Autobiographical Element in Heart of Darkness

Heart of Darkness is based upon Conrad’s own experiences in life. This novel is a record of Conrad’s own experiences in the course of his visit to the Congo in 1890. 

As a boy, Conrad dreamed of travel and adventure. He was only nine years old when, looking at a map of Africa’ of the time, he said to himself:

“When I grow up, I shall go there.”

In Heart of Darkness, the fictitious character, Marlow also tells his friends on the deck of a steamboat that, in his boyhood, he had been greatly attracted by the African country known as the Congo, and that the river Congo flowing through that country had exercised a particular fascination upon him.

In order to go to the Congo, Conrad had to take the help of an aunt who was by vocation a writer of novels. Through her influence, Conrad obtained a job with a trading company as the captain of a steamboat which was to take an exploring expedition led by Alexandre Delcommune to a place called Katanga in the Congo. Conrad felt very pleased with the prospect of being able to visit the region of his boyhood dreams. However, Conrad’s pleasure was greatly shattered by a quarrel which he had with Alexandre Delcommune’s brother who was functioning as a manager under the same trading company at a trading station on the way.In Heart of Darkness, Alexendre Delcommune’s brother becomes the manager of the Central Station. Marlow makes very unfavourable comments on the manager of the Central Station because Conrad had formed an adverse view of Alexendre Delcommune’s brother with whom Conrad had quarreled. Marlow also gets job of captain on a steamboat through her aunt’s influence.

Conrad’s main duty, after getting job on a steamship, was to bring one of the Company’s agents whose health had been failing. The name of this agent was Klein. He subsequently died aboard Conrad’s steamship by which he was being brought. It was this agent, by the name of Klein, who is transformed into Mr. Kurtz in Heart of Darkness.

Conrad had many unpleasant experiences in the course of his visit to Congo, which he recorded in a diary to which he gave the name of the Congo Diary. Marlow also records the disastrous effects of the climate of the Congo upon the white traders and agents who were sent by the Belgian Companies to this region.

Furthermore, Marlow experiences the same sense of enlightenment and the same process of maturing through disillusion and defeat which Conrad himself underwent during his travels in the Congo.

It has therefore to be recognized that Heart of Darkness is, to a large extent, an autobiographical book because, in most of the essentials, Marlow’s experiences and feelings are very much the same as Conrad’s own had been. There is a lot of resemblance between Conrad’s Congo Diary and the contents of the novel Heart of Darkness to justify such an assumption. 

Conrad’s experiences in the Congo have been described by a critic as exasperating, frustrating, and humiliating; and Marlow’s experiences in his contact with most of the white men in the Congo are of the same kind. Marlow undergoes an extreme personal crisis; and this crisis is very much the same through which Conrad himself underwent in the Congo. 

In conclusion, we may add that Marlow’s outlook upon life of his philosophy of life is very much the same as Conrad’s own was. Marlow appears as a pessimist in the novel; and Conrad himself was a pessimist too. Marlow recognizes the existence of certain virtues in human beings just as Conrad himself did. But, on the whole, Conrad had formed certain depressing ideas about life in general, and Marlow too expresses similar ideas about life. Marlow’s reaction to most people, whom he meets in the course of his travels, is unfavourable and disappointing; and so were Conrad’s own reactions to the people whom he met in the course of his voyage. Marlow is more or less a lonely, isolated figure despite the presence before him of four of his associates to whom he tells his story; and Conrad was a lonely figure too.

Thus both in externals and in terms of the inward mental life, Marlow meet the same fate which Conrad had met.

Racism in Conrad's Heart of Darkness

Joseph Conrad develops themes of personal power, individual responsibility, and social justice in his novel Heart of Darkness. This novel has all the trappings of the conventional adventure tale – mystery, exotic setting, escape, suspense, unexpected attack. Yet, despite Conrad’s great story telling, he has also been viewed as a racist by some of his critics. Achebe, Singh, and Sarwan, although their criticisms differ, are a few to name.

The Nigerian writer Chinua Achebe has claimed that Heart of Darkness is an “offensive and deplorable book” that “set[s] Africa up as a foil to Europe, as a place of negations at once remote and vaguely familiar, in comparison with which Europe’s own state of spiritual grace will be manifest.” Achebe says that Conrad does not provide enough of an outside frame of reference to enable the novel to be read as ironic or critical of imperialism.

