes the idea that the real horror may be that the ‘heart of
darkness’ is within us all.
Read the extract.
Are there any words you don’t understand? Check the glossary.
Glossary
interminable: endless or seemingly endless.
luminous: shining, glowing, radiating or reflecting light.
Thames: River in London, England.
pilot: a person qualified to steer a ship into or out of a port or river mouth.
benign: mild, gentle, favourable, propitious.
diaphanous: fine and translucent.
venerable: worthy of reverence and honour.
august: Not the month! Dignified or imposing.
immutability: the quality of being unchanging through time.
Reread the first paragraph. How do we know that a journey is about to take place?
What techniques does Conrad use to set the scene?
What has brought this band of people together? What generalisation could you make
about journeys and groups of people?
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What other journeys are mentioned? Why are they mentioned?
What is the significance of journeying to Marlow?
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How important is journeying to a man who “has followed the sea”?
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Joseph Conrad
How does this extract add to your understanding of “The Journey” ?
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Marlow is an honest man. He sets out on a genuine search for answers to his questions of exploration of the
unknown “when (he) was a little chap” (Conrad 64). Marlow was drawn to a certain place on the world map,
called the Congo “the biggest, the most blank, so to speak---that (he) had a hankering after” (Conrad 64). Upon
first entering the mouth of the Congo River, Marlow declares his stance on lies and those who lie. [He believes
that lying in the worst thing for a person.] He vows never to lie in his life. After reading Kurtz’s report about his
progress down the Congo, Marlow finds that Kurtz lied, and in part loses all the respect he ever had for Kurtz.
However, Marlow still continues to pursue him. Marlow continues his journey up the Congo River, penetrating
further and further into the heart of darkness. In the process, Marlow reverts back to his innate state to
survive, whether or not that means going against his principles. Finally, 200 miles later, Marlow meets Kurtz,
who is the object of his psychological desire, only to find him very ill. After Kurtz’s death, Marlow finds himself
transformed into a person he thought he would never become, a liar. Marlow lies to Kurtz’s intended about
Kurtz’s last words when he returns to Europe. After being consumed by the heart of darkness, Marlow throws
away his previous values as he reverts into a savaged, almost evil state of mind.
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Though honest, Marlow is a prejudiced man; he is the epitome of colonialism. Going into the Congo, Marlow
views the natives as prehistoric evils in desperate need of white influence and civilization. Throughout the
physical journey, Marlow is confronted with the natives time and time again, seeing them chained as slaves, living
in a village and attacking his own steam boat. Marlow holds fast his prejudiced view of the natives, referring to
them as savages or even worse something so derogatory as “niggers’” (Conrad 65), until halfway through his
journey. While drifting up the Congo, Marlow and his crew encounter a group of native on the shore. Instead
of demeaning the natives, Marlow wishes he could join the natives in their primative behavior. Such a desire is
a great step in the progress of Marlow’s psyche. His desire to join the natives demonstrates his consumption by
the heart of darkness, as he reverts back to a more savaged state of being. Furthermore, Marlow encounters
Kurtz’s mistress, a native, and describes her with awe and respect.
Finally, Marlow makes a radical change in his view of Kurtz in between his setting off on the Congo and his
arrival at the Central Station. Upon hearing of Kurtz, with all his credentials and successes, Marlow finds himself
awed at Kurtz’s profile, saying that Kurtz and his crew were “no colonist; their administration was only a squeeze;
they were conquerors. It was just robbery by violence, agravated murder on a great scale, and men going at
it blind-as is very proper for those who tackle a darkness” (Conrad 63). Marlow, from the very beginning,
develops a need to find Kurtz. However, as Marlow travels deeper and deeper into the jungle and furthermore
into his own mind, Marlow hears of Kurtz becoming ill, lieing and using conniving methods to gain success. By
the time Marlow reaches Kurtz, he is overcome with dignity and respect for Kurtz’s ability to survive. Once
disgusted by his unfair practices, Marlow finds himself respecting the epitome of all evil.
