Joseph Conrad's novel the Heart of Darkness, written in 1902, describes Marlow's journey through the Congo River. Conrad uses Marlow's journey to illustrate the dark side of European Imperialism in Africa. In this novel, the concept of isolation is an important theme that reappears throughout the dramatic structure. Through the use of diction, mood and repetition Conrad expresses the psychological and physical stresses that Marlow endured during his journey into the inner station.
Conrad uses words like "no joy", "empty", and "sluggish" to describe Marlow's journey, which creates a dark and gloomy mood that permeates the passage. Conrad's diction and mood reveals Marlow's concern for encountering numerous obstacles during his journey. He constantly worries about getting lost on the river. The phrase "you lost your way on the river as you would in a desert" states that he fears of being isolated from the world and not being able to find his way back. .
Drawn into a world of greed and evil in the jungle, Marlow struggles against its power to maintain his identity. Psychologically, Marlow is more afraid of not being able find his way back to his "inner truth". The phrase ".yourself bewitched and cut off forever from everything you had known once." states that people like Kurtz are so far into the jungle that they are isolated from society and they forget who he really are. The quote "moments when one's past came back to one. but it came in the sharp of an unrestful and noisy dream" reveals that dreams represent a symbolic expression of a person's conflicts and that the person begins to regret their actions. Conrad uses repetition when he says "the reality, the reality" and "the inner truth is hidden luckily, luckily" to further emphasize that the true identity of these people are hidden because it is too shameful to remind them how much they've changed.
Through the use of diction, mood and repetition Conrad successfully describes the changes that occurs within Marlow as well as the things that occurs around him.
