Heart of Darkness Themes

1. Heart of DarknessThemes • Man’s inhumanity to man is his greatest sin. • Materialistic minds cannot grasp, or be interested in, adventures of the spirit. • A man’s confrontation with his dark self is both dangerous and enlightening. • Every soul has its dark truth and its light truth-in short, the potential for degradation or nobility. • Blindfolded bearers of light destroy what they profess to enlighten.

2. Heart of DarknessThemes • Removal of all restraints in solitude and silence will bring out a man’s true nature. • The strongest barrier to the abyss is a previous commitment to faith and responsibility.

3. Heart of DarknessCharacters • Charlie Marlow> thirty-two year old follower of the sea/longs to find Kurtz • Turns from the ruthless brutality of the white people and to the dark jungle • Conrad uses Marlow as a narrator so that he himself can enter the story and tell it out of his own philosophical mind. • Marlowe and Kurtz are the light and dark selves of a single person. • Marlowe is what Kurtz might have been, and Kurtz is what Marlow might have become. The affinity between the men becomes a symbolic unity.

4. Heart of DarknessCharacters • Kurtz>comes to the Congo with noble intentions/cultured, educated/is an orator, writer, poet, musician, artist, politician, ivory procurer, and chief agent of the Inner Station>a “universal genius” and a “hollow man.” • He, at the lowest point, is also a thief, murderer, raider, persecutor, and allows himself to be worshipped as a god.

5. Heart of DarknessCharacters • Manager>based on a real person/the ultimate villain of the plot/treacherous nature/ordinary appearance/few talents • The Brickmaker>makes not bricks/manager’s secretary/responsisble for many of the plot’s entanglements • The Russian>always manages to be safe regardless of the circumstances/gives Marlow insight into the terrible nature of Kurtz’ surrender to the wilderness 

6. Heart of DarknessCharacters • The Immaculate Accountant>keeper of the company books/gives Marlow his first information about Kurtz/reveals white man’s hatred of the natives and the shady business at the Central Station  • The Foreman (the Boilermaker)>humble worker, despised by the pilgrims/one of Marlow’s few friends  • Uncle of the Manager>almost as depraved as his nephew/murderous intent toward Kurtz

7. Heart of DarknessCharacters • The Knitting Women>portend the dark experience which is awaiting Marlow in Africa  • The Pilgrims>human counterparts of the huge, buzzing ,”stabbing” flies that hover over the dying agent/ivory-hungry vultures, opportunists  • Kurtz’ Intended>presents much of the “white truth” about Kurtz to Marlow/contrast to Kurtz’ Black Mistress