Heart of Darkness

Honors Brit Lit

light

European civilization

dark

he unknown, the unconscious, moral ambiguity, brutality, IT IS INSIDE CIVILIZED PEOPLE TOO

fog

moral confusion and mystery

when people couldn’t see clearly (through fog) they…

ask crazy, panic, act violent, and justify it

jungle is described as…

silent, watchful, ancient

death/decay/rot imagery

“Sepulchral” offices, sick stations, broken machinery, wasted labor, civilization decaying too

Thames and congo

Thames: looks civilized, but historically linked to conquest and empire.

Congo: the “snake” that draws Marlow inward.

Kurtz painting

light carried by someone who cannot see, enlightenment ideology

ivory

obsession and extraction

heads on stakes

brutal symbol of what happens when civilization collapses into domination, Kurtses power and insanity

Novella begins with…

calm, civilized scene

Novella ends with…

darkness; europe is not innocent

outerstation

Marlow sees exploited African workers, death, waste.

This is where the “civilizing mission” breaks on contact with reality.

Central Station

• Manager/brickmaker/empty work shows empire as petty rivalry and stagnation.

• The wrecked boat and delays signal the system’s fear of what Kurtz represents.

Russian/harlequin

He’s like a fanboy witness: he shows Kurtz’s charisma and instability.

Inner station

kurtz is god, sick, powerful, his greatness=terror

Marlow

• Observer-narrator; curious, reflective, morally unsettled.

• Represents a person awakening to the rot but still complicit (he participates, benefits, lies at the end).

Kurtz

• Charismatic, talented, “idealistic” on paper, monstrous in practice.

• Represents what happens when European ambition + power + isolation go unchecked.

• Also symbolizes the collapse of “civilization” into domination.

Manager

• Survives by being bland, cautious, and power-protective.

• Represents bureaucracy and institutional self-preservation.

The Brickmaker

• Careerist and manipulator; empty productivity.

• Represents the hollow social climbing inside the imperial machine.

The Accountant

• Meticulous order beside human suffering.

• Represents “civilization” as surface performance.

warships firing at coast

unnecessary violence