We see as Marlow is being lured further and further into the depths of the dark forest of the Congo when he states, "And I remember I confounded the beat of the drum with the beating of my heart " representing his lack of ability and judgement to differentiate between the Congo and civilisation as he is lured further into the forest. But fortunately, Marlow comes to a realization that he can no longer live in the forest as he has been exposed to the "horrors " of the forest and ultimately escapes before it was too late. ... The intended can be seen as the representation of the European civili...

• Word Count: 1417
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

Amongst most literature white/light relates to a civilized community and black/dark denotes savagery. However, Conrad often depicts many things usually associated with light to be dark in coincidence with the glittering light shed on dark images. ... An empty stream, a great silence, an impenetrable forest.? ... The light was within a foot of his eyes."(Conrad 111) This quote illustrates the fact that Kurtz is overcome by darkness and blind to the light. ...

• Word Count: 1071
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

Amongst most literature white/light relates to a civilized community and black/dark denotes savagery. However, Conrad often depicts many things usually associated with light to be dark in coincidence with the glittering light shed on dark images. ... An empty stream, a great silence, an impenetrable forest." ... The light was within a foot of his eyes."(Conrad 111) This quote illustrates the fact that Kurtz is overcome by darkness and blind to the light. ...

• Word Count: 1071
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

He speaks of what culture of people brought civilization or light to Europe, as he describes it, "Light came out of this river -. ... The light has been unable to penetrate the darkness. ... When Marlow first enters the Congo it is not that dense with forest. ... Once Marlow is aboard the ship and on his passage down the river the forest becomes more and more impenetrable. The river is dark brown and just barely flowing, the forest becomes so thick right before they reach the inner station that the men aboard the steamer could not even see the savages that would soon ambush their boat. ...

• Word Count: 4389
• Approx Pages: 18
• Grade Level: High School

When Marlow is on his way to the Central station another symbol that strengthens the inner-journey theme is noted; "Then I noticed a small sketch in oils, on a panel, representing a woman, draped and blindfolded, carrying a lighted torch."" (46) This sketch was painted by Kurtz and of course reveals the search he had entered in his mind, but it also indicates how blind Marlow was for the atrocity involved in the ivory trade at the beginning of his journey to Africa. Thus the lighted torch reveals that light will be shred on the sad truths of the ivory trade and also the on dark side of his own...

• Word Count: 1409
• Approx Pages: 6

It seemed somehow to throw a kind of light on everything about me - and into my thoughts. ... And yet it seemed to throw a kind of light."" ... He recognizes the Europeans' tendency for self-deception and reduces this event from the Europeans' image of an intense battle to a futile firing of "tiny projectiles- into an empty forest. ... However, trying to avoid this shocking sight, he stumbles onto one much worse: "Black shapes crouched, lay, sat between the trees leaning against the trunks, clinging to the earth, half coming out, half effaced within the dim light, in all the attitud...

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

Heart of Darkness opens on a boat called "Nellie." Marlow and his shipmates, including the narrator whose descriptions of the scene fill the few breaks in Marlow's stories, loll on the deck waiting for the tides of the Thames River to change. To entertain his compatriots, Marlow begins to talk about his philosophies on colonization, his personal history, and his voyage up the Congo River into the heart of Africa. Like many storytellers, Marlow speaks in a stream of consciousness, skipping forward and backward in time without warning. The reader is left to infer from symboli...

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