Heart of Darkness projects the image of Africa as "the other world," the antithesis of Europe and therefore of civilization. The book opens on the River Thames, tranquil, resting, peacefully “at the decline of day after ages of good service done to the race that peopled its banks." But the actual story takes place on the River Congo, the very antithesis of the Thames. It has rendered no service and enjoys no old-age pension. We are told that "Going up that river was like traveling back to the earliest beginnings of the world."

Conrad uses Marlow, the main character in the novel, as a narrator so he himself can enter the story and tell it through his own philosophical mind. Conrad used “double speak” throughout this novel. Upon arriving at the first station, Marlow commented what he observed.

“They were dying slowly – it was very clear. They were not enemies, they were not criminals, they were nothing earthly now, nothing but black shadows of disease and starvation lying confusedly in the greenish gloom.”

Marlow felt pity toward the natives, yet when he met the station’s book keeper he changed his views of the natives.

“Moreover I respected the fellow. Yes. I respected his collars, his vast cuffs, his brushed hair. His appearance was certainly great demoralization of the land he kept up his appearance.”

Early in his journey, Marlow sees a group of black men paddling boats. He admires their naturalness, strength, and vitality, and senses that they want nothing from the land but to coexist with it. This notion prompts him to believe that he still belongs to a world of reason. The feeling is short-lived, however, for it is not long before Marlow, too, comes to see the Africans as some subhuman form of life and to use the language of his day in referring to them as "creatures," "niggers," "cannibals," and "savages." He does not protest or try to interfere when he sees six Africans forced to work with chains about their necks. He calls what he sees in their eyes the "deathlike indifference of unhappy savages." Marlow exhibits some humanity in offering a dying young African one of the ship's biscuits, and although he regrets the death of his helmsman, he says he was "a savage who was no more account than a grain of sand in a black Sahara." It is not the man he misses so much as his function as steersman. Marlow refers to the "savage who was fireman" as "an improved specimen." He compares him, standing before his vertical boiler, to "a dog in a parody of breeches and a feather hat, walking on his hind legs." 

Conrad was not only racist but also ignorant. He would often mix ignorance with racism when he described the natives. 

“They howled and leaped and spun and made horrid faces, but what thrilled you was just the thought of their humanity – like yours – the thought of your remote kinship with this wild and passionate uproar. Ugly.”

The end result of Conrad’s ignorance of not knowing the behaviour of African people concluded his division of the social world into two separate categories: “us”, the Europeans and, “them”, the Africans. He considered the Africans inferior and doomed people.

To conclude, it may be said that in Heart of Darkness, the narrator is talking about a story in which the very humanity of black people is called into question. Though he did not originate the image of Africa which we find in his book, it was and is the dominant image of Africa in the Western imagination and Conrad merely brought the peculiar gifts of his own mind to bear on it. Conrad’s ignorance led to his conformity to racism. His ignorance of not completely “granting the natives human status” leads him to social categorization.

Heart of Darkness: Significance of Title

The phrase “Heart of Darkness” has two meanings. Literally, the title refers to the dark continent of Africa known as the Congo. “Heart of Darkness” is an appropriate title for the novel because Marlow describes his experiences of the interior region of the continent which was known as Congo. The events at the beginning and at the close of the novel occur outside Congo but the major and the most significant events of the story take place in the Congo and on the river Congo. The savages really belong to the heart of darkness.

There are other features of the novel too, justifying the title “Heart of Darkness”. One such feature is the description of the wild scenery of the thick, impenetrable jungle, and the suggestive picture of the natives not fully visible to the white men sailing over the river Congo. At one point in the novel Marlow says that sailing up the river Congo was like traveling back to the earliest beginnings of the world. He then refers to the great silence of the impenetrable forests where the air was warm, thick, heavy and sluggish. Marlow perceived no joy in the brilliance of the sunshine in that region. The long stretches of the water-way ran on into a mob of wooded islands. One could lose one’s way on that river as one might lose one’s way in a desert. The stillness prevailing there was not the stillness of peace but of a relentless force brooding over some mysterious purpose. Now, a description of this kind occurs later when Marlow tells us that the night came suddenly and seemed to strike him blind. Then, about three in the morning, Marlow heard a loud splash as though a gun had been fired. When the sun rose, there was a white fog, very warm and damp, and more blinding than the night. The fog remained there like something solid. A little later in the morning the fog lifted as a shutter lifts. Marlow then had a glimpse of the towering multitude of trees, of the immense jungle, and of the blazing little ball of the sun hanging over it, all perfectly still. And then the white fog came down again. There are other descriptive passages of the same kind in the book, too.

