Dark Prophecies: An Analysis of Heart of Darkness

By: Derek Yeghiazarian (Grade 10)

The novella Heart of Darkness is one of the most acclaimed pieces of work in English literature. Largely based on the author’s voyage to Africa, Joseph Conrad weaves together a frame narrative about an old sailor who recounts his own experiences in one of the darkest and wildest places in the world: the Congo Free State. This novel is part of the Western canon, a term for a series of books and other forms of art that have had a large impact and influence on Western culture.

The story is told in retrospect by an aged sailor named Marlow, who obtains a position as a captain of a steamboat meant to trade ivory and enlighten “savages” on an unnamed river. Upon arriving at the Company’s station, he hears of a mysterious and feared man named Kurtz, stationed in uncharted parts of the colony, who made his name by becoming a ruthless and exceptional trader in ivory. Marlow and his crew, consisting of a group of “respectable” cannibals and a few other white men whom he calls “pilgrims,” are given the task to retrieve Kurtz after the company loses communication with him. Marlow also believes that the purpose of his task has something to do with the internal strife within the company over its profit and more notably, the company manager’s jealousy and fear of Kurtz. While Marlow is there, he also sees the injustice done to the native populace, put into chain gangs and made to do manual labor only to die of malnutrition, fatigue, and mistreatment at the hands of the Company’s men.

Along the way, they are attacked by a tribe of natives but are saved when Marlow blows the steamer’s horn, frightening off the attackers. Upon arriving at Kurtz’s station, Marlow encounters a man whom he calls the “Russian,” who speaks to Marlow about Kurtz and his conquest of the indigenous tribes of the area and how through these exploits, he made his fortune. During their conversation, the “Russian” reveals to Marlow his admiration for, and fear of Kurtz, while insisting that he is misunderstood and that he is a great man. He also tells Marlow that Kurtz is dying and that Kurtz was the one who initiated the attack on Marlow’s ship due to his desire to remain with the local indigenous people. As Marlow walks the station, he finds severed heads lining the exterior of Kurtz’s cabin which the “Russian” refers to as “rebels.” Marlow sees the evidence of the barbarous acts that Kurtz did while in the wilderness. Marlow and his crew load the ship with Kurtz’s last shipment of ivory and take Kurtz back down the river. While he is on the ship, Kurtz gives Marlow some of his personal belongings including a report that Kurtz originally wrote to an organization called "the International Society for the Suppression of Savage Customs." The report reveals that one of Kurtz’s original purposes for going to Africa was to enlighten the indigenous population. But at one point in the report, he stops short, saying “Exterminate the brutes!”

Before Kurtz dies, he tells Marlow his last words, summarizing his entire experience in the wilderness, saying “The horror, the horror!” Marlow returns to England, spreading the news of Kurtz’s death. Carrying out the man’s last wish, Marlow speaks to Kurtz’s fiancée who is in mourning. When she asks Marlow about Kurtz’s last moments, he finds that he is unable to explain to her what he has seen and to what depths Kurtz sank, and only tells her that Kurtz’s last words were about her.

The most blatant motif of the novella is darkness. Besides a dark, morbid mood and setting, the darkness also has symbolic meaning to it. One of the many aspects it represents is that of the unknown and its ability to conceal things. The issue of morals in an “enlightened society” doesn’t match that found in the Free State of the Congo where cruelty and horror are prevalent. Under the curtain of “darkness” that the remote wilderness provided, Kurtz was given free rein to acquire ivory by any method, even ones that would be deemed incomprehensible in the civilized world. This also gives the traders and colonists the freedom to abuse and wipe out the natives in their pursuit for the Congo’s wealth.

But the most important representation of darkness that Conrad illustrates is the potential that mankind has to commit savagery, emphasizing the duality of human nature and hypocrisy of a “virtuous human.” European colonists and those who supported them, claimed to go to Africa under the banner of “enlightenment,” while Conrad himself witnessed atrocities committed by the Belgian traders and colonists (thoroughly documented accounts on the mistreatment of the native populace was recorded by a friend of Conrad’s named Roger Casement in his 1904 Congo Report). In the book, Marlow’s influential aunt who got him a job in the company believes his mission is to try “weaning the ignorant millions off from their horrid ways.” One of Kurtz’s own reasons for coming to the Congo is to enlighten the native populace, but he embraces the freedom that the wilderness gives him and fully accepts his dark nature to carry out his horrific methods of attaining power.

With this pessimistic outlook on the nature of man, Joseph Conrad makes a radical statement about society, saying how the “darkness” of man’s nature is all too enveloping and that civilized society is capable of dissolving into disorder. Marlow makes a statement at the start of the novel, commenting on how to the ancient Romans, “England was at one time one of the dark places of the Earth” but coincidently, modern England (in the Victorian Era) referred to Africa as the “dark continent.”

A reason why I find Heart of Darkness so enthralling is the profound psychological impact that it has on the reader and how Conrad does a good job of providing a commentary on human nature. Humans of nearly every society cling to the ideals of nobility and virtue, but many times in history, man has committed acts of atrocity in contrast to what he claims to stand for, justifying Conrad’s outlook on mankind. How could we possibly claim to promote and uphold values while our past is speckled with genocides, corruption, and hatred? Leaders of the French Revolution cried out against oppression and tyranny while they themselves started the Reign of Terror. For two centuries, a new nation built on the foundations of equality and justice didn’t have true racial equality. Many times we hear in the news about corruption from politicians to industrialists, such as Governor Blagojevich’s case, Bernie Madoff’s Ponzi scheme, and the Enron scandal.

Despite Conrad’s statement about human nature, I genuinely believe that man is as capable of good as he is of evil. Despite acts of folly, mankind still strives for order and virtue. Every major religion, despite its origin, revolves around the same basic belief in charity and good work. People are now more willing to take active steps to a

Humans, as complex as they are, are flawed beings. Having the ability of complex thought and self-awareness gives us the means to commit both great evil and good. In the end, it is what we choose to do with our greatest gift that will decide the fate of a human society. Will we continue to pursue an enlightened and virtuous society, or, as Conrad warns us, will we succumb to our inner darkness and de-evolve back into the wilderness from where we came?