Contradicting Symbolism in Joseph Conrad's "Heart of Darkness"

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Recommended: analyse darkness as a poewrful symbol in Conrad's Heart of Darkness

Joseph Conrad utilizes several important literary techniques throughout his story Heart of Darkness. One predominant method of his storytelling is the use of contrasting sensory imagery between black and white and altering the symbolism the colors entail. This theme is clearly prevalent when we read of Marlow's childhood dreams and when comparing and contrasting the Africans, the Europeans, and the corruption of the ivory trade. Generally, Africa and Africans are described in terms of blackness, symbolic of darkness, evil, and corruption. On the other hand, Europe and Europeans are defined in terms of white, representative of innocence and purity. These images are essential in proving the dominant theme of good versus evil and in Conrad's unconventional reversal of the true colors of blacks and whites.

Subsequent to the introduction of his journey, Marlow explains the significance of his map. "It ceased to be...a white patch for a boy to dream gloriously over. It had become a place of darkness" (71). This map upholds a meaningful representation of Conrad's ongoing theme. Marlow's innocent childhood dreams of exploring the white spaces of the map were ultimately destroyed as the maps became darker colors. On Marlow's map, Africa is represented as blankness, the white eventually destined to be "filled in" by cartographers or mapmakers as it was further explored. In this sense, Africa was "white" (innocent and pure) until colonialism progressively brought darkness; not only by removing the map's white space but also by implementing the corruption of the ivory trade.

Marlow's first sight of the "darkness" is when he sees a boat "paddled by black fellows. You could see from afar the white of their eye...

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...e men, whose skin color represented righteousness and purity, were guilty of "black" actions while the black men, whose shade of skin embodied sin and immorality, encompassed "white" souls. These images prove Conrad's existing theme of good versus evil and how, although the color white customarily represents purity, it does not always bring goodness.

Works Cited

Bodek, Richard. "Conrad's Heart of Darkness." Diss. 2000. The Explicator 59 (2000):25.

Conrad, Joseph. Heart of Darkness and the Secret Sharer. New York: New American Library, 1997. 65-164.

Conrad, Joseph. The Story and Its Writer. Comp. Ann Charters. 6th ed. Boston: Bedford-St. Martins, 2003. 162-224.

Kaplan, Carola M. "Colonizers, Cannibals, and the Horror of Good Intentions in Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness." Diss. Newberry College, 1997. Studies in Short Fiction 34 (1997):323.

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