The barbarism of the natives reinforces the effect of these descriptive passages and intensifies the atmosphere of mystery and fear. Reading about the natives, we get an even stronger impression that we are in the midst of darkness. On one occasion, the natives, seeing Marlow’s steamer sailing up the river, draw near the river-bank in order to launch an attack upon the intruders. Marlow on this occasion hears a muffled rattle, then a very loud cry, as of infinite desolation. This cry gives rise to a feeling of terror in the hearts of all the white men. Then the attack by the natives actually begins. The white men then hit back by firing their rifles. In the fighting, the helmsman of the steamer is killed with a spear hurled at him by a native. It is the backwardness and the ignorance of the natives which creates the effect of darkness. The natives have merely attacked the steamer because they have received instructions to do so from their supremo, Mr. Kurtz. The personality of Mr. Kurtz is very important because it is he who sums up the whole essence of the barbarism and the savagery of the natives. Marlow has conveyed to us the demonic character of Mr. Kurtz by the use of highly suggestive phrases. Instead of civilizing the natives, Mr. Kurtz has himself become barbarian. Mr. Kurtz has begun to identify himself with the savages. He has been presiding over their midnight dances which always end with “unspeakable rites”. In Marlow’s opinion, Mr. Kurtz has taken a high place among the devils of the land. He has been experiencing “abominable satisfaction”, and he has been gratifying without restraint his “various lust”. In short, Mr. Kurtz has become part of the darkness of the Congo.

The phrase “Heart of Darkness” has yet another meaning. It also stands for an exploration of the depths of Marlow’s own mind or soul. The human mind may also be regarded as a kind of Dark Continent whose exploration is even more difficult than the exploration of Congo. The book called “Heart of Darkness” may be treated as a journey by Marlow into his own sub-conscious mind or into the sub-conscious mind of all mankind. Marlow’s journey into the Congo is metaphorically a psychological and anthropological might-journey. The book called “Heart of Darkness” is symbolically the story of an essentially solitary journey involving a profound spiritual change in the voyager. Marlow prepares us for such a journey at the very outset. But it is, at the same time, a psychological and mystical journey. Marlow also tells us indirectly that, by paying close attention to the surface reality of the story and its external details, we would be able to arrive at an inner meaning. Thus Conrad is here able to blend morality and adventure in a unique manner, as he has done in some of his other novels as well.

There are many passages in the course of Marlow’s narration in which he gives us glimpses of his own mind. At one point he tells us in explicit terms that he has always hated and detested lies because he has always found a taint of death and a flavour of mortality in lies. In the same context, Marlow also says that it is not possible for any man to convey to others the life-sensation of any period of all existence. He says:

“We live, as we dream – alone.”

At another point Marlow says that the mind of man is capable of anything because everything is in it. In order to endure the stark realities of human life, a man should possess an inner strength. What a man needs is a deliberate belief, at yet another point in the novel, Marlow tells us of the effect on his own mind of the savage sight of human skulls hanging from the tops of the posts fixed to the ground outside Mr. Kurtz's residence. Later, Marlow tells us of the effect on his mind of Mr. Kurtz’s arguments defending his action in slipping away from the ship’s cabin into the jungle. Towards the end of the novel, Marlow tells us the working of his own mind when several persons come to him, one after the other, claiming the packet or papers and the photograph which, Mr. Kurtz had given him for safe custody; and he also reveals to us the working of his mind when he goes the meet Mr. Kurtz’s Intended. In all these cases, Marlow tells us not about his conscious thoughts but also tries to probe his sub-conscious mind. This subconscious mind is also the heart of darkness which Marlow or Conrad tries to explore.

