Heart of darkness, by joseph Conrad (1899)

Summary
"Heart of Darkness" by Joseph Conrad follows Marlow, an introspective sailor,
on his journey up the Congo River to meet Kurtz, a man reputed to possess great
abilities and idealistic qualities. Marlow takes a job as a riverboat captain with
the Company, an organization aimed at trading in the Congo. Along the way, he
witnesses inefficiency and brutality at the Company's stations, where native
workers suffer from mistreatment and overwork. The oppressive cruelty of
imperial exploitation starkly contrasts with the surrounding jungle's majestic
beauty.

Upon reaching the Central Station, Marlow discovers that his steamship has
been sunk. He becomes intrigued by Kurtz, whose reputation grows during his
wait for parts to repair the ship. The general manager and the brickmaker appear
threatened by Kurtz's influence, and rumors circulate about his illness, which
further delays the repairs. After securing the necessary parts, Marlow embarks
on a challenging journey with the manager, pilgrims, and cannibal crew.

The voyage is filled with tension and eerie encounters, culminating in an attack
by unseen native tribes. Arriving at Kurtz's Inner Station, they encounter a half-
crazed Russian trader who reveals that Kurtz has taken on a god-like status
among the natives and has committed brutal acts in pursuit of ivory. The pilgrims
bring Kurtz, who is seriously ill, aboard the steamer. It becomes evident that
Kurtz's mistress is involved in his life, and the Russian trader discloses that Kurtz
orchestrated the attack on the steamer to deceive them into leaving him alone.

Kurtz disappears but is eventually found by Marlow crawling toward a native

camp. He is convinced to return to the ship but succumbs to his illness. Kurtz's
final words, "The horror! The horror!" are uttered as he dies. Marlow, who falls
ill, eventually returns to Europe and visits Kurtz's fiancée, who remains in
mourning. She idealizes Kurtz as a paragon of virtue and achievement and
inquires about his last words, but Marlow, reluctant to shatter her illusions, tells
her that Kurtz's final word was her name. The narrative explores themes of
colonialism, moral decay, and the inherent darkness within human nature.

TEACHER POWERPOINT
HEART OF DARKNESS – A MODERNIST NOVEL
o It breaks up the temporal continuity o f the 19th c. novel
o The use of multiple narrators undermines the 19th c. convention of narrative
omniscience
o Meaning is conveyed by imagery and symbolism
o Meanings of imagery and symbolism are often untraditional
o Meaning is open-ended, ironic, multi-layered and inconclusive
o Narrative structure is discontinuous and fragmented
o Technique of forcing the reader to share the impressions of the characters
o Readers must meet unusual challenges in Reading the work and engage
actively in figuring out and even the creating of the work’s meaning

NARRATIVE TECHNIQUES AND STRUCTURE

• Two narrators:
a) Unnamed English man who provides the framing narrative
b) Marlow, the protagonist. An unreliable narrator
There are three important listeners: the Lawyer, The Accountant, The Director
Structure: there are 3 chapters, a prologue and an epilogue

Techniques
- Technique of delayed decoding: conrad records first the impressions that an
event makes on marlow, and only later marlow’s arrival at an explanation of
the event.
- Technique of time shift: flashbacks and flashforwards

USE OF LANGUAGE
Strange English
Hypnotic rhythm
Poetic rhythm

COLONIALISM
There is a parallelism
Britons during the roman empire – African natives
London – central Africa
The Thames – the Congo River

CHARACTERS – SYMBOLICAL
Women kitting are personification of destiny
The pilgrims are “hollow men” (Eliot)
Kurtz symbolizes Evil

Kurtz!
- The character of Kurtz is almost as enigmatic as the darkness in which he
dwells.
- Finding Kurtz and hearing his voice becomes the main reason for Marlow’s
journey but his expectations are lost when me finally meets him
- Kurtz began his encounter with Africa in a spirit of utopian idealism: he was
once “ a prodigy,” “an emissary of pity and science and progress”. His gift
was supposed to be “eloquence”
- Everything belonged to him [Kurtz]—but that was a trifle. The thing was to
know what he belonged to, how many powers of darkness claimed him for
their own. That was the reflection that made you creepy all over. It was
impossible—it was not good for one either—trying to imagine.
CONTRASTS IN HEART OF DARKNESS

o Light vs. Dark (civilization + knowledge vs. wilderness, savagery)

o Black vs. White
o Inferiority vs. Superiority
o Civilization vs. Savagery
o Interior vs. Exterior
o Illusion vs. Truth
o Insanity vs. Sanity
o Racism vs. Anti-racism
o Evil vs. Good

WOMEN
The two women, knitters of black wool
Women are depicted as weak, deluded (Marlow’s aunt and his fiancé)
Also, women are depicted as threatening, just as the statuesque African woman

CHINUA ACHEBE’S CRITIQUE OF THE NOVEL IN “AN IMAGE OF AFRICA”

o The novel feels to give Africans the same consideration as Eurpeans
o European knowledge about Africa is biased
o Going to Africa is returning to the primitive stage of human existence
o Contact with Africans brings about corruption and savagery
o Conrad’s text exemplifies a general problem: the failure to give Africans and
their continent the same consideration that European would expect to give
themselves and their homelands
o This negative view comes from the presupposition that African lacks a history
(Hegel said that “it is no historical part of the world”).
o Therefore, going there means returning to the primitive stage of human
existence: “Going up that river was like travelling back to the earliest
beginnings of the world, when vegetation rioted on the earth and big trees
were king.”(H of D, Part II, WC p. 61)
o According to Achebe, contact with Africans, can bring all the savagery and
corruption the human beings are capable of.