Heart of Darkness

A review.  

Joseph Conrad’s novel is a difficult story to read.  The storyteller, a seaman named Marlow, tells his tale about a trip up the Congo River while he and a crew are waiting to embark on a journey.  Conrad himself had sailed that river so the geography and physical details are well-described.  The narrative is another thing.

As Marlow talks the dialogue is hard to follow.  Paragraphs may include two speakers whose individual words are hard to determine.  There are abrupt changes in topic.  The narrator at times seems to begin a new topic with no segue. The reader is left to wonder what just happened. 

Though the style is challenging, the language is eloquent.  Conrad’s use of words is noteworthy.  And his portrayal of people fits the characters’ role perfectly. Emotions are clearly presented through the right choice of words.  Still the theme is unclear until the end.

Conrad deals with hard topics like racism, colonialism, greed, violence.  He was not ready to see the evil nature of man so consistently seen in those areas along his journey into the Heart of Darkness.  Marlow’s mission is to find a man named Kurtz. Only to find the great expectation of meeting Kurtz dashed by that man’s selfishness. 

This edition has notes by Karen Swallow Prior which were invaluable in the background and purpose of the novel.  The study guide questions offer insight into the personality of the characters. This brings some of the shadowy images into the light. 

In the end, Heart of Darkness is a poignant, sorrowful story of man’s own ruin when trusting his own nature. It was said of Kurtz, “he could get himself to believe anything-anything.”  Apparently, he believed in himself too strongly and failed.