The novel Heart of darkness was written in 1899, and its plot takes place during the same period, due mainly to the experiences of his author in The Congo during these years. As a matter of fact, I consider really important to know the facts and historical events that preceed the current novel, as well as its starting point, which in my opinion is the industrial revolution during the XVIII century. During the XIX century, especially since 1870 many explorers from different countries explored the african continent, interested in finding safe routes through the continent to exploit the african resources, especially ivory and rubber. However, the access to the heart of the african continent was harsh and difficult , this was mainly to the difficulty to find navigable rivers to reach inner parts of the continent. 

The colonisation of Africa.

In fact, british explorers David Livingstone initiated an expedition from the Zambezi river, but it was innavigable before reaching Zambia. Nevertheless, Henry Morton Stanley was assigned to find the disappeared explorer David Livingstone, which he did, and explore the river Congo, which resulted a complete success, because it practically connected the central land (since what was called The Stanley falls) with the Atlantic ocean through the Congo river.

The king Leopold II of Belgium was very aware of the importance of this strategic place and convinced explorer Henry Morton Stanley to work for him. As a matter of fact, Leopold II founded the Congo Free State and he declared it a free commerce state to trade with the other european countries during the Berlin conference, where the african colonial distribution took place. Nevertheless, the scandalous situation that was taking place in the Congo and the mistreatment of the native population, obliged the king Leopold II to release his power from the country, passing it to the Belgium state. From 1880 to 1913 the whole continent was colonised by England, France, Germany, Belgium, Spain, Italy and Portugal, reaching almost the 90 % of the colonisation of he continent before the first world war. Most of the african countries were decolonised during the 60’s and 70’s.

Portrait of Leopold II.

The Congo river is the connecting point between history and the novel, due to the fact that it leads to the heart of the continent and also to the heart of darkness, where Marlow will find the mysterious man he has been going after, Kurtz. The story is told by an anonymous narrator who is part of a crew, who is hanging out with some members of the cruising yawl Nellie. There are some more characters who will be listening to Marlow’s narration, the director of companies, the lawyer and the accountant. In fact, it takes places in a portuary town called Gravesend, at the east of London. It is not a coincidence that our story starts next to a river, the river Thames. Marlow starts his speech with a reflection about the ancient roman empire, comparing their invasion of England thousands of years ago to the colonisation in Africa. He even implies many similes between both events, ending with an interesting reference to the law of the strongest. After this, he connects it with his tale, when he tells that after being in many different seas, like the indian or the china sea, which show us the vast number of colonies of England during that period, he decided to start a new adventure, going to explore the river Congo, something that had always catched his attention. He narrates how his aunt, a woman with some important contacts in that field, helped him to get an interview for a company set in the congo river, which has its offices in a city that reminds him of a white sepulchre, which quite probably is a reference to Brussels.

There are many bad omens to Marlow since the beginning of his adventure, especially during his visit to the headquarters of the company. When he gets there he is received by a couple of women who are knitting black wool, and one of them leds him to the waiting room. In this room Marlow finds a table in the middle with a map of Africa, painted with many colours that represent the invasion of the continent by the european countries. Marlows describes that the predominant colours were red, blue and purple, which represents England, France and Germany colonies in that moment. Nevertheless, he is going to the only place coloured in yellow, which obviously represents the king Leopold II colonie, the free state of the Congo. His interview is very short, and Marlow is told that he is needed as a captain on a steamboat to reach a station, due to the death of the previous one. After this he starts feeling uneasy, the atmosphere seems depressing and he feels that people look at him with pity and compassionate eyes. He is even told to visit a doctor who takes measure of his skull, telling him that he likes to analyse people who go to the “ spot “, letting Marlow know that he never sees his subjects again. He keeps up with his tale with his audience, and he confess them in an indirect manner that all this omens really had an effect on him, having a moment of hesitation about the adventure even when he doesn’t recognize it.

He takes a french steamer to Africa where he navigates next to the coast of the continent. During this journey he observes war conflict scenes, native people with masks, etc. When he arrives to the mouth of the river he has to take another steamer to navigate the river, and having a conversation with its captain he tells Marlow about the suicide of a swedish passanger some days before. After this he arrives to the post where he had to start his work, but on his way he has his first close encounter with native people, taking a close look to the brutal treatment given to them by the white colonisers. Suddenly he meets the company’s chief accountant, whom he hears for the first time of Kurtz. He explains Marlow that Kurtz is a very remarkable person, who gets tons of Ivory for the company, with a bright future ahead.

Natives carrying ivory.