A critic, commenting upon the title of the novel, says that the “darkness” here is many things: it is the unknown; it is the subconscious; it is also a moral darkness; it is evil which swallows up Mr. Kurtz and it is the spiritual emptiness which he sees at the centre of existence; but above all it is mystery itself, the mysteriousness of man’s spiritual life.

Heart of Darkness: Symbolism

The complexity with profundity of most of the modern writers leads them to fill their wirings with greater significance than we find on the surface. Symbolism means a deeper meaning in what has been written than meets the eye. “Heart of Darkness” is replete with symbols. Every person and everything means more than what we find on a superficial view. The novel is based on the facts of history as well as on the facts of Conrad's own life; but Conrad has tried to convey the evasive and elusive truth underlying both the historical facts and his personal experiences.

Almost every character in “Heart of Darkness” has some symbolic significance. The central figure Mr. Kurtz, firstly, symbolizes the greed and the commercial and corrupt mentality of the western countries. Secondly, he symbolizes the white man’s love for power.

Power corrupts man and absolute power corrupts absolutely.

Thirdly, the change, which comes over him during his stay among the savages, symbolizes the influence of barbarism upon a civilized man. It also symbolizes the irresistible influences of barbarism upon a civilized man cut off from civilized society.

Where there is no check on a man, the worst of him may come out.

Finally, Mr. Kurtz symbolizes the repentant sinner. Mr. Kurtz's desire to collect the maximum quantity of ivory conveys the exploitation of the backward people of Congo by the white colonizers.

Marlow too has a symbolic role in the novel. Firstly, he symbolizes the spirit of adventure and a love of knowledge. Secondly, he symbolizes the thoughtful observer of human life and the thoughtful student of human nature. He also symbolizes a philosophical approach to human life by constantly meditating upon what he observes. To some extent, he too symbolizes the influence of savagery because his own primitive instincts have been awakened when he heard a lot about Mr. Kurtz’s way of life and then by his close personal contact with that man.

The subsidiary characters too possess symbolic significance. There is the manager of the Central Station. It is wrong to say that he symbolizes inefficiency. If he had been inefficient, he would not have been able to continue at his post. He symbolizes spiritual emptiness. If he is unable to inspire respect or love or fear, it is because he is spiritually barren and has no originality and no solid ideas in his head, though he can do his manager’s work like a machine.

The brick-maker acts as a “papier-mâché Mephistopheles” and symbolizes cunning and trickery. There are numerous white agents or traders loitering around the Central Station because they are idle. These men are described by Marlow as “faithful pilgrims”.

The cannibal crew on Marlow’s steamer really symbolizes efficiency because they do not shirk work. More than efficiency, they symbolize self-restraint because they do not try to satisfy their hunger by killing and eating white men’s flesh.

The knitting women in the beginning of the story symbolize the Fates who determine the future of every human being on the earth. These knitting women symbolize the danger which lies in store for Marlow.

In the outer room the two women knitted black wool, feverishly.

The majestic-looking native woman, who appears on the riverbank when Mr. Kurtz is being taken away, symbolizes a woman’s strong devotion and steadfast loyalty to her lord and lover.

Mr. Kurtz's fiancée also symbolizes loyalty but her loyalty is that of an innocent, inexperienced woman who is deluded by false appearances and does not know the ways of the world. The fiancée symbolizes the hold of an illusion upon a woman’s mind.

The Russian symbolizes inquisitiveness or the desire to learn. But he also symbolizes loyalty and fidelity, the two virtue which Marlow also symbolizes.

Many sights seen by Marlow also possess symbolic significance. The French warship firing aimlessly into the forest, and the rock being blasted with gun powder but without any purpose symbolize the sense of futility and an aimless endeavor. Ivory symbolizes the white men’s greed.

Then there is the sight of one over-worked and starved native labourers dying slowly of disease and starvation. The condition of these men symbolizes the sufferings of the natives who do not receive any sympathy from the white colonizers.

They were dying slowly … They were not enemies, they were not criminals, they were nothing earthly now, - nothing but black shadows of disease and starvation.

The chain-gang with half a dozen native men chained to one another, and each wearing an iron collar round his neck, symbolize the white man’s sway over the ignorant backward people without any concern for their welfare.

“… the joints of their limbs were like knots in a rope; each had an iron collar on his neck, and all 

were connected together with a chain whose bights swung between them, rhythmically clinking.

