Marlow prefaces his exhaustive tale to come by delving into the stream of history preceding his upcoming tale to the group of men before him and notes the tendency of history to repeat itself. In telling his listeners of when the Romans first came to England and conquered its people as a prelude to how he and others, under European instruction, would stride forth into Africa, Marlow provides a connection to the actions he and other Europeans took in Africa with the imperialistic aspirations of the Romans in the rest of Europe. Heart of Darkness, as narrated by a presumed man who listens to Marlow retell his story on the Nellie, is the quest not just into the depths of Africa, but a quest into the heart of man wherein the realization at the moment of death, either firsthand or observed vicariously, elucidates the necessity of living according to personal truth and meaning. Marlow shares how he came to inherit his position as a steamboat captain and learned from such defining instances in the jungle. The late Dane, Fresleven, described as “‘gentlest, quietest creature that ever walked on two legs,’” held the the Captain position Marlow would come to take over
Marlow prefaces his exhaustive tale to come by delving into the stream of history preceding his upcoming tale to the group of men before him and notes the tendency of history to repeat itself. In telling his listeners of when the Romans first came to England and conquered its people as a prelude to how he and others, under European instruction, would stride forth into Africa, Marlow provides a connection to the actions he and other Europeans took in Africa with the imperialistic aspirations of the Romans in the rest of Europe. Heart of Darkness, as narrated by a presumed man who listens to Marlow retell his story on the Nellie, is the quest not just into the depths of Africa, but a quest into the heart of man wherein the realization at the moment of death, either firsthand or observed vicariously, elucidates the necessity of living according to personal truth and meaning. Marlow shares how he came to inherit his position as a steamboat captain and learned from such defining instances in the jungle. The late Dane, Fresleven, described as “‘gentlest, quietest creature that ever walked on two legs,’” held the the Captain position Marlow would come to take over