Darkness is Madness

Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad is engulfed by madness and those unable to see it. Marlow and Kurtz are intertwined throughout the narrative, but in different states of obscurity.  However, Kurtz is more easily associated with this reoccurring theme because of his explicit dissociations with rationality and

Darkness, on the other hand, is vividly used to illustrate much of the novella’s themes and motifs. For example, Africa is, at the beginning of the narrative, innocent in the sense that is has not yet been drawn on a map mature to its size and capacity. Marlow’s exploration of Africa resembles this symbolic darkness and how through colonizing the continent bring consequences and not “light”. From my perspective, I would pair Kurtz and his personality with much of the darkness that is formed from his exploitation of the native inhabitants of the continent. He becomes so engulfed in his work that the work ultimately engulfs him.

The other mentionable aspect of Heart of Darkness where opportunity for lightness is corrupted is the strength of the colonizers. Kurtz is the main character to represent the negative affects of disrupted humanity throughout the narrative, but individually he also represents European greed and power.

On a lighter note… (No pun intended)

The Congo River and the Thames River are both great examples of how water is relevant in colonial texts.

“It fascinated me as a snake would a bird—a silly little bird. Then I remembered there was a big concern, a Company for trade on that river. Dash it all!”

My question is: why do some authors of colonial texts use animals as literary assimilations to relate to readers? Marlow, because of this comparison, is provoked to travel up the Congo River and explore while he is still young. If he were not aware of the river and its significance for many purposes, would he still have gone?

Heart of Darkness expresses the many features of Euro-colonialism and the departure from humanity that is sparked from disillusionment (i.e. Kurtz) that can be identified with Atlantic slave trade.

“Since your strength is just an accident arising from the weakness of others.”

Marlow is describing the imperialist ways, how European strength and wealth comes from exploiting the weak or the villagers of the continent they have travelled to. He wants to find the missing morality and ethicality that Kurtz has destroyed with his business and rebellious ideals of how to maximize exploitation of African natives.

"Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men? The Shadow knows!" -1930