Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad begins with a group of five men on a ship called the Nellie that is anchored in England. The captain is the Director of companies, the lawyer, the accountant, Marlow, and the narrator. The men become be more contemplative as the sun sets and remember all the great men that have set off from the Thames onto adventures from which they would never return. Marlow starts to tell his own story of adventure and exploration when as a young man, he was the captain of a ship going up the Congo River. He remembers “there were many blank spaces on the earth… there was one yet—the biggest, the most blank, so to speak—that I had a hankering after.” (Conrad 16). Marlow, ready for adventure and the glory of exploration, had
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He arrives in Brussels and thinks it would an excellent place to live. Marlow recounts to the group of five men that later he was sent to recover his predecessor’s bones. A man named Freselven, who was reputable for being kind and peaceful, had gotten into a fight with an African tribe over the sale of some hens. He attacked the village chief whose son quickly stabbed Freselven. The village cleared out, whether of fear or superstition, and Freselven decomposed where he fell. He arrives at the Company’s offices and is admitted into a waiting room where he notes the color coded (colonial powers) map of Africa. He signs his contract with the head of the company and then is taken to a doctor for an exam. The doctor remarks “the changes take place inside, you know,” (Conrad 26) a metaphorical foreboding about the momentous change that overtakes Marlow throughout the narrative. Marlow says goodbye to his aunt who encourages him to help civilize the …show more content…
He meets with some others who have been in Africa for a while who talk of death like an everyday occurrence and savagery as the prime mode of interaction amongst people there. Marlow reaches the Company’s station, a neglected and run down building, where he finds piles of rusted machinery, and slave marching along, and a group of dying natives with white European string around their necks. Marlow meets the Company’s chief accountant and then waits for transportation to the next station. This is the first time that Mr. Kurtz is mentioned to Marlow; and the start of the plot pushing towards this shadowy figure of Mr. Kurtz. Finally, at Central Station, he finds the steamer he was meant to captain has been greatly damaged after the manager of the station had taken the boat out a few days earlier to a skipper who had torn the bottom out. Marlow suspects this was done on purpose to keep him at the station. He meets with the manager who seems too average to lead and finds out Mr. Kurtz is rumored to be quite ill. The manager compliments Kurtz who is an exceptional agent of bringing back ivory to Europe. Thus, Kurtz starts to solidify in Marlow’s head of a great man that he is destined to meet since he is talked about so much. Marlow works as fast as he can to finish up repairs to him boat but finishes in three months
He arrives in Brussels and thinks it would an excellent place to live. Marlow recounts to the group of five men that later he was sent to recover his predecessor’s bones. A man named Freselven, who was reputable for being kind and peaceful, had gotten into a fight with an African tribe over the sale of some hens. He attacked the village chief whose son quickly stabbed Freselven. The village cleared out, whether of fear or superstition, and Freselven decomposed where he fell. He arrives at the Company’s offices and is admitted into a waiting room where he notes the color coded (colonial powers) map of Africa. He signs his contract with the head of the company and then is taken to a doctor for an exam. The doctor remarks “the changes take place inside, you know,” (Conrad 26) a metaphorical foreboding about the momentous change that overtakes Marlow throughout the narrative. Marlow says goodbye to his aunt who encourages him to help civilize the …show more content…
He meets with some others who have been in Africa for a while who talk of death like an everyday occurrence and savagery as the prime mode of interaction amongst people there. Marlow reaches the Company’s station, a neglected and run down building, where he finds piles of rusted machinery, and slave marching along, and a group of dying natives with white European string around their necks. Marlow meets the Company’s chief accountant and then waits for transportation to the next station. This is the first time that Mr. Kurtz is mentioned to Marlow; and the start of the plot pushing towards this shadowy figure of Mr. Kurtz. Finally, at Central Station, he finds the steamer he was meant to captain has been greatly damaged after the manager of the station had taken the boat out a few days earlier to a skipper who had torn the bottom out. Marlow suspects this was done on purpose to keep him at the station. He meets with the manager who seems too average to lead and finds out Mr. Kurtz is rumored to be quite ill. The manager compliments Kurtz who is an exceptional agent of bringing back ivory to Europe. Thus, Kurtz starts to solidify in Marlow’s head of a great man that he is destined to meet since he is talked about so much. Marlow works as fast as he can to finish up repairs to him boat but finishes in three months