Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad

Heart of Darkness 
- Joseph Conrad 

About Author: 

 Jozef Teodor Konrad Nalecz Korzeniowski is known as Joseph Conrad.

The loneliness that surrounds every human soul. - Joseph Conrad 

Conrad's subjects are mostly related with adventure in an unusual or exotic setting. He gives deep thoughts to his technique of presentation, his prime intrest in characters, in the tracing of the life.

Like Hardy, Conrad had a profound sense of the tragedy of life, but did not lead him to a spirit pf resentment or accusations. Man's struggle aginst hostile forces, in his display of loyalty, courage and endurance in the face of heavy odds, he saw the finest thing in human life. He was profound thinker, but would have nothing to do with sociological or problem novels.

His evocation of atmosphere is tremendously powerful. His narrative technique is simple and direct but it is ideal for kind of psychological investigation in which he interested and pervading atmosphere in which gives the story its own unity. 

He becomes a master of Impressionism which poles apart from realiam. Conrad is not easy reading and not for many. 

Method of Narration: 

As an adventure story

Novel begins on the deck of Yacht at the mouth of the river -Thames

Marlow cahnges its nature from physical exploration to Moral exploration

Journey becomes a search into the human heart represented by Marlow's search for trader Mr.Kurtz

Motives for enlightenment of its ignorant natives, and ended there aa one of the dark deities of the very people he had hoped to redeem. 

About the Novel: 

'Heart of Darkness' is in the former collection is remarkable for an overwhelming sense of evil and corruption. Therefore it is excellent tropical backgrounds. 

Heart of Darkness can be read as Colonial novel. The Story of the novel is the collision between barbarism and civilization. Readers can see the conflict between European and African people at extreme point. 

Marlow is the mouthpiece of Joseph Conrad. He has extra ordinary power of keen observations. He has different psychological insight, exceptional intelligence, thinking and meditation. Marlow is the narrator of the novel. 

Though he was much pessimist in the novel, Marlow is much important character. As novel describes that everyone has their own loneliness and isolation we found in evey man. 

Marlow recongnizes the existence of certain virtues in human beings just as Conrad himself did. Whatever Marlow speaks is symbolically and significantly important. Marlow says,

"We live, as we dream alone." 

Marlow is fearless man of action. Marlow   has vast influences of Kurtz. He wants to meet Kurtz as he has listened much about him. Kurtz is totally different from Marlow. 

The story covers the real sense  how white people exploit the black or poor people. The story narration has the image of savages of a dark country and invasion of the country by white man. 

Mr. Kurtz is dominant charcter over all charcters. He is the central figure. Kurtz is worked as an agent of Belgian Trading Company. Having the good command over speech, he becomes the cult-figure for the savages of the whole region. He is kind of God in the eyes of the natives. 
He suffered from illness. He started many beliefs, superstitious and customs
 of these people. 

To whom we callled 'savages', they have also their own culture who gives the right to White people to tell and treat like an animal. The whole novel can be read with the perspective of 'Imperialism', too. 

Kurtz is the most remarkable man. He is not an ordinary character in ordinary novel. Conrad's characters are always in discovery of something. Conrad deals with style rather than types, denoting the individual's behaviour in the face of the ordeal. How greedy people are!  

At the end of the novel, Marlow has Nothing to say where as Kurtz has Something to say. Nothingness is also symbolically interpreted. Though last word of Kurtz was never his beloved's name, Marlow said to his fiancee that her name was the last wors of Kurtz.