Heart of Darkness
Heart of Darkness (1899) is a novella by Polish-English novelist Joseph Conrad about a narrated voyage up the Congo River into the Congo Free State in the so-called "heart of Africa". Charles Marlow, the narrator, tells his story to friends aboard a boat anchored on the River Thames. This setting provides the frame for Marlow's story of his obsession with the ivory trader Kurtz, which enables Conrad to create a parallel between what Conrad calls "the greatest town on earth", London, and Africa as places of darkness.
Re-Edition Texts: Heart of Darkness
"Heart of Darkness" is a novel told in the first person perspective that surrounds the character Marlow as he retells the story of when he traveled through Africa for his trade company. The novel alludes to Africa as a place of darkness, thus the title referring to being in the heart of Africa or heart of "Darkness". The novel describes Africa as a place of evil, and violent natives. The character Kurtz displays the effects of living in such a place for a long time. Kurtz grows ill and eventually passes, but he shows his passions for how much he loved Africa and how much he didn't want to leave. At one point he leaves wood for the steamer ship in a hut, and after the ship takes on all the wood, they are attacked by the natives. Later it is discovered that Kurtz organized the attack so that he could stay in Africa. Kurtz had grown to love his life in Africa and the culture, for example when the ship picks him up, there's a woman watching as the ship leaves, and that woman is Kurtz significant other.