Heart of Darkness

So What?

Important Characters-

• Marlow- Marlow is the protagonist of the novel. He is a master story teller who spent a portion of his life navigating the interior of Africa. Marlow shares some racism with his fellow white men but has seen enough to be opposed to imperialism. During his trip into the heart of Africa Marlow is obsessed with meeting Kurtz from the moment he hears about him.
• Kurtz- Kurtz is a mysterious character and is not present except for mentions by other characters until the end of the novel and even then he remains very mysterious. He also has a large amount of influence over the people around him. He has gained the support of the native people and has taken a native mistress. He even keeps the heads of his enemies on stakes in front of his station. The other traders are envious of Kurtz and the amount he trades. Kurtz is very sick when Marlow finally reaches him and he dies on the way out of the heart of Africa.
• The Intended- The intended is Kurtz fiance who lives in Europe, completely ignorant of Kurtz' life in Africa. She is naive and believes that Kurtz loves her and planned to return to her. She gives a generally negative view toward women in the novel. After his experience with the intended, Marlow believes women live in a dream world and are insulated from reality.
• The Harlequin- A Russian trader who is characterized by his colorfully patched clothing and personality. He was the only other European person in the interior with Kurtz and he was deeply devoted to Kurtz. He lived for thrill of adventure and the glamour of youth.

Essential Plot Elements-

• The story begins on the banks of the Thames where Marlow is telling the story of his trip to the interior of Africa
• Marlow first goes to Brussels and riverboat captain with a Dutch company to the Congo, which was a Dutch territory. The trip to Africa is only very briefly described, but picks up again as soon as Marlow reaches the coast of Africa.
• When he reaches the station in Africa he finds the stem ship sunken and ends up spending months at the station waiting for repairs. Marlow's interest in Kurtz grows as he hears about him, Kurtz is rumored to be ill, from the spiteful general manager and the brickmaker, who fear Kurtz will take their positions.
• When the steam ship is finally fixed Marlow, the manager, the "pilgrims," and a crew of cannibals set off up the river towards Kurtz.
• Marlow and his crew come across an abandoned hut with a note saying to approach with caution and a stack of firewood. They take the firewood and continue up the river.
• Then a dense fog set in and they are forced to halt progress.
• When the fog clears Marlow and his crew are attacked with arrows by a band of native and Marlow scares them away with the steamship whistle.
• Shortly after the ship is attacked they arrive at Kurtz inner station, expecting to find him dead but are instead greeted by the harlequin who says Kurtz is perfectly fine
• The harlequin tells Marlow and the crew Kurtz has established himself as a god with the native people and has gone on brutal raid to find ivory, the heads on stakes attest to the brutal methods.
• Kurtz is brought aboard the steamer by the pilgrims and is quite ill. The natices try to protect him but he dismisses them and as they leave Kurtz native mistress sees them off.
• Going back down the river Kurtz is very ill and trusts Marlow with a folder of personal documents. Kurtz dies and his last words are "the horror, the horror."
• Marlow then return to Europe and visits the intended.

Setting-

• Opens on the Thames river where Marlow is telling the story of his journey into the heart of Africa in the late 19th century. The story then moves to Brussels then from there to Congo, which was a Belgian territory at the time, first on the coast and then the story moves into the interior of Africa. There is a backdrop of imperialism and racism in the novel.

Central Conflict-

• The central conflict of the novel arises from the difference in the social civility of European culture and culture of the natives and traders in Africa and Marlow and Kurtz's reactions. There is also conflict in Marlow's constant quest for Kurtz as soon as he hears the stories of him.

Major Themes-

• Imperialism- Imperialism is a major theme in Heart of Darkness. Marlow witnesses the miserable natives at the outer station who have been forced to work for the imperialist Dutch. This mistreatment as well as Kurtz mistreatment of the natives at the inner station illustrate the brutality and forcefulness of imperialism.

Emotion-

• This book is very difficult to get through but offers an interesting look at imperialism and the mistreatment of human being. I thought it was very interesting to witness discrimination at this level, especially in the imperialistic form it is introduced as.

How?

Figurative Language-

• Symbols- Women are symbols in Heart of Darkness. To Marlo they often symbolize a blank slates where the ideas of their respective cultures can be displayed. Women are always illustrated as naive and almost dumb. Women are needed to illustrate social structures and women are intended to be the objects of men.

Structure/Function-

• Point of View- the story begins from the point of view of a passenger on a ship hearing Marlow's story then jumps to Marlow's point of view as the journey to Africa begins in Europe. Marlow could be considered an unreliable narrator because of his obsession with Kurtz.