Heart Of Darkness Quotes

1. As Marlow travels through Africa, he is literally traveling away from the light into the darker center of Africa while he is also metaphorically traveling into the darkness of savagery and evil. Marlow sees the “edge of a colossal jungle, so dark-green as to be almost black, fringed with white surf” as he journeys through Africa (17). Soon Marlow “penetrated deeper and deeper into the heart of darkness” as he travels closer to the center of Africa on his journey to see Kurtz (53). The stereotypical version of Africa is devoid of civility and culture, so the Europeans believe that they can turn the darkness of Africa into the light of civilization.

He says the Romans were conquerors and not colonialists, and explains that what saves the colonialist is "the devotion to efficiency" and "the unselfish belief in the idea"(pg.65-66).  Yet throughout the novel, Marlow's personal experiences show how colonialism was just that, the robbing of Africa for ivory and profit by Europeans.  He ascertains that there were no improvement in Africa like the Europeans claimed, "unless the body of a middle-aged negro, with a bullet hole in the forehead...may be considered improvement" (pg.81). This notion of extreme physical violence is something that threads its way through the novella.

In the passage in Heart of Darkness on page 84, Marlow is describing his first encounter with the famous Mr. Kurtz. Unsurprisingly, Kurtz is sick and almost decaying. But even though he is practically a corpse, he still withholds a lot of power. In the passage, the Russian boy warns Marlow that Kurtz has the power to tell the natives to attack. Even though Kurtz can’t physically do anything to harm them himself, his voice holds enough power to determine whether they live or die.

Along the way, Marlow arrives at the Company’s outermost station and is appalled by what he sees: colonists are blasting a cliff without reason, machinery lies decaying, natives walk in chains, and in a grove of trees, other native labourers are slowly dying. This leads Marlow to remark that he was acquainted with a “flabby, pretending, weak-eyed devil of a rapacious and pitiless folly” (Conrad 13). Describing the colonials’ behaviour as such reveals that Marlow is critical of imperialism. Different from the other devils of greed, violence and desire, the devil of imperialism is foolish and futile in its actions, absent-mindedly bombing a cliff instead of repairing and making use of machinery. In order for Marlow to acquire this point of view, he had to see the chaos and absurdity of the Outer Station. Before his journey began, his aunt had thought of Marlow as an “emissary of light” who would remove “‘those ignorant millions from their horrid ways’” (Conrad 10). His aunt’s ignorance to the real purpose of the Company and the actions of the colonizers show obvious satirical irony. In Marlow’s mind, his aunt could not be more “out of touch with the truth” (Conrad 10); he seems to be the only one who expresses any concern over the dying natives, who he

Kurtz resonates the “hidden truth”, the hypocrisy, behind the European imperialist actions in the African continent. Marlow’s search of Kurtz, brings Marlow to an epiphany. Marlow makes a pivotal discovery in reading a letter written by Kurtz, Marlow reads, “It was very simple and at the end of that moving appeal to every altruistic sentiment it blazed at you luminous and terrifying like a flash of lighting in a serene sky: ‘exterminate all brutes!’ ” (Conrad 50). The letter written by Kurtz parallels the hypocrisy behind the imperialism conducted in the African Congo; it appears to be righteous on the surface, although, containing wicked intentions.

Marlow says that, "They were conquerors, and for that you want only brute force-- nothing to boast of."(p.58 Heart of Darkness) . Marlow compares his subsequent tale of colonialism with that of the Roman colonization of Northern Europe and the fascination associated with such a voyage. However, Marlow challenges this viewpoint by illustrating a picture of the horrors of colonialist ventures as we delve deeper into the novel. White Europeans are used as symbols of self-deception, and we find that Marlow sees colonization as "robbery with violence, aggravated murder on a great scale, and men going at it blind - as it is very proper for those who tackle darkness."(p.58 Heart of Darkness) This shows how Conrad feels about colonialism through Marlow, because Marlow feels strongly adverse to the actions of the whites in the Congo.

