Heart of Darkness

Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness does not explicitly deal with a struggle between war and peace: the conflict is a psychological, moral one; however, the text’s implications that society is a thin veil over our innate savagery, the darkness at the roots of Western civilization, reveals disturbing truths about the peaceful, orderly lives we take for granted. The key to understanding Conrad’s novella lies in ascertaining the metaphorical significance of the “heart of darkness,” a search which may yield an answer as complex and obscure than any geographical, sociological or psychological solution.

Since its publication, several critics have categorized Heart of Darkness as a travelogue, or, at the least, a seaman’s tale mixed with autobiographical elements from Conrad’s life, yet the story itself refutes such interpretations:

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 expected), 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…. (Miller 68)

Conrad’s story is obviously about more than a bad trip into the jungle. In several respects, it is a “study on the effects of man’s isolation from the civilized world, represented by Kurtz” (Miller 129). The title "Heart of Darkness" the name itself implies a sense of unknown evil, and invokes thoughts of secrecy and mystery. It paints paradoxes of seemingly clear concepts and states, such as the mental condition of central character Kurtz, an enigmatic ivory trader deep in the heart of the "Dark Continent."

The setting indeed takes place in a region remarkably like the Congo that has led many scholars to automatically label it as such.( Lackey ) For the purposes of this essay, I will acknowledge such connections while keeping in mind that we are dealing with a work of literary fiction, which places its ultimate basis outside the realm of real-life locales. Unlike Lord of the Flies and other works, Heart of Darkness is not relegated to a singular, primeval location removed from the rule of law. It includes Brussels and London, though not directly stated, places within the confines or “heart” of civilization. Th...

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...ns. Morals are what allow us to rationalize the bloodshed worldwide to secure our own wealth and our rights to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” Justice demands a criminal to be put on trial, but who puts the law on trial? Heart of Darkness throws such a light upon us, enlightening out positions as conscious creatures. It is our duty to be able to make the right choices, and follow our morals, if we ever want a world free of bloodshed. We must follow the light, yet if we have no darkness we would never know what is right. Therefore, darkness is needed for us to follow the light.

Works Cited

Conrad, Joseph. Heart of Darkness & The Secret Sharer. New York: New American

Library, 1950.

Conrad, Joseph. “An Outpost of Progress.” The Experience of Literature. Ed. Gene

Montague. 2nd ed. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall, 1970. 59-81.

Lackey, Michael. “The moral conditions for genocide in Joseph Conrad’s Heart of

Darkness”. College Literature Wntr 2005: Vol. 32 il p20(22). Detroit:

Gale Research, Feb. 2005. Infotrac. Gale Group. 15 Mar. 2005 .

Miller, J. Hillis. Others. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2001.