Summary Of The Heart Of Darkness
Part I
The novel opens at sunset on the deck of a cruising yawl, the
Nellie, which at anchor on the Thames. Five men are lying back to rest and
mediate, waiting for the tide to turn. One of them, Charles Marlow, thinks
aloud about ancient England at the time when the conquering Romans came
seeking wealth and power. He pauses, and then begins to tell of a trip to
the Congo he made as a young man. First, he describes how he came to make
the trip. Out of a job and fascinated by Africa for a long time, he
enlisted the help of an n influential aunt who was able to secure him a
position as a river steamboat captain. Marlow then goes on to tell the
story that Conrad himself had experienced ...
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with the “darkness”
and its invisible forces. Finally, the steamer reaches the mouth of the
Congo and Marlow disembarks.
Here, he boards another steamer, commanded by a Swede, and starts
on his first leg of his journey up the river. The captain tells him of the
sad fate of another Swede who had apparently hanged himself. Again and
again Marlow is struck by the incongruity of the European presence in
Africa.
Marlow goes ashore at the Company station, which is surrounded by
broken machinery, dying slaves, and an aura of useless effort. The company
accountant, an oddly out-of-place fellow dressed in a starched shirt,
polished shoes and a suit, tells Marlow about Kurtz. It is the first time
we hear Kurtz's name; the accountant refers to him, ambiguously, as a “very
remarkable person.”
Marlow continues his journey into the heart of darkness, trekking
through the jungle accompanied by 60 natives and one other white man. He
is stuck by the wild chaos of the jungle. The group ...
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at
the central station. As he lies on the deck, the manager strolls by with
his uncle, who leads the Eldorado Exploring Expedition. Unaware of
Marlow's presence, they begin to discuss Kurtz with a mixture of dislike
and envy. They comment on his moralizing, his courage, and his enormous
success in the ivory trade. They also note the high morality rate among
white agents in the jungle. The conversation ends abruptly when they
realize Marlow is on deck listening to them.
The riverboat is finally repaired and a group of pilgrims, led by
the manager, begins the trip up the river to Kurtz's inner station. The
trip takes two months. Marlow is the pilot and his crew consists of a
group ...
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"Summary Of The Heart Of Darkness." Essayworld.com. Essayworld.com, 15 May. 2005. Web. 23 Dec. 2024. <http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Summary-Of-The-Heart-Of-Darkness/26916>
"Summary Of The Heart Of Darkness." Essayworld.com. May 15, 2005. Accessed December 23, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Summary-Of-The-Heart-Of-Darkness/26916.
"Summary Of The Heart Of Darkness." Essayworld.com. May 15, 2005. Accessed December 23, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Summary-Of-The-Heart-Of-Darkness/26916.
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