Heart of Darkness Introduction
Heart of Darkness a novella by Joseph Conrad that
was first published in 1899 in
Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine and then in
Conrad’s Youth: and Two Other Stories (1902). Heart of
Darkness examines the horrors of Western colonialism
, depicting it as a phenomenon that tarnishes not only
the lands and peoples it exploits but also those in the
West who advance it. Although garnering an initially
lacklustre reception, Conrad’s semiautobiographical
tale has gone on to become one of the most widely
analyzed works of English literature. Critics have not
always treated Heart of Darkness favourably, rebuking
its dehumanizing representation of colonized peoples
and its dismissive treatment of women.
Nonetheless, Heart of Darkness has endured, and
today it stands as a Modernist masterpiece directly
engaged with postcolonial realities.
, Heart of Darkness Summary
• Heart of Darkness tells a story within a story. The novella begins with a
group of passengers aboard a boat floating on the River Thames. One
of them, Charlie Marlow, relates to his fellow seafarers an experience
of his that took place on another river altogether—the Congo River in
Africa. Marlow’s story begins in what he calls the “sepulchral city,”
somewhere in Europe. There “the Company”—an unnamed
organization running a colonial enterprise in the Belgian Congo—
appoints him captain of a river steamer. He sets out for Africa
optimistic of what he will find.
• But his expectations are quickly soured. From the moment he arrives,
he is exposed to the evil of imperialism, witnessing the violence it
inflicts upon the African people it exploits. As he proceeds, he begins
to hear tell of a man named Kurtz—a colonial agent who is supposedly
unmatched in his ability to procure ivory from the continent’s interior.
According to rumour Kurtz has fallen ill (and perhaps mad as well),
thereby jeopardizing the Company’s entire venture in the Congo.
Heart of Darkness a novella by Joseph Conrad that
was first published in 1899 in
Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine and then in
Conrad’s Youth: and Two Other Stories (1902). Heart of
Darkness examines the horrors of Western colonialism
, depicting it as a phenomenon that tarnishes not only
the lands and peoples it exploits but also those in the
West who advance it. Although garnering an initially
lacklustre reception, Conrad’s semiautobiographical
tale has gone on to become one of the most widely
analyzed works of English literature. Critics have not
always treated Heart of Darkness favourably, rebuking
its dehumanizing representation of colonized peoples
and its dismissive treatment of women.
Nonetheless, Heart of Darkness has endured, and
today it stands as a Modernist masterpiece directly
engaged with postcolonial realities.
, Heart of Darkness Summary
• Heart of Darkness tells a story within a story. The novella begins with a
group of passengers aboard a boat floating on the River Thames. One
of them, Charlie Marlow, relates to his fellow seafarers an experience
of his that took place on another river altogether—the Congo River in
Africa. Marlow’s story begins in what he calls the “sepulchral city,”
somewhere in Europe. There “the Company”—an unnamed
organization running a colonial enterprise in the Belgian Congo—
appoints him captain of a river steamer. He sets out for Africa
optimistic of what he will find.
• But his expectations are quickly soured. From the moment he arrives,
he is exposed to the evil of imperialism, witnessing the violence it
inflicts upon the African people it exploits. As he proceeds, he begins
to hear tell of a man named Kurtz—a colonial agent who is supposedly
unmatched in his ability to procure ivory from the continent’s interior.
According to rumour Kurtz has fallen ill (and perhaps mad as well),
thereby jeopardizing the Company’s entire venture in the Congo.
