Many works use contrasting places to represent opposing forces. Conrad does this in his Heart Of Darkness, by contrasting Europe and Africa. Conrad uses this contrast to enhance the theme of innate evil and every man.
Conrad makes Africa seem mysterious to symbolize the uncivilized and barbaric nature of man. the jungle is a dark and dangerous place and the natives are seen as just barely human by the Europeans. In contrast Europe is seen as a utopian society, there are the cultured people and organization. More than the obviously diverse scenery, the difference in the people that live in each place make the contrast much more striking. Europeans have a clear and working government, and its society is the symbol of productivity and modernism. This exaggerated picture of Europe only makes Africa seem even harsher. Africa's natives are ruled by these foreigners, they worship Kurtz as a God aeronaut once seen as even slightly important. be in this difficult place it is hard to keep one's ideals as a person born and raised in the city.
Conrad as many different levels of his meaning, that every man harbors a sense of hate and evil. Narratively, the contrast of the continents serves as a tangible reason for the drastic change within one's character. Each character's downfall of morals is justified by the idea that one becomes their surroundings thus the far they fall the longer they stay in Africa. The country actually becomes their heart of darkness. Also there are psychological effects. Being in such a primitive an unfamiliar place leads to confusion of what is right wrong and what is reality. The fourth level of which this contrast acts is philosophically. Philosophically the meaning lies directly in Africa. It is the dark world the corrupt these men for men of good to men of questionable stature. Africa, a world that is hardly even real to them; with people there just barely human, has caused their pronounced flaws.