Heart of Darkness is a remarkable novella written by Polish-English novelist Joseph Conrad. It was first published in 1899. In this novella, Conrad portrays the brutality of European colonial rule in the African Congo. Read the Heart of Darkness Summary here.
Key Information
- Title: Heart of Darkness
- Writer: Joseph Conrad.
- Published: 1899
- Genre: Colonial Literature
Characters
- Marlow: The protagonist of the novel. Marlow gets a job as captain of a riverboat and sets on a journey to the Belgian Congo.
- Kurtz: Kurtz is in charge of the Inner station. He is too cruel toward the native. He establishes himself as a demigod.
- General Manager: General Manager runs the Central station. He feels insecure if Kurtz takes his place.
- The Brickmaker: The brickmaker is a person who never makes any bricks over the years. He is an obedient man to the General Manager. Marlow learns a lot of information about Kurtz from the brickmaker.
- Russian: Russian plays a role like a clown. When Marlow reaches the Inner station, the Russian comes to receive them.
Theme: Colonialism, The Hollowness of Civilization, The Lack of Truth, Work, and Racism.
English Summary
The main character of this novel is Marlow. Marlow shares his experiences as a riverboat captain on a trip to the African Congo with the passengers on board while crossing the Thames River. He got this job through one of his aunts. He joined a European company. First, Marlow goes to the company’s headquarters in a European city. This headquarters is referred to by Marlow as the “White Sepulcher”. Because it is at that headquarters that Marlow first saw the exploitation, oppression, and torture of Africans. As beautiful as the headquarters looks from the outside, the picture inside is just as grim. He notices a French warplane firing blanks into the forest. But Africans are working in that forest. They have no issues with these bullets killing them.
Then Marlow met the Chief Accountant at the company’s outer station. It is from him that Marlow hears Kurtz’s name for the first time. Kurtz runs the company’s inner station in the jungle. This Chief Accountant does not like Kurtz at all. Marlow then reaches Central Station. On reaching there, they find that the ship they are going to embark on has been sunken due to an accident. It takes a total of three months to repair the ship. In these three months, Marlow learns a lot more about Kurtz. He hears stories about Kurtz’s remarkable personality and the role he plays in driving the company forward. He comes to know that the General Manager runs this central station. The manager and his obedient brickmaker are very afraid of Kurtz. They believe that one day Kurtz will take over the responsibility of this central station. After hearing so many stories, Marlow becomes eager to meet Kurtz. Finally, the repair of the ship is completed. Marlow starts their journey with some other passengers including the general manager. The journey is not very easy. Just before reaching the Inner Station, their ship is attacked by locals. A passenger also died from a spear thrown by locals.
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At the inner station, they are greeted by a Russian (a clown). He informs them that Kurtz is alive but very ill. The general manager goes to see Kurtz. Marlow learns from the Russian that Kurtz has established himself as a violent demigod to the villagers. The villagers riot when the manager brings Kurtz out on a stretcher. But Kurtz calms them down. Meanwhile, Marlow also sees Kurtz’s mistress.
That night Marlow sees Kurtz heading toward the local camp. He tells Kartz to come back to the ship. After learning that Marlow has come to take Kurtz back, Kurtz refuses to go. But at last, he is forced to return with Marlow. Kurtz is so ill that he died on the journey. His last words were “The horror! The horror!” According to Marlow, Kurtz refers to himself and the world with his last words.
Marlow also falls ill but survives. He returns to the European city and hands over the documents Kurtz needed to the right people. Finally, he meets Kurtz’s fiancée. She believed that Kurtz was a good man. When Kurtz’s fiancée asks about his last words, Marlow says that it was her name. Marlow doesn’t want to ruin the beautiful thought of Kurtz’s fiancée, so he lies.
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