1. Heart of Darkness Background
By Joseph Conrad

2. “The Commissioner went away…In the many years in which he had toiled to bring civilization to different parts of Africa he had learned a number of things. In the book which he planned to write…he thought… The story of this man who had killed a messenger and hanged himself would make interesting reading. One could almost write a whole chapter on him. Perhaps not a whole chapter but a reasonable paragraph at any rate. He had already chosen the title of the book, after much thought: The Pacification of the Primitive Tribes of the Lower Niger.”
You should remember reading Things Fall Apart from Sophomore year. Remember that it tells the story of Okonkowo and his three wives and many children in Nigeria. The novel is meant to show the social, political and religious structures that Africans had in place, even if they were very different from our own European structures. However, as you might remember, white missionaries entered and began to convert the Africans to Christianity thus beginning to disrupt the life the Africans had built. Okonkowo fights for his tribe’s beliefs but the Europeans are too forceful and so Okonokowo kills himself rather than join the new society. Achebe, the author, wrote Things Fall Apart in direct response to Heart of Darkness.
The Commissioner’s thoughts at the end of the novel demonstrates what Europeans thought of Africans. How can we characterize these thoughts? (Primitive, uncivilized, interesting or different enough to write a book on, violent)
Because Achebe wrote Things Fall Apart in response to Heart of Darkness, how can we guess the Africans in Heart of Darkness will be characterized? (as uncivilized)

3. Joseph Conrad Always dreamed of sailing the high seas
Conrad grew up in Russian controlled Poland. His mother and father died of TB leaving him in the care of relatives from the age of 12.
He became a seaman in the British merchant marine and rose to the rank of captain.
Heart of Darkness was published in 1898
He wrote until his death in 1924 at age 66.
- His fascination with the unknown led him to put his finger on a blank spot of a map of Africa and declare “When I grow up, I will go there” When he grew up he did go there – to the Congo

4. In 1876, Belgian, led by King Leopold II, took over the Congo Free State.
Leopold convinced the international community that he was involved in humanitarian and philanthropic work.
In reality, the Congo Free State earned infamy due to the increasingly brutal mistreatment of the local peoples and plunder for natural resources.
The Congo
Leopold extracted ivory, rubber and minerals in the upper Congo basin for sale on the world market. Under Leopold the Congo Free State became one of the greatest international scandals in history.
The loss of life and atrocities inspired literature such as Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness. Excess deaths in this period are believed to number up to 10 million.

8. Main Characters Charlie Marlow
Main narrator, captain of steamer up the Congo River
Director of companies, lawyer, and accountant
Captain and passengers aboard the Nellie, anchored on the Thames River outside of London who listen to Marlow’s story.
Unnamed listener
Narrator of frame story
Company accountant
Company bookkeeper at coastal settlement in Africa; of immaculate appearance and flawless work habits
Station Manager
Company employee, manager of the Central Station
Station manager’s uncle
Leader of the Eldorado Exploring Expedition, station manager's confidant
Kurtz
Manager of the inner station
the Intended
Kurtz’s beloved, who lives in Europe

9. The novella is based on Conrad’s actual experiences travelling up river on the Congo for the Belgian Company for Upper-Congo Commerce.
The novella takes place in the Congo River basin in the summer of 1890, during a period when the colonization of Africa was at its peak.
Setting

10. Synopsis
The novella opens with a frame story in which an unnamed narrator and four companions aboard the Nellie are sailing on the Thames River. To pass the time, one of the men, Charlie Marlow, describes his experiences as a steamboat captain for a European trading company with outposts in Africa. The anonymous narrator occasionally intrudes on Marlow’s narrative and comment on it.

11. Synopsis continued
In the story within the frame story, Marlow and the general manager of the trading company travel up the Congo River to see the head of the Inner Station, Kurtz, who is reportedly ill. Kurtz is the company’s most successful ivory trader and is thought to be “an emissary of pity and science and progress” – in short, an embodiment of the “noble cause” that the company ostensibly supports.

12. Story within a story
Heart of Darkness comprises two stories. In the frame, or “outer” story, an unnamed narrator and four companions aboard the yawl Nellie are sailing on the Thames River.
The narrator introduces Charlie Marlow, one of his companions on the vessel, who proceeds to tell the story of his experiences in the Congo.
The unnamed narrator and the other men on bard occasionally comment on Marlow’s narrative.
Marlow’s speech is set off by quotation marks; the unnamed narrator’s speech is not.

13. Recalling the Roman Empire
Marlow begins by discussing the Roman empire.
He is creating a parallel between his time and experiences in Africa and what the Romans felt when first coming to Europe
The Romans, who had already built a vast empire, considered themselves superior to the “uncivilized” Celts who inhabited the region.

14. What to focus on while reading
Annotate, annotate, annotate
What we learn of Kurtz in parts 1 and 2
Black and white imagery
Psychological changes in Marlow
Note that this is a difficult short story
Like Gatsby, we won’t meet Kurtz right away but hear about him.

17. Congo river bank, thick with trees and vegetation

18. Traditional hut along Congo

19. Colonial house that missionaries would have lived in and did