The themes of this novel are based around the idea of the “heart of darkness” and past a description of the unexplored parts of Africa, what it really stands for. Other than a description it stands for various things, it is a statement made in attempt to expose the evils of the imperialist system; it is also an exploration into the evils of humans in their base forms. Conrad saw the imperial system stripping the African heartland first hand he writes about such things as the desire of the Eldorado Exploring Expedition is to "tear treasure out of the bowels of the land... with no more moral purpose... than burglars breaking into a safe"(61). Conrad also makes it a point to show the pure evil in the colonialists. For example, Marlow is disgusted with the white’s use of the adjective ‘criminal’ to justify the chaining and collaring of the slaves. When Marlow just arrives he sees the slaves being worked to the bones and only when they are hours away from death are they allowed to withdraw into the gloomy tree grove to live out their final days.

This passage is typical of Conrad in his attempt to bring you mentally into his investigations of the ‘savages’, Marlow goes off on more than one psychological and philosophical tangent throughout the book. What is noticeable is the length of some of the sentences, after describing how the savages ‘howled and leaped’ he writes a one word sentence “Ugly.” He is bringing you right into Marlow’s thoughts. The tone is as usual simply a conscious observer commenting on the happenings, he does not get overly carried away with action, but will sometimes really get going into the psych of the whole situation.

One of the conflicts that is most striking when reading the book is the idea of man versus the idea of civilization. Both Kurtz and to an extent Marlow struggle with this, once they are outside of “civilization” and have no one to answer to, they question what it is keeping them from becoming barbaric like the savages. In Kurtz’s case, he enters the heart of darkness with the noble goal of bringing civilization and progress, but no sooner does he arrive than an intense sense of isolation from any consequence strips him of his civilized exterior. Marlow is different in the fact that he does not abandon his civili

Some topics in this essay:
Company Marlow, Ugly Yes, Joseph Conrad, Europe Marlow, Conrad Marlow, King Leopold, Exploring Expedition, Inner Station, Kurtz Marlow, Blackwood's Magazine, king leopold, heart darkness, inner station, kurtz’s intended, kurtz company, conrad writes, times narrative, marlow trip, marlow goes, joseph conrad,