People tend to idolize a lot of things in life. Conrad displays the idea that people idolize things and then are let down by their expectations. This happens to Marlow in his journey to Africa and his search for Mr Kurtz. He creates unrealistic preconceptions of both Africa and Kurtz, and it upsets him when they don’t meet those expectations. Conrad uses Mr Kurtz as a metaphor for what Africa is to Marlow and to display how Africa isn’t as great as Marlow was hoping it would be.

But it is at this point of the story, that one may be taken back by the fact that Marlow did not have anything else negative to say about the matter. Still, Marlow has not done anything that can be characterized as evil. The more and more time Marlow spends with Kurtz, the more that Marlow’s philosophy changes. Despite all the bad things Kurtz has done, Marlow ends up admiring the man although Kurtz’s philosophy is immoral and unsound, such as Kurtz’ paper for the International Society for the Suppression of Savage Customs. During the era that The Heart of Darkness was written, natives in Africa were considered “savages” by many (although that is not the case), so it is understandable for this time frame that Kurtz wrote an essay for this society. However, it is the statement at the end of the paper that characterizes Kurtz as evil: “Exterminate all the brutes!” Yet again, the audience notices that Marlow finds this phrase somewhat strong, but never claims that killing all the rebels is a bad thing either. This is another hint that although Marlow has done nothing bad thus far, he has not disagreed with any of the wrongdoings supported by or done by Kurtz. All of this leads up to what Marlow does in the end which supports the theme that all people are

At the End of the book it is evident that Marlow does not believe in colonizing Africa. When he goes back to England and walks through the streets, he becomes disgusted with the people going through their everyday lives which are surrounded by money, greed, and bettering themselves. He has seen the horror and "darkness" which this greed is doing to a people of another land by imperialism and colonialism.

     Even from the beginning, Kurtz was made out to be an icon, an idol. To Marlow, he was the only thing that made sense in the company, on a journey, in a wilderness full of confusion. The

Marlow is not initially sure what his purpose is in Africa, but after seeing Kurtz’s downfall, Marlow understands that

Even though he only appears for a brief moment in the story, we do not really know who the real Kurtz is. Every person Marlow approaches has a different perception of him. To most people at the Company, he is ‘remarkable’, especially to the Russian trader. Through his words, it is obvious that he is like a disciple of Kurtz’. Although Kurtz once tried to shoot the Russian, the Russian did not leave him and stayed by his side.

In the beginning of the Heart of Darkness the main character Marlow is sitting on the deck of a sail boat. As he travels along the waters he starts to thinking back to his experiences of the uncharted Congo. Marlow gets the chance to transport Ivory in Africa, longing since his childhood Marlow jumps on the opportunity. When Marlow arrives to his first stop on his expedition he discovers that the company has captives working for them. While Marlow is positioned at his first station, he discovers the identity of Kurtz.

In Joseph Conrad’s novella Heart of Darkness, the narrator introduces the reader to the Nellie and Marlow, a seaman. Conrad uses this outside frame narration to lead into his main character, Marlow’s, point of view. Marlow, finding himself with a new job in Brussels, goes to a journey into the outer and central sections of Africa, where he encounters the many horrors Africans have to go through. Marlow reflects on how the established hierarchy caused these inhumane conditions. Thus, the purpose of Marlow’s narration is not to focus on developing the story, but the process of enlightening his audience's morals. Marlow does this through his usage of light and dark and that helps him that emphasize the difference between good and evil. Marlow's

        In Conrad's Heart of Darkness Marlow comes to the Congo for experience and self in the ancient belief that a man is shaped by what he does, that character is formed by what happens to one. But surrounding all of man's efforts in the Congo is a presence: Kurtz listened to it and went mad, and Marlow recognizes it but refuses to listen, neutralizes the appeal of the unknown and survives Kurtz, who succumbed to the fascinating wilderness.