Heart of Darkness

The reaches opened before us and closed behind, as if the forest had stepped
leisurely across the water to bar the way for our return. We penetrated deeper
and deeper into the heart of darkness. As the peak of European Imperialism,
steamboat captain Charles Marlow travels deep into the African Congo on his
way to relieve the elusive Mr Kurtz, an ivory trader renowned for his fearsome
reputation. On his journey into the unknown Marlow takes a terrifying trip
into his own subconscious, overwhelmed by his menacing, perilous and
horrifying surroundings. The landscape and the people he meets force him to
reflect on human nature and society, and in turn Conrad writes revealingly
about hypocrisy, morality and the dangers of imperialism. “Heart of Darkness”
is an eminent instance of the literary evocation of evil, and we can see how
it might be regarded as a representation of the concept of original sin in
fresh and secular terms. —T. S. Eliot The heavy hypnotic style [of “Heart of
Darkness”] falls around me again, and I am aware of the poverty of my own.
—Graham Greene One of my favorite books. —William Faulkner Conrad endeavored
to create a great, massive, multiphase symbol that would render his total
vision of the world, his sense of individual destiny, his sense of man’s place
in nature, his sense of history and society. —Robert Penn Warren