AP English Literature and Composition
Ms. Calhoun
Home, Family, Culture, and Identity
Heart of Darkness
Quotes and Questions to Consider – Part II
Quotes. Find the following quotes as you read. Who said them? How might these be important in
developing or illuminating the meaning of the work as a whole? Identify page numbers as you read
and flag passages to discuss in class.
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"Wood for you. Hurry up. Approach cautiously.’
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"I authorize you to take all the risks."
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"I laid the ghost of his gifts at last with a lie."
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"You don’t talk with that man–you listen."
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"This man has enlarged my mind."
Questions. Answer the following questions as best you can in your notes and/or annotations.
Identify page numbers where the answers can be found when appropriate. Questions in bold will
be discussed in class—try to prepare and insightful answer to them on your own!
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 here?
3. What do the drums symbolize?
4. What does the phrase "The earth seemed unearthly" mean? Of what literary term is this an
example? What does the phrase "that was the worst of us, the suspicion that they
weren’t inhuman" seem to mean/ indicate?
5. What book do they discover? What is admirable about the book?
6. When they wake up, eight miles from the station, what has happened? What color is the fog?
Why do you suppose that is?
7. Why does Marlow say the natives will not attack?
8. How does the helmsman die? How does Marlow drive the natives away?
9. What is Kurtz’s head like? How does Conrad make that significant?
10. What was Kurtz’s paper about? What is odd about it? What does he compare the scribble
with at the end?
11. What role does the harlequin have?
As always, be prepared to discuss aspects of Conrad’s writing style. What do you like and/or dislike
about it? Be specific.