The description of the natural scenery also serves a symbolic purpose. The scenery is wild and awe-inspiring. The silence of the woods and the abundance of trees symbolizes mystery and horror. Marlow has given us many pictures of the thick, dense, matted forests.

And the river was there – fascinating – deadly – like a snake.

The city of Brussels symbolizes the inner corruption and degeneracy of white man’s civilization. Brussels seems to Marlow to be the white sepulcher – something outwardly pleasant and holy but inwardly rotten.

Finally, Marlow’s whole journey into the Congo has symbolic significance besides its literal meaning. It may be regarded as a journey into subconscious mind of Marlow in particular and of mankind in general. “Heart of Darkness” is the story of a journey involving spiritual change in the voyager. Symbolically, Marlow’s journey into the Congo is an arduous physical activity or adventure. The literal meaning of ‘heart of darkness’ is the inmost region of Congo; but symbolically this phrase means the inmost region of man’s mind or soul. As Marlow stands for Conrad, the novel becomes a kind of Conrad’s exploration of his own mind during his visit to the Congo in 1890.

In the business of exploration, both exploiter and exploited are corrupted.

In short, the imperial exploitation of the Congo has effectively been conveyed through a symbolic description of numerous scenes and situations.

Heart of Darkness: Self Restraint

Self restraint is certainly one of the themes of the novel “Heart of Darkness”. Self-restraint is only a subsidiary or secondary theme. This theme has been handled by Conrad very skillfully, and almost subtly, so that it does not project itself on our attention or undermine the other themes.

The white men who have gone to the Congo for trade show no self-restraint but unlimited greed. They are all there to collect ivory; and ivory has begun to dominate their thoughts. Ivory has become their obsession. The manager has begun to feel jealous of Mr. Kurtz because Mr. Kurtz collects more ivory than all the other agents put together. The desire of these men for ivory knows no bounds.

Then, all these men seek power and authority; and they show no self-restraint in this aim. The most striking example of greed and self-aggrandizement is to be found in Mr. Kurtz who knows no self-restraint at all. Mr. Kurtz becomes the embodiment of the passion for ivory and for power. Many times he was heard saying:

“my ivory, my station, my intended, my career, my …”

Indeed, Mr. Kurtz has become a devil seeking wealth in the form of ivory and seeking power in the form of control over the natives. He has collected all the ivory in the Congo. On one occasion he got ready even to kill his friend, the Russian, because he was having a small quantity of ivory which he did not wish to part with and which Mr. Kurtz had demanded from him. Mr. Kurtz's passion for power also knows no bounds. He has been acquiring more and more power over the savages till he has become in their eyes a god. If any native rebels against his authority, Mr. Kurtz has him executed. The time comes when nothing on earth can prevent him from killing whomsoever he wants to kill. And he still has more plans for his self-aggrandizement. 

Nor does Mr. Kurtz show any self-restraint in the satisfaction of his primitive instincts which have begun to dominate him. Mr. Kurtz has become an active sharer in the demonic practices of the savages. He presides over their midnight dances which always end with “unspeakable rites” includIing sex-orgies, sadistic and masochistic practices, human sacrifice and other obnoxious acts. He indulgence in all such proceedings has assumed vast scope and has begun enjoying “abominable satisfactions”. He now gives a free outlet to his “monstrous passions” in the company of the savages.

Mr. Kurtz shows no self-restraint even in his desire for possessing things and for owning things. Indeed, his sense of ownership and proprietorship has assumed abnormal proportions. He has developed a feeling that everything belongs to him. And yet there is emptiness in his soul. His mind is by no means insane, but his soul has certainly gone mad. He is “hollow at the core”, as Marlow puts it. And yet this man is able to stir feelings of friendship and respect in Marlow. Here we are faced with a paradox.

There is also a lack of self-restraint in the Russian who has developed an attitude of worship towards Mr. Kurtz. The Russian, a highly intelligent and well-educated man, begins to adore Mr. Kurtz. According to the Russian, Kurt’s has taught him many things and has enabled him to look into the essence of things. The Russian regards Mr. Kurtz as one of the immortals. Surprisingly Marlow himself develops an attitude of respect towards Mr. Kurtz. He has discovered that Kurtz is hollow at the core and has taken a high place among the devils of the land. And yet Marlow himself falls under Mr. Kurtz's influence. When Mr. Kurtz has slipped away from the ship’s cabin into the forest, Marlow follows him to bring him back. Marlow writes:

“I did not betray Mr. Kurtz – it was ordained. I should never betray him – it was written I should be loyal to the nightmare of my choice.”

