John Smith                                                                                                           

Mr. Donnell

English 15B

21 July 2005 

Analysis of Conrad’s Heart of Darkness

Throughout Heart of Darkness, Joseph Conrad repeatedly refers to hearts of darkness, describing both the surroundings of the Congo and characteristics of people he encounters.  Through the novel’s several nuances, Conrad suggests that a heart of darkness, or uncontrolled savagery, lies inherent in all humankind, potentially leading to atrocities and destruction, and requires individual restraint to keep in check. Using the concepts and redundant situations of meaninglessness and absurdity, blurred extremities, and restraint through work, he unearths this central idea.

From the entrance into the Congo, to the end of the novel, Charlie Marlow witnesses numerous moments of absurdity and meaninglessness in his surroundings, impressing upon him the futility and counter progress of the imperial colonists’ presence. During his initial voyage toward the Congo, Marlow notices a man-of-war ship off the coast firing shells into thick jungle and senses “a touch of insanity in the proceeding”  (Conrad 2313). Similarly, at a Company station, he encounters a man who ensures him that “everybody [is] behaving splendidly, splendidly,” as he dips a bottomless pail into water, representative of the fruitless work being carried out by the colonists (Conrad 2320). When meeting the hook nosed man whom he learns is the brick maker of the Central Station, he observes “there [isn’t] a fragment of a brick anywhere in the station, and he [has] been there more than a year” (Conrad 2321). These events add a sense of inefficiency to the Company’s proceedings, and the “White Man’s Burden” is confirmed to be meaningless by the symbolic representation of a hole Marlow comes across:

I avoided a vast artificial hole somebody has been digging on the slope, the purpose of which I found it impossible to divine. It was just a hole. It might have been connected with the philanthropic desire of giving the criminals something to do (Conrad 2314). 

Digging of the hole without purpose represents the Company’s actions, supporting the theme of absurdity, and in addition, its description portrays their imperialism on the Africans in a twisted fashion. Previously, the role of imperialism in the Congo was assumed to be the civilizing of savagery; however, the description of the hole connects the meaninglessness associated with the white men to their “philanthropic” relations with the locals. This debunking calls the European’s intentions into question, which Conrad uses to blur the distinction between civilization and savagery, light and dark.

            Throughout the novel Marlow examines the discerning motives and qualities of European civilization, initially symbolized by light, in its interaction with the savage locals and determines that the perceived distinction setting the two groups apart is blurred.  For instance, Captain Fresleven, Marlow’s predecessor, is described to him as “the gentlest, quietest creature that ever walked on two legs”, yet he beats a native to death with a stick, over a quarrel regarding hens (Conrad 2309). His hostility is then returned by the native’s son impaling him with a spear. While at the office of the shipping company to the Congo , Marlow describes the city as a “whited sepulcher,” uniting both the light, or knowledge of advanced civilization, and the sense of eminent death, or destructive darkness in a duality. This is a particularly fitting description of the “bright” city that exports death (Bodek 2). The juxtaposition also signifies the savage injustice inflicted on the locals of the Congo through the civilized European’s “high and just proceedings” (Kaplan 4). Through such moments as these, Conrad strips Europe of its righteous pretense that elevates it above animalistic savagery (Bodek 2).

            A moment symbolic of intertwining dark among light is Marlow’s visit to the Intended. The piano in the corner of the room stands out “like a somber and polished sarcophagus,” reminiscent of the “whited sepulcher” (Conrad 2360). Further, the piano can be taken as a symbol of refinement, composed of ivory keys, symbolic of the dark events in the Congo (Kaplan 4). The Intended herself is still in mourning over Kurtz, and Marlow describes her forehead “illumined by the inextinguishable light of belief and love” against the dark background, conjuring the image of Kurtz’s painting of Lady Justice (Conrad 2361).

Then I noticed a small sketch in oils, on a panel, representing a woman, draped and blindfolded, carrying a lighted torch. The background was somber—almost black. The movement of the woman was stately, and the effect of the torchlight on the face was sinister. (Conrad 2321).

