Heart of Darkness—Joseph Conrad novella info.

When was Heart of Darkness first published?

It was published serially in Blackwood's Magazine in 1899 and as a whole in 1902 as part of Youth.

What is the narrative structure of Heart of Darkness?

It is a frame narrative, where Marlow recounts his journey into the Congo to a group aboard a ship in the Thames Estuary.

What is imperialism?

Imperialism is the extension of a country's power over foreign territories, often through colonization, economic control, or military force.

How did King Leopold II of Belgium exploit the Congo?

He declared the Congo Free State his personal property in 1892, allowing Belgian traders to extract rubber and ivory while using forced labor and committing atrocities.

What was the Anglo-Belgian India-Rubber Company?

It was the company controlling the Congo Free State, responsible for severe exploitation of the native population.

What was the Berlin Conference of 1884?

A meeting where European powers divided Africa among themselves; Conrad sarcastically refers to it as the "International Society for the Suppression of Savage Customs."

Where and when was Joseph Conrad born?

He was born in 1857 in the Polish Ukraine as Jozef Teodor Konrad Korzeniowski.

How did Conrad's early life influence his writing?

His father was exiled for political reasons, and after his parents' deaths, Conrad traveled extensively as a sailor, shaping his perspectives on imperialism.

What personal experience did Conrad have in the Congo?

In 1890, he captained a steamboat on the Congo River, an experience that heavily influenced Heart of Darkness.

Which ship did Conrad use to travel up the Congo?

Roi des Belges.

Why has Heart of Darkness been criticized in recent years?

It portrays racist attitudes, with Marlow describing Africans as "savages" and "******s," dehumanizing their culture.

Who is the protagonist of Heart of Darkness?

Marlow, an introspective sailor who journeys up the Congo River to meet Kurtz.

What is Marlow's job in the Congo?

He works as a riverboat captain for the Company, a Belgian trade enterprise.

What does Marlow encounter during his journey?

Widespread inefficiency, brutality, and the exploitation of native inhabitants by the Company's agents.

What is significant about the Central Station?

It is run by the conspiratorial general manager; Marlow finds his steamship sunk and spends months repairing it.

Who are the "pilgrims" in Heart of Darkness?

The European Company agents who carry long wooden staves and are obsessed with ivory.

What happens as Marlow approaches Kurtz's station?

His steamer is attacked by natives firing arrows, and his helmsman is killed.

Who is the Russian trader?

A half-crazed man devoted to Kurtz, who claims Kurtz has "enlarged his mind."

How has Kurtz established control over the natives?

He presents himself as a god and engages in brutal raids for ivory.

What adorns the fence outside Kurtz's station?

Severed heads, showcasing his extreme brutality.

How does Marlow find Kurtz?

Kurtz is severely ill, but still charismatic; at night, Marlow finds him crawling toward the native camp.

What are Kurtz's famous last words?

"The horror! The horror!"

How does Marlow handle meeting Kurtz's fiancée (the Intended)?

He lies to her, saying Kurtz's last word was her name.

What type of narrative structure does Heart of Darkness use?

A nested narrative with two narrators—the unnamed frame narrator and Marlow.

What is the significance of quotation marks in the story?

They remind the reader that Marlow's tale is being retold by the frame narrator.

How does darkness play into the framing narrative?

As Marlow speaks in the dark, he becomes a disembodied voice, symbolizing the intangible nature of truth.

What are the two main conflicts in Heart of Darkness?

1. Marlow vs. Kurtz - differing views on imperialism. 2. Civilized morality vs. savagery - resisting the descent into madness.

How does Heart of Darkness fit into the hero's journey?

Marlow sets out on an adventure, faces a crisis, and returns—but instead of transformation, he is haunted.

Why is Heart of Darkness considered antiheroic?

Marlow doesn't vanquish his enemy (Kurtz), and instead of triumph, he returns disturbed and disillusioned.

How does Conrad create an ambivalent ending?

Marlow survives but is left pondering his experiences in silence, without clear resolution.

What does the last image of the Thames symbolize?

The river appears "sombre" under an "overcast" sky, reflecting the unresolved and dark themes of the novel.

Full title of the book?

Heart of Darkness

Author's name?

Joseph Conrad

Type of work:

Novella (between a novel and a short story in length and scope)

Genre:

Symbolism, colonial literature, adventure tale, frame story, almost a romance in its insistence on heroism and the supernatural and its preference for the symbolic over the realistic

Time and place written:

England, 1898-1899; inspired by Conrad's journey to the Congo in 1890

Date of first publication:

Serialized in Blackwood's magazine in 1899; published in 1902 in the volume Youth: A Narrative; and Two Other Stories

Who are the narrators in this story?

There are two narrators: an anonymous passenger on a pleasure ship, who listens to Marlow's story, and Marlow himself, a middle-aged ship's captain.

What is the point of view of the story?

The first narrator speaks in the first-person plural, on behalf of four other passengers who listen to Marlow's tale. Marlow narrates his story in the first person, describing only what he witnessed and experienced, and providing his own commentary on the story.

What is the tone of the story?

Ambivalent: Marlow is disgusted at the brutality of the Company and horrified by Kurtz's degeneration, but he claims that any thinking man would be tempted into similar behavior.

What is the tense of the story?

Past

What is the setting (time) of the story?

Latter part of the nineteenth century, probably sometime between 1876 and 1892

What is the setting (place) of the story?

Opens on the Thames River outside London, where Marlow is telling the story that makes up

Heart of Darkness. Events of the story take place in Brussels, at the Company's offices, and in the Congo, then a Belgian territory.

Who is the protagonist of the story?

Marlow

What is the major conflict of the story?

Both Marlow and Kurtz confront a conflict between their images of themselves as "civilized" Europeans and the temptation to abandon morality completely once they leave the context of European society.

What is the Rising action of the story?

The brutality Marlow witnesses in the Company's employees, the rumors he hears that Kurtz is a remarkable and humane man, and the numerous examples of Europeans breaking down mentally or physically in the environment of Africa.

What is the Climax of the story?

Marlow's discovery, upon reaching the Inner Station, that Kurtz has completely abandoned European morals and norms of behavior

What is the Falling action of the story?

Marlow's acceptance of responsibility for Kurtz's legacy, Marlow's encounters with Company officials and Kurtz's family and friends, Marlow's visit to Kurtz's Intended

What are the Themes of the story?

The hypocrisy of imperialism, madness as a result of imperialism, the absurdity of evil

What are the motifs of the story?

Darkness (very seldom opposed by light), interiors vs. surfaces (kernel/shell, coast/inland, station/forest, etc.), ironic understatement, hyperbolic language, inability to find words to describe situation adequately, images of ridiculous waste, upriver versus downriver/toward and away from Kurtz/away from and back toward civilization (quest or journey structure)

What are the symbols of the story?

Rivers, fog, women (Kurtz's Intended, his African mistress), French warship shelling forested coast, grove of death, severed heads on fence posts, Kurtz's "Report," dead helmsman, maps, "whited sepulchre" of Brussels, knitting women in Company offices, man trying to fill bucket with hole in it

What role does foreshadowing play in the story?

Permeates every moment of the narrative—mostly operates on the level of imagery, which is consistently dark, gloomy, and threatening