Marlow also says that Mr. Kurtz had conquered his soul which is totally untainted by selfishness. Marlow interpret Mr. Kurtz's last words as indicative of Mr. Kurtz's victory over the evil within him. Thus we can safely affirm that even Marlow shows a lack of self-restraint in his feelings of admiration and regard for Mr. Kurtz.

This theme of self-restraint finds expression also in the manner in which Marlow has depicted the cannibal crew on his steamer. These cannibals were very hungry, and they could easily have killed some of the white men on board the steamer and consumed their flesh but they showed self-restraint. This self-restraint on the part of the cannibals is quite puzzling and highly commendable, though surprising. In respect of self-restraint the cannibals score a point over the civilized white men. Even the white manager of the Central Station shows restraint in his mental make-up. He refrains from giving orders to Marlow and says that Marlow has the right to decide whether he should continue the voyage to the Inner Station or stop for a few hours to find out whether the savages would attack the steamer.

According to an eminent critic, restraint or self-restraint is a major theme in “Heart of Darkness”. Mr. Kurtz has no restraint because he has no urgent work to do and has no belief. Mr. Kurtz's extremism and faith are the opposite of true belief which is needed to tackle darkness. On account of this lack of moral equipment and his greed of money and power, Mr. Kurtz is unable to cope with the forces of savagery and evil within him. Mr. Kurtz's only defence is his eloquence but this is not enough. These heads, stuck to the poles show that Mr. Kurtz lacked restraint in the gratification of his various lusts. The native helmsman, steering Marlow’s steamer, also showed a lack of restraint which results in his murder.

“In fact nobody in the story has any real restraint except the most savage of all men, the half-starved cannibals on

board the steamer who amaze Marlow by the fact that they restrained themselves from tucking into the pilgrims.”

This true restraint on the part of the cannibals is incomprehensible to Marlow. Our critic further says that Marlow’s failure to solve this mystery and many other mysteries in the story is linked to a lack of restraint in the language which Marlow uses. Marlow occasionally employs excessive rhetoric, thus showing his lack of restraint in the use of language also.

Heart of Darkness: Imperialism

“Heart of Darkness” abounds in several themes. It has the theme of self-restraint, of the working of the subconscious mind, of the exploration, of barbarism and primitivism and the theme of imperialism. Conrad's handling of white imperialism was influenced by his own visit to Congo and his rendering of Marlow’s conscious and sub-conscious thoughts was also based upon his own reactions to what he himself witnessed in Congo.

The keynote of the theme of imperialism is struck at the very outset of Marlow’s narration of the ancient Roman conquest of Britain. Their conquest was “robbery with violence” and murder on a large scale. Marlow says that conquest can be excused only if the conquerors perform some constructive work in the conquered country. The white man certainly has a duty to whom he subdues and if he fails in this duty, his government of the backward countries cannot be justified.

Power corrupts man and absolute power corrupts absolutely.

The white man had failed to perform his functions in Congo. Instead of civilizing the savages, they became exploiters. The Belgian trading companies sent their agents into the Congo for trading purposes. The chief commodity which these Belgians found was ivory, useless for the natives, while the white men collected ivory and sent it to Europe. Ivory dominates the thoughts of the manger, of the brick-maker, of the several white agents whom Marlow gives the name of “faithless pilgrims”. Ivory not only dominates the thoughts of Mr. Kurtz but has become his obsession. He collects more ivory than all the other agents taken together. Ivory symbolizes the white man’s greed and their commercial mentality. The greater the ivory collected by an agent, the greater is his achievement and the higher is the promotion which he can expect. Nowhere do we find any service being rendered by these white men in Congo.

The sights seen by Marlow in Congo are very gloomy, depicting the misery of the natives, and the futility of the white man’s seemingly useful work. He sees a lot of naked black people moving about like ants. 

A lot of people, mostly black and naked, moved about like ants.

