... read as an adventure story about the jungle, or, on a deeper level, a story that examines the evils of society. The novel begins on board the Nellie, a small European ship on the Thames River. The scene is that of a calm, quiet day with the crew lounging on the deck. The people on board are the anonymous narrator, Marlow, the Director of Companies, a lawyer, and an accountant. As the men sit in peaceful conversation, Marlow ... is wholly evil, but what virtues can be found in the sinister jungle? The presence of cannibals who are loyal to their employers show that the darkness may not b...

• Word Count: 1567
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: High School

... and not being able to find his way back. Drawn into a world of greed and evil in the jungle, Marlow struggles against its power to maintain his identity. Psychologically, Marlow is more afraid of not being able find his way back to his "inner truth". The phrase "...yourself bewitched and cut off forever from everything you had known once..." states that people like ... Kurtz are so far into the jungle that they are isolated from society and they forget who he really are. The quote "moments when one's past came back to one... but it came in the sharp of an unrestful and noisy dream" reve...

• Word Count: 390
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

... Kurtz has lost his humanity and now rules with cruelty and hate. Kurtz' insanity is evident in the statement, "Exterminate all the brutes!" he scrawls at the bottom of a report he wrote for the Society for the Suppression of Savage Customs. Kurtz had come to the jungle with the intent to civilize but now he faces his death as an empty, hateful, vengeful man. Chapter ... asks Marlow to help him flee because he fears that the manager wants to kill him. Marlow helps the Russian escape into the jungle and laments the corrupt and chaotic state of his situation. Conrad follows the chaotic scene...

• Word Count: 4309
• Approx Pages: 17
• Grade Level: High School

... and shows disgust and no respect for their traditions and culture. Conrad personifies the jungle - it breathes and protects the natives from the whites, in both "Heart of Darkness" and "Apocalypse Now". The innocence of the natives that Marlow meets in the Congo is missing in "Apocalypse Now". But most importantly, the land itself lacks the primeval qualities that Marlow carefully describes. Coppola works to overcome this problem by ... in "Heart of Darkness" is carefully placed in Williard. Williard has set out to "cleanse himself of his sins"; he was hungry for another mission, to be ...

• Word Count: 871
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... everything else in his life- and death. He looked at least seven feet long". Kurtz's ideals turn out to be lies when he drops them to become a devil-god in the jungle. In fact, there is something contaminating in the atmosphere of lies that surrounds him. Thus, as Marlow is drawn to him, he finds himself almost irresistibly lying (to ... carrying a lighted torch was discussed early on in the book. The background was dark, and the effect of the torch light on her face was sinister. The oil painting suggests the blind and stupid ivory company, fraudulently letting people believe that besi...

• Word Count: 1190
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

... -most station, was indeed a moral person, who had respect for the natives. Something changed all this. Something mysterious happened to Kurtz while he was there. His moral restraint vanished into the heart of the jungle, and his respect for company policy flew right out the window down to the bottom of a black pit. The jungle started to have some kind of devilish effect on him, filling him with ... utter darkness and brutality towards the natives. He plundered the surrounding countryside killing anyone that got in his way, stealing ... the natives ivory and even hanging the heads of his...

• Word Count: 1566
• Approx Pages: 6
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... his Heart Of Darkness, by contrasting Europe and Africa. Conrad uses this contrast to enhance the theme of innate evil and every man. Conrad makes Africa seem mysterious to symbolize the uncivilized and barbaric nature of man. the jungle is a dark and dangerous place and the natives are seen as just barely human by the Europeans. In contrast Europe is seen as a utopian society, there are ... the cultured people and organization. More than the obviously diverse scenery, the difference in the people that live in each place make the contrast much more striking. Europeans ... ...

• Word Count: 379
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

... racism. Conrad had an objective enough point of view to give positive pictures of African culture. Marlow was clearly shaken after the death of his helmsman and took pity on him by throwing him overboard. " The conquest of the earth, which mostly means the taking it away from those who have a different complexion or slightly flatter noses than ourselves, is not a pretty thing when ... of Europe. Europe had its classical and modern structures, cleared land and flourishing industry, while central Africa was plainly, a jungle. As men travel deep into this remote location, they feel the eff...

• Word Count: 903
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

... sacred to Ogun. The Yoruba consider Ogun frightening and appalling in his revenge. They believe that if someone breaks a pact made in his name, quick retribution will follow. A legend that gives example of Ogun's importance tells of the orisha trying to carve a road through a dense jungle, but Ogun was the only one with the proper tools for the task. He therefore won the right to be king ... of the orisha. He did not, however, care for the position, and it went to Obatala. Some gods, such as Olokun, appear only in ... certain regions. Olokun, owner of the sea, is described as both a go...

• Word Count: 1239
• Approx Pages: 5
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... no threat to the other European countries competing for the little space left on the continent. The reality was much different, Leopold was the sole benefactor of the Congo. Leopold's method in the Congo was reorganizing the local populations into communities with some Europeans. The idea was that the Europeans would be the nucleus of the community setting an example to the native people. A typical example of the paternalistic attitude of ... villages to warn of what would happen if their quotas were not filled. The demand for rubber was for the newly invented pneumatic tyres. There was...

• Word Count: 2347
• Approx Pages: 9
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... to perhaps obtain some personal enlightenment. But the Russian sailor is also a fool. He is so awed by Kurtz's ideas that he becomes blind to the evil Kurtz does. Marlow tells his comrades earlier that a fool is safe from madness in the jungle: "you can be too dull even to ... know you are being assaulted by the powers of darkness-(p 70). The Russian is important because he tells Marlow about ... Kurtz, and Marlow begins to realize the extent of Kurtz's madness. At last, Marlow meets Kurtz. Although the event had been much anticipated throughout the ... of enlightenment and has lost ...

• Word Count: 4081
• Approx Pages: 16
• Grade Level: High School