Joseph Conrad led an adventurous life and spent alot of his time at sea, most of his novels and short stories are loosely based on some of his experinces. His inspiration for Heart of Darkness came from his travels to the African Congo, where he witnessed the horrors of slavery and the grim realities of Imperialism. These experinces reflect throughout the book and give it a haunting realism.
Now to the synopsis: Heart of Darkness is the tale of a man named Marlow, a seaman and wanderer. It is told through his eyes and from his POV using the 1st person narrative except for the begining where an unamed narrator and couple of men(Marlow included)gather in a boat on the river Thames and Marlow proceeds to to tell the story of his travels in the Congo and experinces in what he describes as the dark heart of the world - the African Congo(at that time it was still pretty much a black mark on the map with a few british colonies tucked in and out).
He begins his journey on a French Man of War hitching a ride towards the congo where he has been hired to captain an old steam boat docked at mouth of the Congo river just near the central Ivory station run by the British.
When he arrives at the station he is disgusted by the attiudes of his fellow Brits as they seem too preoccupied with Ivory and the money that can make from it, while exploiting the natives for the said purposes. He soon finds himself Isolated from "the pilgrims" and focuses on fixing the steamboat which has been neglected since the previous skipper was killed. Marlow hears mention of a man named Kurtz, an enigmatic Ivory poacher who runs a station in the furthurmost outskirts of the Congo.
Soon word comes in that Kurtz is ill and may die if help is not sent and its our man Marlow who is palced with the task. So Marlow and crew(a hand full of pilgrims and some native canibals on a strict diet of hippo meat) are heading up river in search of Kurtz all the while Marlow is becoming more disconnected and removed from his fellow pilgrims. Marlow sees something in the natives that he doesnt see in the pilgrims - humanity. They may be cannibals but at least they have restraint, Marlow thinks, actually Marlow thinks alot, he starts to wonder about Kurtz.
Joseph Conrad's novel Heart of Darkness uses character development and character analysis to really tell the story of European colonization. Within Conrad's characters one can find both racist and colonialist views, and it is the opinion, and the interpretation of the reader which decides what Conrad is really trying to say in his work.
Marlow’s journey into the Congo River is treacherous and unpredictable. Therefore, in a desperate need for civilization and escape from savagery, the boat serves as a sanctum from the natives, and becomes the link to moral civility. Throughout Marlow's voyage, he and his crew encounter mass amounts of fog. The fog symbolizes ambiguity in its most primal form, not only obscuring but it also distorts. The fog impares not just physical visibility, but which often ends up being wrong, which suggests that the fog has both literally and figuratively clouded Kurtz’s judgement. Marlow’s need to be on the boat, reflects the boat as a safe haven, a place where he can examine his own moral conscious more clearly. When his is not on the boat, he is less decisive and his judgement and moral compass are
Kurtz was the chief of the Inner Station, where he was in charge of a very important ivory-trading post. Marlow learns that because of Kurtz’s ability to obtain more ivory than anybody else, he is of “greatest importance to the Company” and is to become a “somebody in the Administration” (Conrad 143). However, a critical aspect is the way in which he went about his business, as it was ruthless and selfish, characteristics that go hand-in-hand with European colonization.
When questioning whether or not Joseph Conrad was an imperialist, a racist or both for that matter, the answer should be quite obvious after reading some of his works, such as, Heart of Darkness. Everywhere you look in this book, there is both imperialism and racism illustrated. Through Kurtz, Conrad's imperialist side breaks through and likewise, through Marlow Conrad's racist views come to life.
1. The protagonist of Heart of Darkness is a person named Charlie Marlow. Oddly, his name only appears once in the novel. Marlow is philosophical, independent-minded, and generally skeptical of those around him. He is also a master storyteller, eloquent and able to draw his listeners into his tale. Although Marlow shares many of his fellow Europeans’ prejudices, he has seen enough of the world and enough debased white men to make him skeptical of imperialism. An example of Marlow being independent-minded and philosophical is when he takes a trip up a river, as a break from working on ships. Marlow describes the trip as a journey back in time, to a “prehistoric earth.” This remark on how he regards colonized people as primitive, which is his philosophical viewpoint.
Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad is a novel about a man named Marlow and his journey into the depths of the African Congo. Marlow is in search of a man named Kurtz, an ivory trader. Though Marlow?s physical journey seems rather simple, it takes him further into his own heart and soul than into the Congo. The setting, symbols and characters each contain light and dark images, these images shape the central theme of the novel.
narrator of a journey up the Congo River into the heart of Africa, into the
The novel, Heart of Darkness, by Joseph Conrad, is literally about Marlow’s journey into the Belgian Congo, but symbolically about the discovery of his heart and soul during his journey, only to find that it is consumed by darkness. He realizes that the man he admired and respected most, is really demonic and that he may be just like him. He is able to come to this realization however, before it takes the best of him.
Marlow embarks on a journey to be the captain of a small steamboat to navigate the Congo river for a trading company. On ...
Marlow starts out as just as everyman, trying to put some bread on the table. His original plans were setting out to make money, but his journey turns into so much more. His expedition turns into a quest to find and save Kurtz, and to understand the people so many were prejudice against.
On one hand, Marlow is saved by his self-discipline while on the other hand Kurtz is doomed by his lack of it. Before Marlow embarked on his voyage to Africa, he had a different view. Due to propaganda, he believed that the colonization of the Congo was for the greater good. In his head, he judged that the people of Africa were savages and that colonization would bring them the elation and riches of civilization. Despite an apparent uneasiness, he assumed that restraint would function there.
By the time Marlow and Kurtz meet, Marlow is already well aware of the similarities they share. Both are imperialists, and while Marlow detests the treatment of the natives by his employers (Belgian colonists), he also makes apparent his abhorrence toward the Africans. On the other hand, Kurtz abandons the pretense of helping the natives achieve civilization, as displayed by the Europeans. Instead, he adopts their customs and becomes their leader in the never-ending quest for ivory. "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 the supernatural beings- we approach them with the might as of a deity' (Longman, 2000, p. 2226). Marlow also admired Kurtz' resourcefulness and survival skills, especially his perseverence through jungle fever. "The wilderness had patted him on the head....it had taken him, loved him, embraced him, got into his veins, consumed his flesh, and sealed his soul to its own by the inconceivable ceremonies of some devilish initiation. He was its spoiled and pampered favorite." (Longman, 2000, p. 2225).
Heart of Darkness was written during the time of British imperialism and extreme exploitation of Africans in the Congo. The British were exploiting the Africans in an effort to extract ivory from the primitive jungle. Throughout the novel, Conrad expresses his dislike with the 'civilized' white people exploiting the 'savage' black Africans. Conrad also uses several literary devices in his writing to portray and express several messages. The writing style, techniques, structure and themes in Heart of Darkness all combine to create one of the most renowned, respected and mysterious novels of all time. Conrad wrote an ultimate enigma for readers to interpret and critically analyze for years to come.
Heart of Darkness is a story full of irony and deception. At one point, Conrad made a very interesting point. He suggested that the light is used to indicate deceit in Heart of Darkness. Conrad uses the character of Marlow to make use of his own thoughts and views about the people in the Congo. He feels pity for them as he sees them falling down carrying heavy packages and Kurtz commanding them like a battalion of troops.
The Heart of Darkness, by Joseph Conrad, displays the power of humans and nature. Joseph Conrad says, “ My task is by the power of the written word before all, to make you see.” His words display, the contradiction of humanity and their actions through the manipulation of the light and dark forces. The heart of darkness is ambiguity between humans, their malcontent with themselves, and how they bend to natures will.