He sees half a dozen men chained to one another and each wearing an iron collar on his neck. These men are criminals who have violated the laws and are being punished. Marlow feels deeply upset at this sight. 

I could see every rib, the joints of their limbs were like knots in a rope; each had an iron collar on his neck, 

and all were connected together with a chain whose bights swung between them, rhythmically clinking.

He sees black figures crouching under the trees, leaning against the trunks, and clinging to the earth, dying slowly.

'They were dying slowly – it was very clear.' They were not enemies, theywere not criminals, they were nothing

earthly now - nothing but blackshadows of diseaseand starvation, lying confusedly in the greenish gloom.

Here Marlow feels as if he has entered into the gloomy circle of some inferno. It is obvious that the white man’s indifference and his unconcern are responsible for this state of affairs. 

Few other sights also indicate the hypocrisy of the white men wasting time and effort. Marlow sees that a rock is being blasted though it does not stand in the way of the railway line being laid. He sees some pieces of decaying machinery, a large heap of rusty rails and a boiler lying unused in the grass. Marlow had seen a warship firing its guns into the forest aimlessly. He found a touch of insanity in it. This waste of effort and the unused machinery offer a sharp contrast to the starving natives. 

The futility of the white man’s actions becomes more evident when we meet certain employers of the trading Company. The manager of the Central Station could inspire neither respect not love nor fear but only uneasiness. Marlow found nothing within this man. His mind is full of fear lest he should be superseded by Mr. Kurtz. The brick-maker is equally satirical and critical. The brick maker is described as a “papier-mâché Mephistopheles” for his cunning. He makes no bricks but acts as a spy for the manager. The men, loitering around the Central Station, are idlers. They only gossip, speak ill of one another and hatch intrigues. Conrad conveys his strong disapproval and disapprobation of these white men most effectively. 

The cannibal crew of Marlow’s steamer is most efficient, hard working and strong who deserve encouragement but the way in which they are treated is disgusting. Without this crew the steamer could not have gone ahead and yet the white bosses do not bother whether or not these men are properly fed. The cannibal crew themselves are exercising self-restraint and are not attacking the white men to eat their flesh. Thus the white men are totally unconcerned about the welfare on whose labour and toil they depend. 

Mr. Kurtz, who held that the white man should confer huge benefits upon the backward people, has done nothing for the uplift of the natives. Rather, he has himself become a savage in their company. 

Where there is no check on a man, the worst of him may come out.

He failed to exercise any self-restraint, and begun to satisfy his various lusts without any limit. Even in his prime of life he had written down the following words conveying an opposite message:

“Exterminate all the brutes.”

“Heart of Darkness” conveys to us the deceit, robberies, arson, murder, slave-trading, and cruelty in the Congo. There is an incident of fire, and there is the long trek during which the natives have to carry a heavy load on their heads. The chief accountant can afford to dress perfectly when the natives around are disease-stricken and starving. In this novel, indeed, the brutal futility of the Belgian imperialist rule is memorably captured in image after image.

Conrad not only exposes the futility and the failing of the Belgian imperialism over the Congo but also reminds us of British imperialism in various countries of his time. Today white imperialism has crumbled and most of the counties have become independent. Conrad's accusation of imperialist rule in Congo had a valuable message for both the exploiters and the exploited. 

In the business of exploration, both exploiter and exploited are corrupted.

Today this message has only a historical interest. The evil imperialist rile has ended, but other evils have come into existence.

Heart of Darkness: Theme of Isolation

“Heart of Darkness” has a multiplicity of themes interwoven closely and produces a unified pattern. The theme of isolation and its consequences constitute a theme in this book, though a minor one. Marlow and Mr. Kurtz illustrate this theme, dominate the novel and have symbolic roles. Both these men stand for much more than the individuals which they certainly are. 

Marlow strikes us from the very start as a lonely figure. Although he is a member of a small group of people sitting on the deck of the streamer called the “Nellie”. He is, at the very outset, differentiated from the others. He sits cross-legged in the pose of a Buddha preaching in European clothes without a lotus-flower. Then he begins his story, and nowhere in his narration does he appear to be feeing perfectly at home among other people. He seems to have the temperament of a man who would like to stay away from others, though he would certainly like to observe others and to mediate upon his observations.

