Heart of Darkness"Heart of Darkness" grew out of a journey Joseph Conrad took up the Congo River; the verisimilitude that the great novelist thereby brought to his most famous tale everywhere enhances its dense and shattering power. Apparently a sailor's yarn, it is in fact a grim parody of the adventure story, in which the narrator, Marlow, travels deep into the heart of the Congo where he encounters the crazed idealist Kurtz and discovers that the relative values of the civilized and the primitive are not what they seem. "Heart of Darkness" is a model of economic storytelling, an indictment of the inner and outer turmoil caused by the European imperial misadventure, and a piercing account of the fragility of the human soul. |
Common terms and phrases
Almayer's Folly amongst asked available from Penguins bank began believe brooding burst bush chap coast Congo Conrad crawled cried dead deck Delcommune devil earth eloquence English eyes F. R. Leavis face feet fellow felt forest glance glittering gloom going grass hands head hear heard Heart of Darkness helmsman horror human idea imagine immense ivory Ivy Compton-Burnett Jane Austen Joseph Conrad journey kind knew Kurtz light live looked LORD JIM lost manager Marlow meaning murmured mystery natives never niggers night Nostromo novel PAUL O'PREY perhaps pilgrims pilot-house restraint river rivets Robert Graves round savage sea novel seemed shadow ship shore shutter silence smile snag sombre sorrow soul stared station steamboat steamer stood story stream suddenly talk tell thing thought took trade trees unsound method voice waiting wanted whisper wilderness word