Review of Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad

Review

Heart of Darkness is a novella about a seaman, Marlow, recounting the experience of his search of Mr. Kurtz, an infamous ivory trader. The story takes place in Congo. 

At the time of its publication, the novella wasn't received well (in comparison to author's other works) and even Conrad regarded it as one of his less spectacular novels. Critics didn't like the concept of the 'inexpressible' saturating Marlow's experience. 

First pages of Heart of Darkness establish the enigmatic and ambiguous tone that is common in the story thereafter. The character of Mr. Kurtz - him being the nexus of Marlow's story - is from the beginning an individual of whom we are given limited information about; occasionally in the story, there are conversations about him, but we are only provided with snippets of information. The consequence is something interesting - and relatable - because regardless of the tenebrous and formidable impression that Marlow has of the man, Kurtz is still a 'word'. Yet, Marlow insists that he has great reverence towards the man and it itching to meet him. With that in mind, we might speculate that Conrad was demonstrating the psychological effects of language. Of course, it would be surprising not to write about this book without alluding to its criticism of imperialism; but it ought to be remembered that there is no direct mention of the term. Marlow allows us to be the spectator of his recollection, thus his encounter with the malnourished native people is a poleaxing experience, and the impression intensifies as he meets individuals who see the native people as nothing more than physical objects (maybe they are on the same pedestal as animals). 

Today, we might regard Heart of Darkness as a work that ought to be only analysed in an English class, for there aren't many relevant teachings; however, if one thinks about the moral implications of it, I reckon it would become rather pellucid that Conrad was pointing out the delusion of moral progress created by science. 

Inconsistencies in the moral doctrines of the Western civilisation; apathetic avarice; man's lust for hegemony - Heart of Darkness has it all.