Heart Of Darkness (Annotated Guide)

By: Conrad, Joseph

Heart of Darkness centers around Marlow, an introspective sailor, and his journey up the Congo River to meet Kurtz, reputed to be an idealistic man of great abilities. Marlow takes a job as a riverboat captain with the Company, a Belgian concern organized to trade in the Congo. As he travels to Africa and then up the Congo, Marlow encounters widespread inefficiency and brutality in the Company's stations. The native inhabitants of the region have been forced into the Company's service, and they suffer terribly from overwork and ill treatment at the hands of the Company's agents. The cruelty and squalor of imperial enterprise contrasts sharply with the impassive and majestic jungle that surrounds the white man's settlements, making them appear to be tiny islands amidst a vast darkness.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B086PN1JT4
• ISBN13: 9798633771282
• Release Date: January 1
• Publisher: Independently Published
• Length: 128 Pages
• Weight: 0.44 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.3" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

A study of man

Heart of Darkness is well written. The concept of a storyteller within the story isn't unique, but it works very well. We could spend quite some time thinking about the word darkness. The best way to understand it is with Cliff's Notes. I wanted him to get on with it. I guess I was a little impatient for the action and the ending. If it hadn't been for Cliff Notes, I would have missed half of what he was implying. A merchant company is missing an agent named Kurtz, and Marlow must find him. Traveling through tougher environments than expected, he might have discovered what he was looking for. Like many epic stories, the physical distance or direction isn't as important as the change it causes in a person’s soul. Joseph Campble described this type of journey well. I somehow missed this book in school. I initially started reading it before I got fully into it to see how much it resembled the movie. No, not the movie you're thinking of—"Cannibal Women in the Avocado Jungle of Death" (1988). The film was primarily shot in the avocado groves maintained by the University of California, Riverside (UCR), which the university uses for horticultural research. Adrienne Barbeau plays Dr. Kurtz. The horror... the horror... So, you will want to see the movie “Cannibal Women in the Avocado Jungle of Death” (1989) with Adrienne Barbeau as Dr. Kurtz. Alternatively, consider the adaptation “Apocalypse Now” (1979), in which Marlon Brando portrays Colonel Kurtz.