        Similarly, the Intended, as a representative of society, is blindfolded by ignorance from her own potential savagery, and carries a torch of self-righteous ideals, manifest in her devotion to Kurtz’s beliefs. The dark background reflects the evil lurking in her own heart of darkness (Kaplan 4).

            Kurtz, who falls so far into darkness, exemplifies the blurring of civilization and savagery, as he is the voice of imperialism. In his report to “The International Society for Suppression of Savage Customs,” he outlines his method for civilizing the locals of the Congo :

“By the simple exercise of our will we can exert a power for good practically unbound” yet then ends with “Exterminate all the brutes!” This contradiction indicates the nature of imperialism in Africa : the Europeans, operating under the pretense of good will, revert to savagery through their crusade (Conrad 2341). Although Conrad is claiming that the society’s notion of civilizing the savages leads to atrocities, he is not glorifying the uncivilized as noble in any means. In fact Marlow attributes Kurtz’s fallen state to the wilderness: “Wilderness had patted him on the head… it had caressed him, and—lo!—he had withered” (Conrad 2340). His entire point is that all humanity has the capacity for darkness, which requires restraint to keep at bay.

            Conrad portrays restraint as the saving grace for humankind, and details the destruction resulting from its absence. Restraint is first introduced by Marlow’s exaltation of the accountant in the Outer station. The high starched collar, white cuffs, light alpaca jacket, snowy trousers, and clear necktie, although in a sense absurd to be worn in such a dirty and humid climate, are symbols of restraint, as Marlow confirms through his statement:

            I respected the fellow. …His appearance was certainly that of a hairdresser’s dummy;   but in the great demoralization of the land he kept up his appearance. That’s backbone.  His starched collars and got-up shirt-fronts were achievements of character (Conrad 2316).

His amazement comes from the contrast between his appearance and the chaotic surroundings, which is indicative of restraint, the source being his bookkeeping (Skilleas 2). When a sick man is brought in, the accountant complains that his groans “distract [his] attention, and without that it is extremely difficult to guard against clerical errors in this climate” (Conrad 2316). Although in a sense cruel, this enforces the notion of importance of work in providing contact with reality among chaos, which Marlow considers his saving grace (Skilleas 2).

            The attack on the boat by natives provides a parallel between the accountant and Marlow with regards to work and restraint. During the chaos of the situation, the helmsman leaves his duty to defend against the attack and is speared, leaving Marlow to take over steering, who states: “I had to make an effort to free my eyes from his gaze and attend to the steering” (Conrad 2338). Like the accountant, Marlow ignores human suffering, in order to focus on his work and remain in touch with reality (Skilleas 5).

            The situations of the accountant and Marlow introduce the concept of compassion as a corrupting force when hindering work. Both men have important duties which must be carried out with accuracy, and can be understood in the context of Conrad’s theme of restraint. Marlow required restraint in attending to the boat rather than the dying helmsmen, obviously. If Marlow or the accountant followed compassion or impulse instead of their calls of duty, it would be the ruin of the boat and Company (Skilleas 5). This devotion to duty and work is a source of restraint, saving them in the face of darkness. Speaking of the progress up the river, Marlow states:

Let the fool gape and shudder – the man knows, and can look on without a wink … He must meet that truth with his own true stuff – with his own inborn strength. Principles won’t do. … No; you want a deliberate belief. … You wonder I didn’t go ashore for a howl and a dance? Well, no – I didn’t. Fine sentiments, you say? Fine sentiments be hanged! I had no time. … I had to watch the steering, and circumvent those snags, and get the tin-pot along by hook or by crook. There was surface-truth enough in these things to save a wiser man (Conrad 2330).

        Here, Marlow admits his attention to work, not inborn strength, saved him from the temptation of the wild. Work is the direct mediation of human and reality, and saves the mind from too much thinking (Skilleas 6). Principles are inadequate, as exemplified by Kurtz’s failure to resist the jungle’s allure.

