Book 12: The Heart of Darkness

The Heart of Darkness is widely considered to be Joseph Conrad's most influential work, as he uses his own experiences in Congo to reflect on colonialism. The novel begins on the Thames, as a group of people wait for the tide to turn so that they can return to London. Whilst they wait, Marlow tells his companions about his experiences in a trading company in Congo, showing the frustration caused by a lack of resources and unfamiliar terrain as well as the complete disregard that the workers have for the native people. Amongst the disruption and disorder, the legendary figure of Mr Kurtz is frequently discussed as the man who collects more ivory than all of the other agents put together, somehow inspiring respect from the natives whilst his colleagues become increasingly jealous of his status. This enigmatic figure only appears in the final part of the novel, and then, many of the men are disillusioned by him due to his ill health, which ultimately results in his death. 

Although the novella has been described as xenophobic by some African critics, other readers find his dehumanising presentation of the native people (describing them as "bundle[s] of angles" and "savages"), along with his recognition of the fact that they are not inhuman, illustrative of Conrad's awareness of the immorality of colonialism and not reflective of his personal beliefs. Conrad also builds a sense that the company does not belong in Africa, as whilst the native people find the forests to be a place of refuge, to the foreigners they are a hostile environment which traps them within their camps or on the river. Through this discord with nature, Conrad portrays the unnaturalness of the company's presence in Congo, supporting the idea that Conrad is using this novella to criticise colonial activities. 

Despite being regarded as one of the top 100 novels of the 20th century,The Heart of Darkness, seemed to go on for much longer than its 111 pages. This is partly due to the heaviness of the subject matter and the relatively scarce moments of relief. Although this is entirely appropriate for the subject matter, it made reading the novella feel like much more of a task than some of the others I have read. Therefore, despite its indisputable status as a modern classic, I would not recommend this for light summer reading, but rather as a cause for contemplation of the horrors of colonialism and how far the world has progressed over the last century.