seafaring, riverboating, trade and exploration, imperialism colonialism, race relations, clash of cultures, attempts to find meaning in life and the strict dogma of Christian missionaries.


This is a story within a story since there are two narrators: an anonymous passenger on a ship, who listens to Charlie Marlow's story, and Marlow himself, a middle-aged ship's captain who has lived through the tale. Charlie Marlow tells about the time when (probably toward the end of nineteenth century) he piloted a steamboat up a river in Africa to locate an agent for a Belgian company involved in the lucrative ivory trade. Although he shows some sympathy towards the mistreated Africans, Marlow remains an imperialist, unsure of what he is seeking. He tries to find meaning in his search and in the man Kurtz that the trading company has sent him to locate.


Kurtz has willingly sunk into circumstances which debates the value of civilization. Marlow in the chaos of the journey, hopes that Kurtz will provide a clue to a universe with meaning, in spite of the managers and pilgrims, Great White Hunters, natives etc. I felt that Kurtz wasn't important in himself, but in his effect on Marlow.

the dark tone emphasized by strong symbols such as: old women knitting black wool, the gloomy color of their wool and clothing, their serious manner, the first station with its barrels of unused rivets with valley of death and shackled prisoners, the white-suited Accountant, the central station with the smiling manager, the idle devilish brickmaker drinking champagne, a man being dragged at random and beaten, the place where Marlow's boat is sunk, the weird relationship between the Russian and Kurtz, the image of skulls on poles, etc.

the idea of darkness being imposed on the reader but this is only because the writing styles and tastes at that time don't match today's more realistic understanding of fiction.

read more of Joseph Conrad's work. He's a great story teller.

confused a little about the goal of the writer. It seems to be a criticism of imperialism. Yet the critic is a first class imperialist himself; however, since this was written more than a century ago, I can see how the writer's mind probably worked.

Joseph Conrad (1857-1924), was a Polish-born English novelist who traveled widely.


He wrote 13 novels, two volumes of memoirs, and 28 short stories. "Lord Jim" is his most famous novel. Some of his other works are "The Nigger of the Narcissus", "The Secret Agent", "Under Western Eyes", and "Victory".

It is a wonderful African adventure tale which highlights the norms and morals of Western civilization.

The book is not too long and its language is quite simple for that time, although I had to read some passages repeatedly to understand it better.

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Created Apr 07, 2002 at 4:40pm • Submit your own review...