Heart of Darkness Theme and Symbols
Heart of Darkness Theme and Symbols
Heart of Darkness Theme and Symbols
the darker places of the earth" before the Romans forced civilization
upon them.
Kurtz, he finds a man that has totally thrown off the restraints of
civilization and has de-evolved into a primitive state.
0 Marlow and Kurtz are two opposite examples of the human condition.
Kurtz represents what every man will become if left to his own intrinsic
desires without a protective, civilized environment. Marlow represents
the civilized soul that has not been drawn back into savagery by a dark,
alienated jungle.
Themes
Absurdity of Evil
0 Much of Heart of Darkness is concerned with Marlows struggle to
into a world where no absolute goodness exists and the best he can do is
choose between a selection of nightmares. Eventually, we see that the
characters become unable to distinguish between good and evil.
0 Conrad illustrates this moral ambiguity with light and darkness imagery
Themes
0 Imperialism/Colonization (Belgian Company)
0 Cruelty of Man
0 Greed
0 Exploitation of People
Themes
Theme of Power
0 Many of Marlows crew have ambitions of moving up the corporate
ladder of the Company. Insatiable greed for wealth and power defines
their characters. This greed quickly demolishes any sense of morality
they may hold and we find a handful of them attempting to get in
Marlows good graces for the sake of his aunts influences.
0 Kurtzs ambitions do not stop at merely moving up in the Company; he
Symbols
Fog
0 Fog is a consequence of darkness.
0 Fog not only obscures but distorts: it gives one just enough
Symbols
Women
0 Both Marlow and Kurtz see women as symbolizing decency and
they become objects upon which men can display their own
success and status.
Symbols
The knitting women:
0 The two women Marlow encounters when he arrives at
the offices of the Company represent the mythological
Fates who spin, measure, and cut the thread of life. It is
in the offices of the Company that Marlows life is being
measured out as he begins his journey into the heart of
Africa.
Symbols
Kurtzs painting:
0 The image in the painting resembles the figure of
justice, but there seems to be very little justice in
Africa. This image could also be another representation
of Kurtzs idealized vision of women who must be kept
ignorant of the darkness that he sees in the world.
Symbols
The accountant:
0 The Companys accountant is the physical manifestation of
Symbols
Ivory:
0 Ivory is the physical symbol of the greed and runaway
ambition of the Europeans. They are willing to do anything,
include sacrifice their own humanity, in pursuit of this
treasure.
Symbols
The Whited Sepulcher
0 The whited sepulcher is Brussels, where the Companys headquarters are
located.
colonial enterprises that bring death to white men and to their colonial
subjects; it is also governed by a set of reified social principles that both
enable cruelty, dehumanization, and evil and prohibit change.
0 The phrase comes from the Book of Matthew in the Bible, where it says the
whited sepulchers are objects which indeed appear beautiful outward, but
are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness.
0 Belgian colonies, particularly the Congo, were notorious for the violence
Symbols
The Congo River
0 The river resembles a snake, and the snake symbolizes the
idea of temptation and evil. The river leads Marlow and the
other Europeans into the heart of the continent where the
temptations prove to be too much for many of them.
0 Marlows struggles with the river as he travels upstream