Places In Heart Of Darkness

In Joseph Conrad’s short story “Heart of Darkness,” the reader is transported to many places throughout Europe and Africa. These places all have symbolic meaning in their appearance. They reveal much of the stories theme in their appearance and show the darkness’s affect. Many of the appearances are similar in that they all contain some darkness. The darkness hides things from observation and represents the savagery that Marlow sees. The novel as a whole shows the corruption of the darkness, or the unknown, on “civilized” people. Throughout the novel anything that comes into contact with Africa and the darkness are in some way corrupted by it. Even the stations like the outer station and Kurt’s station show the darkness’s corrupting affects.

The comparisons show the darkness’s increasing effect on people and things. The second station, though it is in darkness, is well regulated and has “civilized” people in it. They use brute force to overwhelm the natives and force them into labor. These people think have complete control over the “savages,” and behave in a superior manner to the natives. Like the accountant that Marlow describes, “I saw a high starched collar, white cuffs, a light alpaca jacket, snowy trousers, a clean necktie, and varnished boots” (177). The people there are waiting for better things to come to them; they are lazy, snobbish, and expect others to not only recognize their greatness but reward them and give them promotions. The station and its white members are a stark contrast from the natives and the surrounding area. The station is efficient and busy with goods coming in and out, and lots of slave laborers. It had arranged housing, art, furniture, and even social classes. The station is trying to fight against the nature of its surroundings, and appears to be able to overpower many of the norms of the land. This situation is not true for the last station that Marlow