When Marlow goes to Brussels for an interview, he depicts himself as an alien who has stepped into an unpleasant environment. The city of Brussels makes him think of a “whited sepulcher”. This feeling clearly shows that he has nothing in common with the people of this European city, though he is himself a European. Then he finds something ominous in the atmosphere of the office of the Company. The two knitting-women strike him as mysterious and sinister beings. 

In the outer room the two women knitted black wool, feverishly.

Even the doctor tells him that he is the first Englishman to have come under his observation. Marlow says:

'The old doctor felt my pulse, evidently thinking of something else the while. "Good, good for there," he 

mumbled, and then with a certain eagerness asked me whether I would let him measure my head.

There seems to be a distance even between Marlow and his aunt who has got him the job. She is enthusiastic and cordial enough, but Marlow has his reservations. He thinks that she is a most unrealistic woman. She is under the impression that the white men go into the backward regions to confer benefits upon the savages. But, in Marlow’s opinion, this view of the white men is entirely wrong.

When voyaging upon the sea in order to get to the Congo Marlow found himself to be perfectly idle and isolated from all the others on board the steamer because he had no point of contact with them. The sound of the sea-waves was the only source of comfort to him because these sounds seemed to be like “the speech of a brother”. He finds a kinship with the sea-waves but no kinship with the human beings on board the steamer. 

Marlow’s sense of loneliness increase when he sees certain sights in the Congo. These sights convey to him the futility of the white man’s exertions and activities in the Congo, and miseries of the black natives. His realization by him of white man’s cruelty creates a kind of barrier between him and the white men living in Congo. When he has to deal with the individual white men, his isolation is further emphasized. He finds absolutely no point of contact with the manager of the Central Station, with the manager’s uncle, and with the brick-maker. The manager is a man who inspires no fear, no love, no respect and there is “nothing within this man”. The manager’s uncle is an intriguer and plotter as the manager himself. The brick-maker is described by Marlow as a “papier-mâché Mephistopheles” and a devil who is hollow within. The only man, whom Marlow can respect, is the chief accountant who keeps his account-books in apple-pie order and is always seen dressed neatly and nicely; but perhaps Marlow is speaking here ironically. Actually none of the white men seems to have any merit in him. Marlow does discover some good points in the natives but none in the white men. The cannibal crew of his steamer shows an admirable self-restraint and are hard-working but the white agents seem to be useless fellows and to them he gives the nickname of the “faithless pilgrims”. It is only when Marlow meets Mr. Kurtz that some sort of contact is established between him and the chief of the Inner Station of the Company.

The effect of isolation upon Marlow is profound. He is by nature somewhat unsociable. He is a kind of philosopher who meditates upon whatever he sees. Isolation further heightens his meditative faculty. Finding no point of contact with others, Marlow becomes more of a thinker, and more of a philosopher-cum-psychologist and studies the character and habits of Mr. Kurtz; and it is because of his isolation that he falls a victim to the influence of Mr. Kurtz whom he has himself described as a devil. This isolation can have grave consequences.

Mr. Kurtz is another isolated figure. He has become an absolutely solitary man after his prolonged stay in the Congo. He is not solitary in the sense that he does not mix with other. In fact, he has begun to identify himself with the savages and has become a sharer in their activities and in their interests. He participates in their “unspeakable rites” and he gratifies, without any restraint, his various lusts and his monstrous passions. 

“The wilderness has caressed him, loved him, embraced him, entered his 

blood, consumed his flesh and has taken complete possession of his soul.”

In the case of Mr. Kurtz, it is isolation which proves the man’s undoing. Being cut off from all civilized society at the Inner Station of the Company, Mr. Kurtz begins slowly to fall under the influence of the savage till he becomes one of them. Gradually he acquires great power and begins to be regarded as a god by them. Thus now he has to keep himself at a distance even from them. He “presides” over their midnight dances which end with “unspeakable rites”. 

But he is a solitary figure in the context of his western education and European upbringing. Even among the savages, he stands far above them. The savages regard him as a man-god. Mr. Kurtz is indeed a deity for the savages, and therefore he is a solitary figure even among them. Perhaps the savage closest to him under these conditions is the native woman who is his housekeeper and also perhaps his mistress. But the evil within him has already acquired huge proportions. Thus the effects of isolation in Mr. Kurtz’s case are disastrous.