Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad a short summary

 

The chief Protagonists of the novella are Marlow and Kurtz

The entire action and the theme of the novella revolve round Marlow (an Englishman) and Mr. Kurtz (a German). It is Marlow who narrates the story of his African voyage and his subsequent meeting with Kurtz over there. Marlow is introduced at the very beginning of the novella as a main narrator but Kurtz appears only towards the end. Both Marlow and Kurtz are indispensible for the theme of the novel. The novel reflects the conditions that existed in the Congo in the closing years of the nineteenth century when it was colonized by the white Europeans. Conrad depicts the consequences of such colonization which was prevalent in the different parts on non-west during the nineteenth centuries. He also depicts the clash of two cultures the Europeans and the black natives. The white men's endeavours in the dark country is just futile, a kind of cover over the exploitative tendencies by the European to extract as much profit as is possible from the trade practices carried on in those continents. There is another narrator who in the beginning narrates the life of Marlow and his past experiences.

 

Marlow's Journey to Congo

 Marlow, a seafarer wanted to sail upon the river Congo. His dream gets materialized, when he got an opportunity with a European trading company to embark a journey to Congo with the help of his influential aunt. He was appointed as the captain of a steam-boat operated by a Belgian trading Company with its head quarters in the city of Brussels.

Marlow's journey to Congo was on a French Steamer. For Marlow the journey proved to be a fatiguing affair with nothing to do. Marlow reached the Congo river after a voyage of thirty days. He still had to go ahead two hundred miles more to reach his destination. He covered his thirty miles further journey on a sea-going steamer which landed him on a rocky cliff, from where he could see the company's station. Many useless things were lying there scattered. He could see the pathetic situation of the natives. They were chained together and compelled to do their work as a part of punishment.

 

At the Company Station: meeting with the Chief Accountant

The darkness of the place seemed evil to Marlow. The place looked hellish with black figures crouched together over the place. He could sense the plight of those natives in the midst of starvation and disease.

Near the Station he came across a man who was dressed in an overwhelmingly neat manner. He was the chief accountant and was wholly devoted to his work and kept his things in a perfect order. During his ten days stay at the station Marlow was told about Kurtz by the chief accountant. He described Kurtz as a 'remarkable man, and that he was sending more ivory than all the other agents put together.

Now Marlow had to undertake a fifteen days journey on foot along with a caravan of sixty black men and one white man to reach the Central Station. Enroute the white man fell ill, and the black men left him unwilling to carry. Now Marlow had to look after the ailing man.

 

The Central Station-Difficult Situation for Marlow

On his arrival at the Central Station Marlow received a cold reception from the manager. He was angered at Marlow's late arrival and was unwilling to hear the reasons. Later on, the manager also mentioned to him about Kurtz He was also told that the steamer, which was to be under his charge had sunk. Now Marlow had before him the indispensable task of pulling the steamer out of the river and make it navigable.

Marlow's was a difficult task with the non-availability of required things at the proper time. During his stay there he found that there were innumerable white men who called themselves agents, but they really had no work to do. Ivory was the main subject of interest to them, and moreover they spent their time in backbiting and intriguing. To Marlow they looked like 'faithless pilgrims.

Another person whom Marlow met there was the Brick-maker who also made a reference to Kurtz. He was also idling away his time with no materials to carry on his work and he used to assist the manager He praised Kurtz by describing him as a "universal genius."

In the meantime another group of explorers reached the place calling themselves the 'Eldorado Exploring Expedition', led by the uncle of the manager of the Central Station. Once Marlow overheard the conversation between the manager and his uncle which reflected the feeling of antagonism in their mind towards Kurtz and his popularity amongst the natives.

Gradually Marlow's interest in Kurtz was aroused and he became very keen to meet him. Marlow began his voyage accompanied by the manager and some other white men. During his voyage Marlow felt as if he was journeying back to the antecedents of civilization when forest and trees reigned supreme on earth. The forest and the darkness looked inscrutable and he felt as if he was sailing into the heart of darkness. At times the steamer got stuck and the natives got down into the river and pushed it to set it sail. Marlow found that they were not even provided with basic sustenance and that they were having cannibalistic tendencies, who wanted to eat human flesh. Marlow felt surprised at their restraint and was puzzled why they did not try their hands at killing and eating the white men on board. There were only a very few white-men on the steamer, the blacks out numbered the whites. Marlow's fireman and helmsman (steers the ship) were also black natives.

When their steamer was only eight miles away from Kurtz station they had to face an attack of arrows by the native tribesmen. The white men retaliated by firing their guns but to no avail. Marlow's helmsman got killed in the attack and Marlow blew the whistle of the steamer to scare the natives which had its effect. Marlow was greatly depressed at the idea of not being able to meet Kurtz.

On arriving at the Inner Station Marlow learnt that Kurtz was seriously ill. He gained more information about Kurtz from the Russian who assisted him. Kurtz was more interested in ivory than in any other things. In addition he was an eloquent speaker and a man of high sounding ideals and principles. His influence on the natives was great, he was a kind of God figure among the natives who offered prayers and rituals to him. He always talked about his intended (the girl who was engaged to him); his ivory; his station, his river, his everything, he felt as if he was the sole possessor of everything around him.

Marlow found some human skulls hanging on poles outside the building where Mr. Kurtz resided. Later on he was told that they were the heads of those who rebelled against Kurtz's authority. He was the ruling autocrat of the region.

Kurtz was unwilling to leave the place as he feared that it would spoil his plans. Somehow he was prevailed upon to leave the place. He tried to escape from the steamer which was foiled by Marlow. Even the natives were protesting against them for taking away Kurtz. Marlow had to sound the whistle of the steamer once again to disperse the crowd of natives who swarmed the river bank in protest.

Now the steamer made its retreat, Kurtz had reached the threshold of death. He kept on talking in an incoherent manner but his voice had retained its strength in spite of his physical weakness. He handed over a packet of papers and a photograph to Marlow. He was waiting for his death and his death came almost suddenly and before that he cried. "The horror! the horror!" His last words disclosed the truth of his existence and Marlow felt that Kurtz had prevailed over the evil within himself and outside as well.

On his return to Europe, Marlow visited Kurtz's intended (fiancee). He handed over to her the paper and photograph which Kurtz had given to him. Marlow found that the girl was still mourning, even though more than a year had spent after Kurtz's death. When she asked Marlow the last words uttered by Kurtz, he answered that he had uttered her name before his death. Though he told a lie to her yet he felt that in face of her utter faith and devotion for Kurtz, he was right in not disclosing the truth to her.