After walking twenty miles Marlow arrives to the central station where he is told that his steamer had wrecked and sunk. Suddenly the manager appears and gives Marlow the reasons why he took that steamer without a him, which was due to the grave situation with Kurtz station, where there had been delays and it needed to be relieved. Marlows says to the manager that repairing the steamer will take several months. One day he listens a conversation between the manager and an agent of the company, where they were plotting against Kurtz, trying to take advantage of the situation. As a matter of fact, this agent and the manager had plans to promote inside the company, however, Kurtz was sent by the same people who sent Marlow, and their plans were frustrated. The agent and Marlow have a conversation where Marlow tells him about his necessity, which is to get rivets to repair the steamer as soon as possible. However, the agent gets paranoid about being betrayed or reported by Marlow telling him that he isn’t afraid of nobody and that he won’t hesitate to eliminate any obstacle on his way.

The chapter II starts with the steamboat going up the river, so it’s omitted the information that it has been finally repaired and Marlow is on his way to meet Kurtz. We also discover that they have recruited some natives to help the group, which are cannibals, and some pilgrims as well. One evening Marlow is sleeping in the steamboat when he listens a conversation between the manager and his nephew. They talk about Kurtz again, accusing him of using the own natives to obtain ivory, which they consider a dirty strategy. During his journey going up the river Marlow reflects his thoughts on the mostruosity human being are in the wilderness, finding features in common with the white man. Some miles ahead the crew finds an empty hut where Marlow finds a book written in cipher, fact that makes him suspect it was inhabited by a white person. They continue their way through the river, and when they are close to the inner station where Kurtz is supposed to be, they are attacked by natives who throw arrows to the steamboat, killing one of the cannibals. However, Marlows stops his narration to mention for the first time Kurtz wife and Kurtz aspect. He describes him physically as a reflection on his own darkness, pointing out his obsession with ivory and ownership.

The steamboat where Joseph Conrad travelled through the Congo river.

Marlow believes Kurtz managed to make the natives think he was a supernatural being, using his knowledge over their ignorance. Nevertheless, he also reflects the hypothesis that at some point his nerves and common sense went wrong, starting to preside their rituals. Kurtz is described as a complex person, who has sacked the country mistreating the natives in his obsession of getting as much ivory as possible. However, he has lost faith in humanity and he can not abandon that place, refusing to come back to the civilization.

The crew arrives to what seems the inner station, where they meet who Marlow calls Kurtz’s last pupil. This white man results to be the hut’s habitant and the owner of the book Marlow found. This russian man tells Marlow about Kurtz’s power and immense influence over the natives, who treat him like a god. He also suffers a fascination for Kurtz, who considers him a prodigy of nature. As a matter of fact, he also confesses that the attacked suffered by the steamboat was ordered by Kurtz himself. It is at this point where we can find one of the most terrible scenes, and it is when Marlow notices that Kurtz’s hut is surrounded by steaks with the heads of what he considers rebels, looking to the house. After a while a group of natives appears from the bushes, and Kurtz finally shows up with a native witch woman and he tells Marlow to save him. Marlow has conflicting emotions about him, which he shares with the manager.

Marlow tells the russian guy about the company’s intentions to Kurtz, which are getting rid of him at any cost. Before abandoning the place, the last pupil of Kurtz makes Marlow swearing that he will protect Kurtz’s reputation. Then, he escapes towards the jungle.

Marlow awakes in the middle of the night to see a near hill on fire, which obviously was provoked by the manager and the crew in and attempt to destroy Kurtz’s place. However, Kurtz is not in the house, so Marlow starts looking for him. He finds him crawling and trying to escape. In fact, before reaching Kurtz, Marlow thinks about staying in the woods, living alone and growing old there, sharing Kurtz’s intentions for a moment before denying these thoughts. As a matter of fact, I really consider this can be seen as a sign of protest against civilised society and capitalism in certain way.

After exchanging some phrases Kurtz gets into the steamboat to be taken out of the place. During their way back through the river Kurtz’s life seems to be fading away, and being aware of this, the own Kurtz gives Marlow some documents and a photo in a packet. Marlow will be also witness of Kurtz’s final words, which are memorable for their later influence in pop culture: “ The horror! The horror! “.

Marlon Brando the horror, Apocalypse Now

During the final pages of the novel we see a reflective Marlow, who conflicted feelings and emotions make him think about Kurtz’s final words. He meditates about the person, being compassionate and empathising and understanding what happened to him, what made him descent so deeply in the darkness. He even develops a feeling of fraternity and loyalty to him, refusing to give his documents to the company, consoling Kurtz’s wife and telling her that before dying he whispered her name.

Finally, the novel ends with Marlow siting down in a buda position, which may indicate us that some part of Kurtz has tainted Marlow, and that he has remained with him forever. Moreover, the darkness seems to be spreading nearby, which may reaffirms the supposition above or the fact that darkness is inherited in the human beings everywhere.