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Essay
The white man is evil, or so says Joseph Conrad in his novel “Heart of Darkness”, which describes the colonial
transformation of the symbolically angelic African wilderness into an evil haven for the white man. The novel
presents a psychological journey into the core of evil or “heart of darkness” in one’s own mind, as he or she
progresses through the jungle. The reader follows Marlow, the novel’s narrator, along such a journey. His
psychological changes as he approaches the heart of darkness are evident, as the reader observes, in his views
of the African natives, lying and Kurtz.
the journey
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A Journey into the Heart of Darkness . . .
A Journey into Darkness in Heart of Darkness . . .
Essay
Joseph Conrad, in his story, “Heart of Darkness,” tells the tale of two mens’ realization of the dark and
evil side of themselves. Marlow, the “second” narrator of the framed narrative, embarked upon a spiritual
adventure on which he witnessed firsthand the wicked potential in everyone. On his journey into the dark,
forbidden Congo, Marlow encountered Kurtz, a “remarkable man” and “universal genius,” who had made
himself a god in the eyes of the natives over whom he had an imperceptible power. These two men were, in
a sense, images of each other: Marlow was what Kurtz may have been, and Kurtz was what Marlow may have
become.
Like a jewel, “Heart of Darkness” has many facets. From one view it
is an exposure of Belgian methods in the Congo, which at least for a good part of the way sticks closely to
Conrad’s own experience. Typically, however, the adventure is related to a larger view of human affairs. Marlow
told the story one evening on a yacht in t . . .
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Essay
“Heart of Darkness” is a book about one man’s journey into the depths of the African Congo. He travels
to a place where, “’the changes take place inside’”(Conrad 15). For a man named Kurtz, his journey went
deeper into Africa then he could have ever expected. Kurtz’s journey into Africa ended up being a journey
into the darkness within himself.
At the beginning of the journey, Kurtz was a good man who believed in bringing civilization to Africa. You
see some of Kurtz’s good intentions in a lot of his writings. When Marlow was reading them, he said, “’…He
began with the argument that we whites, from the point of development we had arrived at, ‘must necessarily
appear to them (savages) in the nature of supernatural beings-we approach them with the might as of
deity,’ and so on, and so on. ‘By the simple exercise of our will we can exert a power for good practically
unbounded,’ etc. etc”(Conrad 50). In his writings, Kurtz believed in using the power of Europe for good.
He believed in coming to the Africans as a God, not as a conqueror. You... Psychological, Philosophical and
Religious Elements of Heart of Darkness . . .
The Journey into Hell in Heart of Darkness . . .
Essay
In Joseph Conrad’s novel, “Heart of Darkness” the environment is often symbolic as well as literal. The
novel contains both the “frame” narrator, an anonymous member of the “Nellie”, representing the dominant
society, and more importantly the primary narrator, Marlow, who too, is a product of the dominant society.
For the novel’s narrator, Marlow, the journey up the Congo River to the ‘heart of darkness’ is reminiscent
of Guido’s journey into hell in Dante’s Inferno, with these literary allusion always present, through forms
of intense imagery. The landscape takes on a hellish nature and the wilderness is personified. Death is
omnipresent and this is reflected in the death imagery used to describe the cities of Brussels and London,
the Congo region and Kurtz’ station. The hypocrisy of ‘society’ and ‘civilization’ is reflected in the . . .
Heart of Darkness: Savage Journey . . .
Essay
Inherent inside every human soul is a savage evil side that remains repressed by society. Often this evil side
breaks out during times of isolation from our culture, and whenever one culture confronts another. History
is loaded with examples of atrocities that have occurred when one culture comes into contact with another.
Whenever fundamentally different cultures meet, there is often a fear of contamination and loss of self that
leads us to discover more about our true selves, often causing perceived madness by those who have yet
to discover their own self. Joseph Conrad’s book, “Heart of Darkness” is a story about Man’s journey into
his self, the discoveries to be made there and about Man confronting his fears of insanity, death, and cultural
contamination . . .
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Inward Journey in Heart of Darkness . . .
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