Essays on Heart of Darkness

In Joseph Conrad’s The Heart of Darkness, Mr. Kurtz’s chilling final words reveal his epiphany about the true nature of man. He has come to realize that the flickering light of his own morals could not overcome the darkness of his human nature. By weaving...

“The inner truth is hidden-luckily luckily” -Marlow, Heart of Darkness Joseph Conrad’s renowned novella, Heart of Darkness, is a work which has sparked great controversy and heated debate with regards to its meaning. Since its publication over one hundred years ago, countless interpretations of the...

The modernist movement of the early twentieth century drastically changed the way that art and literature were perceived in western culture. The themes expressed in modernism are perhaps some of the most diverse, disturbing and difficult to understand. One of the principal themes expressed in...

The Value of Sacrifice What you value can often be determined by what you are willing to sacrifice. People may believe that they will honor what they value, but that usually only lasts until we are faced with benefits from sacrificing. Many people can say...

The portrayals of imperialism in Things Fall Apart and Heart of Darkness contrast significantly. As Joseph Conrad portrays expansionism as a rough power deconstructing the people of savages and brutes. As opposed to Chinua Achebe delineates imperialism as a savage power deconstructing a refined and...

Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness presents an exciting exploration of the vast ethnic and geographical depths of Africa and the Congo River. The novella is a tale of immense conquest of new ground and culture, but under the primary level of the plot, it reveals...

Blanchot’s view of the status of the narrative voice is very pertinent to any discussion of Heart of Darkness. ‘Something indeterminate’ and ‘spectral’ implies a lack of stability and centrality which is rendered strongly in the novel by the use of multiple narrators within a...

It is fair to say, that late 19th Century Europe is not remembered for its progressive and humanistic values. Indeed, European society at this time could probably be described as racist and sexist, with colonialism and ’empire building’ national passions throughout the continent, a passion...

In Conrad’s Heart of Darkness Africa is described as the “dark continent” not merely because its inhabitants are dark of complexion, but because it is a place regarded as trapped in primordial darkness. In search of Mr. Kurtz, the character of Marlow says, “Going up...

To consider the charge that Marlow in Conrad’s Heart of Darkness is racist, racism must first be defined. Racism has two components – a belief in the inherent superiority of one race over another, and secondly, the right of the superior race to dominate the...

On the surface, two novels such as Heart of Darkness and She probably seem drastically different. They are both tales of adventure, however, their plots are extremely contrasting. While Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness creates a somewhat bleak and ominous setting in order to tell...

Joseph Conrad’s ‘Heart of Darkness’ is not merely “the story of a journey up a river,” but rather an insightful psychological study into the human condition and the hidden nature of mankind conveyed in the form of a narrative. Conrad explores his perception of the...

Joseph Conrad’s work is an apparent staple of the 20th century British canon. Few literature students manage to weave their way toward a degree without being exposed to his iconic novella Heart of Darkness. While it is undeniably a powerful piece of writing, the analysis...

As every ambitious nation, one of their main goals to achieve is to expand their territories in foreign countries, specially countries with resources to contribute with and innocent people that could be dominated easily. The act of imperialism refers to take control over other´s government,...

“Heart of Darkness” by Joseph Conrad is a very contemplative, symbolic piece of literature. Superficially, the story is about the journey of a man named Marlow, working for an ivory company and in search of adventure, deep into Sub-Saharan Africa. On a deeper level, however,...

The two major themes of Heart of Darkness are the conflict between “reality” and “darkness,” and the idea of restraint and whether or not it is necessary. Conrad’s passage describing the restraint of the hungry cannibals exemplifies both themes: It describes how reality shapes human...

An important theme that is portrayed in the Heart of Darkness is the idea of hypocrisy. As the European countries began to colonize parts of Africa, one of the main ways to support the ventures would be through the ivory trade – something that is...

In this next essay it will be expose an analysis of the book “The Heart of Darkness” by Joseph Conrad, which include the situation that the Europeans had to fight and overcome the situations that they found while they start to explore those territories while...

During the history of our world, explorations used to help countries and empires to expand their power and to domain over other nations. Although they had a positive effect for the development of societies, ideologies and the bases of countries as we know them nowadays....