Light v. Dark

In Marlow’s and the narrator’s eyes, everything that is light is viewed as something positive and the things that are dark are portrayed as malignant. As the Nellie sets on its voyage in the immutable sea, the unnamed narrator looks back at London and view it with such a negative connotation. When he looks back he says, “The air was dark above the Gravesend, and farther back still seemed condensed into a mournful gloom, brooding motionless over the biggest, and greatest, town on earth” and but “it was difficult to realize his work was not out there in the luminous estuary, but behind him, within the brooding gloom.” As they set their eyes with what lays beyond to their destination the setting becomes lighter and presents itself with optimism. 

Civilization v. Savagery

The state of being civilized is defined by conforming and abiding by laws to keep order. In Heart of Darkness its illustrated that one of the Belgians excuse to go imperialize Africa was that they were going to “civilize” the natives there but instead what Marlow saw was bloodshed. As Marlow says his farewells to his aunt she is oblivious to what really happens on the other side. She thinks that the Belgians are there to aid the “savages” into formal society, “weaning those ignorant millions form their horrid ways.” In many ways those who claim to be civilized, the Belgians, in reality act like barbarians themselves. They are only there for gaining power and wealth and are treating the natives brutally. They are enslaving, exploiting and killing the Africans and the Belgians themselves are acting depraved towards those they refer to as “savages.” London can also be viewed as once enlightened because as Marlow said they were once found under darkness and were then “civilized” by the Romans.

The narration in Conrad’s Heart of Darkness is epochal in the sense that the unnamed narrator narrator tells a story of a man (named Marlow) who tells of his adventure in the Congo. The style of writing and punctuation may make the actual setting and perceived era hard to understand, however the story actually is integrated into the present, the memory of Marlow’s tale in the past, and then Marlow’s actual adventure in the Congo. The first setting the book takes place in is described but never actually named, the second setting is of London, and the third The Congo. Each of these occurred at different time periods, but since the book is written in the past tense it is difficult to comprehend. The shifts between settings are so subtle that the first read through it’d probably go unnoticed. The geographic descriptions of each setting is what really separates each narrative style.

Okay, so let me start off with a little introduction about myself.

As you know, my name is Marlow. I come from Thames, England and my goal is to find Colonel Kurtz. I hear he’s in the Congo. Let’s GO! This journey is very rigorous, and it takes me through Beligum where I encounter these creepy witch ladies (but Tomiko, will tell you all about that later in a summary about yours truly :D). Anyways, aside from my tavels, I would consider myself to be very open-minded and different from most white colonists. I would say I am not as racist as they, but you know growing up around these people, you can’t help but to eventrually pick up a part of them. I’ll admit I can be a little demeaning towards the natives. But what more do you expect? I am European, I did grow up around a bunch of whites! But I am different in the sense that I have experienced more of the world then they have and I’ve come to realize that colonization is questionable.

Okay my journey starts of with this random guy, I forget his name. Anyways this random guy is apart of the crew aboard the ship. He seems to know alot and is insightful, but sometimes it pisses me off because it’s as if in the story he’s trying to be the primary narrator when clearly it is me. Who does he think he is trying to put himself in a position where he can set a tone as to what type of person I am.

My journey first takes me to Belgium, oh boy. How creepy that place is! I ran into the these two knitting ladies who gave me the willies. They were knitting wit black yarn, cutting various strands. Every time they stared at me it was like they were staring into my soul, as if they knew ever aspect of my life. Ever second of it. Most of the people I’ve seen enter the office rarely come out. It strikes me with great trepidation almost as if they were stitching each aspect of our lives. To make matters worse I also ran into Death! A man in dark articles of clothing. Everything about that place was brooding with gloom, boy was I glad to get out of there.

Another Scary even (although probably not as scary as my encounter with Death and the two weird sisters) would probably be with Fresleven. Man, the poor chap he could barely harm a fly. But he must of have went mad, I mean the Congo is enough to do that to anyone. Just up and attacked one of the Natives.

The Natives lost is too, I hear they’re cannibals. They had to defend their people can’t blame them. If Fresleven hadn’t dont what he did he’d probably still be here. I mean the Natives they seemed well behaved and actually civilized, but if some random person came in terrorizing you’re village as Fresleven did, wouldn’t you assume the duty as the chief’s son to kill him as well. Scary stuff this is, but the chief’s son had to do something to protect his people. It’s kind of ridiculous to be fighting over a bunch of hens. I guess everyone here is crazy… Excuse me for my demeaning ways, but I just wonder what it really was that drove Fresleven mad…

Guess the only way to find out is to go for the ride myself. I really hope I find Kurtz guy. I hear he’s located at the Inner Station. He sure as hell better be worth it, but I hear he is. I hear all these good things about him. All the men tell me he speaks with great eloquence, and his oration is near perfect. That he is the perfect leader. Maybe he’ll be able to assist me in what it is that I’m searching for. Just hopefully he’s there…

 Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness begins on the Nelle ship.  There are four characters in the beginning, the Director of Companies (their Captain), a lawyer, an accountant, and Marlow, the novel’s protagonist.   Conrad continues to contrast “light and dark” motifs, his main message is to describe how the pestilence of humanity has a rapacious effect on the natural world.  Marlow begins to tell his peers of his adventure from London to Belgium to Africa.   Marlow continues to tell his story to the travelers and it seems to be a way to pass time since the travelers are obviously terribly board.  First Marlow tells of his trouble finding a ship, and then when he finds one there seem to be omens admonishing him not to partake in the journey.  For instance, the eerie doctor measures Marlow’s skull and claims that people “change” on the inside when they go to sea.  Also, there are these uncanny ladies knitting black wool who he describes as the guards of “darkness”.  After he lands on the island, he is surprised to see how different the natives look in comparison to him.  Conrad depicts the deplorable physical state of the natives by describing them as being chained together like animals.  Along the way, Marlow’s ship is in need of repair which requires him to take 60 men for a 20 mile walk to the Central Station to get the ship repaired.  Marlow has to wait there before he gets the ship repaired.  Kurtz is frequently mentioned as a “remarkable” man but is never actually in the chapter.  At times, Marlow would hear Kurtz’s name mentioned and become mildly curious, but he felt a strong desire to repair his steamship and begin his job as a pilot.  Conrad sagaciously mentions Kurtz to provide the reader with a yearning to discern his identity, it becomes an enigma.

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Welcome to the Jungle - Guns N Roses

“We attend the Heart of Darkness.”