In just the opening pages of Heart of Darkness, Conrad's ability as a writer becomes abundantly clear, for the subliminal nature of his writing is constantly sustained. Conrad begins Marlow's journey into the heart of darkness on the Thames, on the yawl, "Nellie" with a short prologue, which contains subtle use of imagery and a brilliant suggestion of the atmosphere that prepares a reader for the prevailing themes of the novel. Each setting in the novel is in fact a microcosm of the larger construction of Heart of Darkness, and a reader is continually reminded by the repetition of the phrase "brooding gloom", the noun "haze", and the adjective "dark" that the novel is full mystery and exploration through the impenetrable darkness, as it were. .
As a reader transgresses through the novel, he or she is continually taken back to the paradoxical title, Heart of Darkness. The title in itself is very suggestive, for the noun "heart" is, in a literal sense, characteristic of pure or white substance, and is very distinct, and on a metaphorical level it conveys that the novel works on an emotional scale. On the other hand, the adjective "darkness" displays something much more inconclusive and equivocal, just like Marlow. Therefore, a reader's first expectations are rather inexpressible because one is put a half-state, where the clear literal meaning of "heart" is set against the ambiguity of the "darkness". The "darkness" in the novel works on both the characters and the readers, where it highlights the states of confusion and incomprehension of the mind. It seems upon "darkness", things become "less brilliant but more profound". This is in reference to the way in which the reader comes to realize that it is the "white man's burden" that is truly dark and cruel. The reader's expectations about the novel are flooded with ideas of the unknown, a journey into "darkness" in search of mystery and adventure.
