Literary Analysis of Heart of Darkness

It depicts the encounters of British sailor, Charlie Marlow, whose obsession with Africa spirals into his involvement in a Belgium ivory trading firm invading the Congo. Upon his arrival in Central Station, Marlow experiences a series of setbacks, including the sinking of his ship, in addition to learning of a mysterious company agent whom he soon comes to idolize- Mr. Kurtz. As his journey progresses through the ominous land, Marlow encounters numerous circumstances where he is presented with the conflicts of light and dark, good and evil. Following a series of attacks from the natives, Marlow finally comes face to face with the man who is the source of his obsession. This additionally contributes to the evil ridden ivory trade with which Marlow was about to participate.

On his way to sign the contract employing him as captain of the steam ship, Marlow was confronted with a woman “guarding the door of darkness, knitting black wool as for a warm pall,” (Conrad, 8). Once again the color black arises almost instantaneously, and conveys the evil of which Marlow will be involved once he signs the contract. “Darkness” is a strong indicator of the gloom and terror that resides beyond the door, which may be translated to represent the evil calamities triggered by the lack of an mindful, moral conscious. As the journey into the Congo deepens, so does the severity of the immorality. Immediately after disembarking from the ship, Marlow encountered the natives “in all the attitudes of pain, abandonment, and despair,” as a result from their captivity and state of illness (Conrad, 14).

The author implies this sense of light and dark as Marlow claims, “that in the blinding sunshine of that land I would become acquainted with a flabby, pretending, weak-eyed devil of a rapacious and pitiless folly,” (Conrad, 13). Through Marlow’s accounts, the author is able to convey the image of light through the “blinding sunshine” and dark through the “weak-eyed devil “that may be translated into a moral compass. The “weak-eyed devil” is intended to reference the imperialistic qualities of the corrupt ivory business and the immorality of Mr. Kurtz. Marlow was inevitably forced into a character change due to his environment; by being engulfed in a world where no valid morals existed took a toll on his character as a whole and he was forced to adapt.

Likewise, Kurtz was originally perceived as a man held to the standard of great admiration by Marlow as he refers to his voice as, “the gift of Kurtz,” prior to their first meeting. However, the progression of the book documents a twisted reality as Kurtz is viewed as a man of utter disgust and atrocious morals through his sheer greed for ivory and power. The text is further explained through the dramatic use of symbolism involving the concepts of light and dark. There is an abundance of emphasis on seeing and not seeing, as a great fog fell over the ship and “we were cut off from the comprehension of our surroundings,” (Conrad, 32). The widespread use of compound sentences throughout the passage creates an abundance of ideas within a single sentence, therefore allowing Conrad to convey the themes and plot more effectively.

He writes, “I had to keep guessing at the channel; I had to discern, mostly by inspiration, the sign of hidden banks,” and the presence of the semicolon indicates that it is a compound sentence (Conrad, 30). Later in the passage, the sentences become suggestive of a moral paradox, “I got used to it afterwards; I did not see it anymore,” as it previously described a “vengeful aspect” of an unknown intention (Conrad, 30). The unknown creates a paradox while the use of “vengeful” and the pronoun “it” may be inferred as references to the immorals present within the Congo. Simple sentences including, “this stillness of life did not in the least resemble peace,” create a concise description of the character’s observations.

The abundance of examples of light and dark were effectively translated into the moral battle between good versus evil. The lack of true virtues within the Congo were largely influential when the characters were presented with the confliction between good and evil and resulted in the temptation to abandon previous beliefs; they were supported through the vast use of symbolism and other literary devices. The author strived to additionally expose the evils of imperialism within Africa in the late 1800s by bringing attention to the morality behind the characters’ choices. The variety of compound and simple syntax paired with the eloquent diction supported the existence of natural human evil and the apparent absence of morals in the Congo. The moral issues embodied by Heart of Desire in the late 1800s are still widespread throughout society today; as a nation we should hold ourselves responsible to yield the corruption of society due to lack of a moral compass to prevent events such as those in Heart of Darkness.