Aboard the Nellie, anchored in the River Thames near Gravesend, England, Charles Marlow tells his fellow sailors about the events that led to his appointment as captain of a river steamboat for an ivory trading company. As a child, Marlow had been fascinated by "the blank spaces" on maps, particularly by the biggest, which by the time he had grown up was no longer blank but turned into "a place of darkness" (Conrad 10). Yet there remained a big river, "resembling an immense snake uncoiled, with its head in the sea, its body ...
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Aboard the Nellie, anchored in the River Thames near Gravesend, England, Charles Marlow tells his fellow sailors about the events that led to his appointment as captain of a river steamboat for an ivory trading company. As a child, Marlow had been fascinated by "the blank spaces" on maps, particularly by the biggest, which by the time he had grown up was no longer blank but turned into "a place of darkness" (Conrad 10). Yet there remained a big river, "resembling an immense snake uncoiled, with its head in the sea, its body at rest curving afar over a vast country and its tail lost in the depths of the land" (Conrad 10). The image of this river on the map fascinated Marlow "as a snake would a bird" (Conrad 10). Feeling as though "instead of going to the centre of a continent I were about to set off for the centre of the earth", Marlow takes passage on a French steamer bound for the African coast and then into the interior (Conrad 18). After more than thirty days the ship anchors off the seat of the government near the mouth of the big river. Marlow, with still some two hundred miles to go, now takes passage on a little sea-going steamer captained by a Swede. He departs some thirty miles up the river where his Company's station is. Work on the railway is going on, involving removal of rocks with explosives. Marlow enters a narrow ravine to stroll in the shade under the trees, and finds himself in "the gloomy circle of some Inferno"
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Add this copy of Heart of Darkness to cart. $30.91, new condition, Sold by Revaluation Books rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Exeter, DEVON, UNITED KINGDOM, published 2018 by Independently published.
Add this copy of Heart of Darkness to cart. $34.02, good condition, Sold by Bonita rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Newport Coast, CA, UNITED STATES, published 2018 by Independently published.
"Now when I was a little chap I had a passion for maps. I would look for hours at South America, or Africa, or Australia, and lose myself in all the glories of exploration. At that time there were many blank spaces on the earth, and when I saw one that looked particularly inviting on a map (but they all look that) I would put my finger on it and say, 'When I grow up I will go there.' The North Pole was one of these places, I remember. Well, I haven't been there yet, and shall not try now. The glamour's off. Other places were scattered about the hemispheres. I have been in some of them, and... well, we won't talk about that. But there was one yet - the biggest, the most blank, so to speak - that I had a hankering after."
Heart of Darkness is a deep, enigmatic book containing many hidden metaphors. I'm sure I didn't catch half the metaphor illustrations in the text.
The entire book is a dialogue of a story being told. Marlow, an old sailor, is retelling the time of when he steamed through the Congo searching for the mysterious Mr. Kurtz. It might even cause a chill to go down your spine in the sincerely bleak parts.
"I remembered the old doctor-'It would be interesting for science to watch the mental changes of individuals, on the spot.' I felt I was becoming scientifically interesting."
It is a revelation of mankind's fatal instincts. It's about the hidden depths of the mind and the secrets inside mankind's heart.
"The reaches opened before us and closed behind, as if the forest had stepped leisurely across the water to bar the way for our return. We penetrated deeper and deeper into the heart of darkness. It was very quiet there."
Helen E
Mar 7, 2013
Heart of Darkness
Interesting look into Colonial practices of the English in their "out there" where young men went to make a name for themselves, sometimes in brutal ways. Coincidental (?) similarities to "Apocalypse Now " (river trip, native attack, Mr/Col. Kurtz). Enjoyed it greatly!
Danielle
Apr 18, 2007
Intriguing look at colonialism
Joseph Conrad's novella provides readers with a stunning critique of British and Belgian colonialism at the turn of the century. Conrad's vivid language and his descriptions of the "horrors" that Kurtz encounters and causes within the African Congo demonstrate the brutality and amorality of colonialism and imperialism. This book is a must-read for those interested in investigations of "otherness," Africa, and colonialism.