            Whereas Marlow and the accountant are stories of survival through restraint, Kurtz signifies demise through surrendering to savagery. Throughout the novel, Kurtz is characterized as a voice and nothing more, the symbol of principles and idealism. Through his emptiness, he easily succumbs to the allure of the wild. Marlow comments on the heads on the states near Kurtz’s quarters:

… there was nothing exactly profitable in these heads being there. They only showed that Mr. Kurtz lacked restraint in the gratification of his various lusts, that there was something wanting in him – some small matter which, when the pressing need arose, could not be found under his magnificent eloquence (Conrad 2347).

            In this passage, his lack of restraint is tied to his eloquence; the idealistic rhetoric presents an impediment to any access of inner strength (Skilleas 7). In addition, the heads face inward, rather than outward. In effect, the heads, or more accurately, the savagery they represent, imprison Kurtz (Church 1). One head in particular is representative of him, described as “black, dried, sunken, with closed eyelids” (Conrad 2347). Because of the effects of wilderness, he has a black dried, sunken and hollow inner core, “satiated with primitive emotions he cannot restrain” (Conrad 2354). As he finally dies, Kurtz realizes the empty void he created through his urges, as he contemplates the greatness he was convinced was once his destiny.

            Conrad’s conceptual uses of meaninglessness, blurring of savagery into civilization, and the saving grace of work, all provide stepping stones toward his end point: when all is said and done, every human must exercise restraint in order to defeat their animalistic urges. The examples of Marlow and the accountant mark a triumph over this darkness, whereas Kurtz meets his doom, falling “into a heart of an immense darkness.”

Annotated Works Cited

Bodek, Richard.  “Conrad’s Heart of Darkness.”  Explicator.  Fall 2000, Vol.  59 Issue 1, p25, 3p.  Academic Search Elite.  EBSCO Publishing.  El Camino College Lib., Torrance.  20 July 2005.  http://www.epnet. com/ehost.html.  This article focuses on the novel’s theme of light and dark as symbols for civilization and savagery, applying it to Marlow’s encounter with the Intended, who is compared to Kurtz’s African lover, as well as an analysis of Kurtz’s dying words, “The Horror, the Horror.”  It points out the contradictory nature of society as a pillar of light.

Church, Andrea.  “Conrad’s Heart of Darkness.”  Explicator.  Winter 1987, Vol. 45 Issue 2, p35, 3p. Academic Search Elite.  EBSCO Publishing.  El Camino College Lib., Torrance.  20 July 2005.  http://www.epnet.com/ehost.html  This article focuses on the scene of the skewered heads surrounding Kurtz’s quarters, analyzing the symbolism used to convey Kurtz’s decline as a result of his lacking restraint in the gratification of his various lusts, as well as his entrapment within the savagery. It suggests Kurtz became involved in human sacrifices that were ancient traditions of the natives.

Conrad, Joseph.  “Heart of Darkness.”  Norton Anthology of British Literature.  7^th Edition.  Vol. B.  Ed. M. H. Abrams, et. al.  New York: W. W. Norton, 2001.  Conrad novella in which a man named Marlow narrates a tale about his journey up the Congo river to meet a man named Kurtz, a purportedly idealistic man.  Marlow takes a job as a riverboat captain with a Belgian Company that traded in the Congo.  As he travels to Africa and then up the Congo, Marlow encounters the absurdity and meaninglessness prevalent in the Company’s stations and witnesses the extremities of civilization and savagery become blurred. The main conclusion is that all of humanity possesses hearts of darkness, and work and restraint are required to keep it at bay.

Kaplan, Carola M.  “Colonizers, Cannibals, and the Horror of Good Intentions in Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness.”  Studies in Short Fiction.  Summer 1997, Vol. 34 Issue 3, p323, 11p.  Academic Search Elite.  EBSCO Publishing.  El Camino College Lib., Torrance. 20 July 2005.  http://www.epnet.com /ehost.html  This article focuses on the psychological distinction between Self and Other, and how this explains the actions of colonists, and more specifically Marlow’s thoughts on the natives and woman in the novel. It accounts for the initiation of pursuit and discovery of colonialism by the lure and fear of the Other. It also discusses what it calls the violence inherent in language.