"Heart of Darkness"

Paper Summary:

In the beginning of "Heart of Darkness" by Joseph Conrad, Marlow sets off on a steamship down the Congo because of a childhood fascination with a blank space on the map. The paper shows, however, that in the course of Marlow's journey to the "heart of darkness," we see in his growing fascination with a man named Kurtz, that Marlow suffers from a deeper kind of longing, a quest to understand and explore the fundamental nature in the human heart - whether in European or in African body.

From the Paper:

"Marlow comes to learn that Kurtz himself is ambivalent to this great monster territory; he feels a strange passion for it that is both love and hate. The Russian devotee describes how Kurtz "hated sometimes the idea of being taken away, but then again..." [62] Despite his protests, his desire to remain in Africa, when he is finally aboard the steamer heading back down the Congo, Kurtz asks Marlow to close the shutters. "'I will wring your heart yet!' he cried at the invisible wilderness." [67]"

More papers on "Heart of Darkness":

• Analytical Essay # 141464 : "Human Nature in "Heart of Darkness"
• Analytical Essay # 149305 : "Marlow in Heart of Darkness: A Colonial Co-conspirator or A Subversive Sympathizer?"
• Analytical Essay # 141458 : "Human Nature in Conrad's "Heart of Darkness"
• Analytical Essay # 46854 : "Heart of Darkness": Kurtz and Marlow Compared"

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