Heart of Darkness The Image of Darkness
Heart of Darkness The Image of Darkness In ‘Heart of Darkness’ by Joseph Conrad, we are taken on a journey into Africa at the turn of the 20th century. ... From the very beginning of the book it is clear that ‘darkness’ plays a vital role. The title itself refers to a heart of darkness, the meaning of which can be interpreted in any number of ways. The most obvious is Marlows journey into the dark continent, but the thought of a ‘heart’ of darkness is equally interesting. Can ‘darkness’, an undefinable thing, have a heart? Or do all hearts contain darkness? ... The darkness also refers to the people of the story. The natives, who are of course black, as well as the kind of spiritual darkness that envelopes the white people in Africa. ... He managed to penetrate the darkness of the native culture, by using methods that are not described except to say that they are ‘unsound’. ... He has either embraced the darkness in the jungle, or found it within himself. ... It is another example of the battle between the good and the evil, and of how Kurtz has been consumed by the darkness of the land.