truthhod Quest for Truth in Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness

Heart of Darkness written by Joseph Conrad is dramatic tale of an arduous trek into the darkest part of Africa at the turn of the twentieth century. The story follows the protagonist Marlow, an English marine merchant, as he travels through the African jungle up the Congo river in search for a mysterious man named Kurtz. Through Marlow's narration, Conrad provides a searing indictment of European colonial exploitation inflicted upon African natives. Through his use of irony, characters, and symbolism in the novel, Conrad aims to unveil the underlying horrors of colonialism. By shedding light on the brutality of colonialism in Heart of Darkness, Conrad shows that European values have been irrevocably eclipsed by darkness.

Heart of Darkness is a book about one man’s journey into the depths of the African Congo. He travels to a place where, "’the changes take place inside’"(Conrad 15). For a man named Kurtz, his journey went deeper into Africa then he could have ever expected. Kurtz’s journey into Africa ended up being a journey into the darkness within himself.

The truth seems to be apart of everyday life, or at least that's the way people want it to be. Life is never full of truth, there are going to be lies and deceit amongst everyone, everywhere. Whether it be the rich of England or the poor in Africa. Some lies are to try to protect the feelings of others, some are to protect the survival of the one telling the lie. In Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, the truth is avoided in order to protect the wellbeing of others through the examples of Marlow, painting of the woman, and Kurtz.

In his narrative, Marlow declares, "You know I hate, detest, and can't bear a lie, not because I am straighter than the rest of us, but simply because it appalls me. There is a taint of death, a flavour of mortality in lies, - which is exactly what I hate and detest in the world - what I want to forget" (Longman 2210). In spite of these strong words, he lies to Kurtz's "Intended" when he visits her and tells her, "The last word he pronounced was - your name" (Longman 2246). Marlow's words, spoken in Part I to the audience, seem to contradict his words spoken in Part III to the Intended. Upon closer examination however, it is clear that it was keeping to his beliefs that caused Marlow to lie to

Marlow’s evolution renders ‘Heart of Darkness’ a remarkable work of literature, but it is not simply the budding of the narrator’s mind that makes the novel sensational. Marlow’s perception of the voyage is what truly renders the work exceptional. European expansion, as written by European writers, was generally cast in a positive light. When Conrad depicts the desolation of the journey and reveals the sanities and lives robbed through the conquest, he clearly does not conform to the writers of his time. This exposure of European expansion in such a sinister a fashion was innovative for writers of the late 17th century. This revolutionary perception is what truly allows ‘Heart of Darkness’ to be considered a novel rich in moral and detail.

After living in the Congo and witnessing what the demands and desires of the sophisticated world can do to a less educated people, Marlow can not stand the capitalistic entitlement that allows the citizens of Brussels egos to float like the gods of Olympus. Marlow’s description of Brussels as ‘sepulchral’ animates the turning of his back on the society that the River Thames once symbolised. Marlow becomes dramatically more understanding of the Congo as his disgust of his once perceived ‘orthodox’ society eats away at him. This altering of opinion highlights the stark change in the meanings of light and dark within Heart of Darkness.

In the story “Heart of Darkness” The author Joesph Conrad contrasts different places and people throughout the story. One of the main contrasted elements that is focused on is Africa and Europe. Contrasting these two places adds depth to the story and also helps complete the theme of the story. Conrad uses this contrast to create the theme of innate evil in every man

     Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad is a story about a man named Marlow and his Journey into the African Congo. By reading the novel and understanding all the imagery Conrad has inserted, we can get a better understanding of the

Darkness is everything that is unknown, primitive, evil, and impenetrable.  To Conrad, Africa is the very representation of darkness.  Marlow often uses the phrase, "We penetrated deeper and deeper into the heart of darkness" (Conrad 68), to describe his progress on the Congo.  By traveling farther and farther down the Congo, Marlow and his crew get closer and closer to the epicenter of this foreboding darkness, to the black heart of evil.  Because of Africa's physical immensity and thick jungles, it appeared to be a land of the unknown where "the silence . . . went home to one's very heart-its mystery, its greatness, the amazing reality of its concealed life"(56). This portrayal of Africa as both a romantic frontier and a foreboding wilderness continues to dominate in the minds of Westerners even today.

At the beginning of the story, the setting is based in Africa, on the Congo river around 1890. This is where Marlow was introduced, along with many other characters. “Going up that river was like traveling back to the earliest beginnings of the world, when vegetation rioted on the earth and the big trees were kings” (2.5 Conrad). This is where Marlow is traveling up the Congo river, where he absorbs all the noticeable scenery. Later in the story, along with Marlow’s character development, Marlow no longer notices the scenery but only Kurtz. Another setting in Heart of Darkness, is on a ship named The Nellie, which Marlow and the dying Kurtz traveled on down the Thames River. The two, along with the crew, were raveling back to England to try and save Mr.Kurtz’s life. Although Kurtz dies, they discard his body in the Thames River so that he may respect Kurtz’s humanity. The two major settings in this novel describe how the characters feel in their surrounding environment, along with setting the tone for the

Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness contrasts light and darkness, to represent the civilized and uncivilized sides of the world. Conrad uses light to represent the civilized side of humanity while contrasting the dark with the uncivilized and savage. Throughout the thematic stages of the novel, that is the Thames river London, the company's office in Belgium, the journey to the "heart of darkness" and the conclusion, light and dark is used to represent these sides of humanity, but on a deeper level many assumptions of darkness and light are challenged, with the appearance of light and dark, and in turn good and evil contrasting with the reality.

In the book, Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad we are introduced to the concept of light and dark as they relate to the people of Africa and the people of Europe. In the beginning of the book the intro gives an insight into the journey that the main character, Marlow, is about to embark on. Conrad symbolically introduces the sun setting on the river as Marlow enters the mouth of the Thames. Conrad reveals this allegory by indicating that Marlow is about to enter a dark place morally, and physically as a reference to the Negro people of Africa. Light and dark are used by Conrad to represent morality and immorality.

The setting of Heart of Darkness is a very critical part of the book, and Conrad goes to extreme lengths to highlight the evil radiating from the region in which he sets his

According to Miller’s criticism, it is up to us whether or not we should read Heart of Darkness, but to decide that, we must first read it. He also insists that Conrad himself is not recounting his own experiences in Africa and his own views on what the African people are like, but rather he is sharing with us what has been brought to his attention. As such, we should look at Heart of Darkness from an unbiased perspective and take it as a literary work of art that is an expression of the view of the narrators of the story who do not necessarily hold

It has been said that although Conrad may not have been 'the greatest novelist, he was certainly the greatest artist every to write a novel';. I feel that this is an apt description of Conrad's writing style in Heart of Darkness (1902), as he paints many verbal pictures by using expressive words and many figurative descriptions of places and people. An extensive use of words relating to colour, is evident throughout the novella. The idea of darkness (and light) is emphasized from the title of the novella, and continues to play an important role throughout in the story .