Study Guide for Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
Section I
Introduction: Each detail this study guide draws your attention toward is part of the puzzle of
Heart of Darkness. Notice the details, ponder them, see how patterns repeat themselves, and
then see how the pieces fit together. Marlow’s journey and your reading about it require
constant alertness, discipline, patience, and a willingness to search for what is not immediately
or easily apparent. Be vigilant!
Answer all questions completely on your own paper (word process or handwrite).
A. The Thames Setting*
1. How are the tide, river, and ships described?
2. How are the various occupations of Marlow’s friends significant to an important
subject in this novel?
3. Marlow is like the setting of the river—“brooding,” as he sits like an “idol.” What is
suggested by his sitting position and his state of mind?
4. As the ship sits at anchor on the Thames, Marlow remembers the past. The Thames
is a “waterway…to the utmost ends of the earth”—the river represents the “spirit of
the past.” Why has the Thames been “one of the dark places”? What is the
significance of the reference to the invasions of the Romans?
5. What does the unnamed narrator mean by his comments on the telling of a story—
what is meant by the “kernel” and “the misty halo” (HINT: they are opposites)?
6. The narrative technique of this novella emphasizes the layers of this story: much like
a series of nesting boxes, there is Conrad (the author), the unnamed narrator who
tells us about Marlow, Marlow who tells us about his journey and meeting Kurtz, and
finally the innermost voice, Kurtz himself. What thematic and narrative purposes
might be served by this layered narration?
*When you finish reading the entire novella, return to these questions and consider
them once more.
B. Preparation for the Journey
1. Look at the description of the map Marlow studies. How is it significant that the
river resembles a snake?
2. In what way do “the women” help Marlow? Try to figure out what Conrad’s view of
women is. Marlow notes his aunt is like other women, “out of touch with the truth.”
What does he mean?
3. Who is Fresleven? What happened to him?
4. Marlow builds a series of images to describe the Company Office. Many of these
have traditional, symbolic meanings. What are the possible meanings of the
following (consider allusions to mythology or the Bible):
a. “whited sepulcher”
b. narrow street
c. two women knitting
d. the deadly snake
e. the center of the map, of Africa, of the earth
f. the doctor who prophesizes madness
g. the colors black and white
h. the sun
i. the imposter character type
j. the archetypal journey
C. The Journey: The First Stage
1. As Marlow rides down the coast of Africa on the French steamer, he feels struck by
the appearance of the coastline, the brightness of the sun, the ridiculous shooting
from the warship into the jungle, the mixture of death and trade. What feelings
about Africa, Europeans, and the job he is about to assume do these early
encounters of his journey arouse?
2. Note what Marlow sees at the First Station. What do the abandoned machinery,
chaotic appearance, and suffering of the slaves signify? What is the “devil of
rapacious and pitiless folly”?
3. What does the slave wearing “white worsted” about his neck suggest (thematically)?
4. Why does Marlow regard “work” as important?
5. Why does Marlow notice the Chief Accountant? What does he represent? Is he
likable or not, and why/why not?
6. Find the first reference to Kurtz; what kind of person do you imagine him to be, at
this point in your reading?
7. Marlow emphasizes the motif of paths as he describes the land journey to the
Central Station. What is the symbolic significance? What does Marlow say about
death?
D. The Central Station
1. Identify the “flabby devil” who is “running the show.” Explain Marlow’s frustration
with what he sees in Africa and with the Europeans he meets.
2. Marlow finds his steamer at the bottom of the river with a manager who seems to
take it for granted that nothing will be done efficiently. How does Marlow react?
How does he adjust? Explain his meaning when he says there are “no external
checks.”
3. Marlow hears about Kurtz again. What does he learn?
4. Explain the significance of the strange episode of the fire and the hole in the bottom
of the watering pail. How does this event contribute to the depiction of European
life in Africa?
5. What details do you learn about the brick-maker? What is a “papier-mache
Mephistopheles”?
6. The oil painting of the blindfolded woman is important: remember it, as there will be
important connections to it later on. What impression does the painting give of the
character of Kurtz the painter and of the woman?
7. What lie does Marlow tell? Why does he tell it, and is it justified?
8. In the midst of the narrative, Marlow stops and speaks to his listeners: “Do you see
him? Do you see the story? Do you see anything? It seems to me I am trying to tell
you a dream…” What effect does this create? What is the significance of the
repetition of the verb “to see”? Marlow seems to call special attention to the
particular episode, suggesting it is important and especially difficult to understand.
What does he want us to see?
9. Why are rivets important to Marlow? Again, he talks about work: “I don’t like
work…but I like what is in the work—the chance to find yourself. Your own
reality…” As the novel progresses, think about whether or not this is true for the
European invaders of Africa, for Marlow, for Kurtz.
10. Who is the dark figure in front of the manager’s hut?
11. Here’s a good one: what theme does the Eldorado Exploring Expedition bring out?