Symbols

= = =The Congo River= In //Heart of Darkness//, The Congo River is one of the places where most of the story's action takes place. It is also, however, a symbol of the journey into the human spirit. The further upstream Marlow travels, and the closer he gets to Kurtz--representative of the darkness within--he learns more about himself. As he progresses he begins to feel he is more like the wild natives than the Europeans who have came in order to tame them. Marlow learns through this adventure, that everyone has an evil within them, but some people are able to better conceal it than others.

=Kurtz' Painting= The painting Marlow sees at the Central Station is of a blindfolded woman surrounded by darkness, carrying a lit torch, which causes her face to look sinister. This is probably the most extensive symbol in the novella. The painting that Kurtz made represents the Europeans who have come to Africa in order to force all of their beliefs and ideals onto the natives. The lit torch represents what the Europeans are trying to teach the natives--being civilized, etc. The blindfold shows that they can't see the effects their misguided cause is having on the natives and Africa itself. The darkness surrounding the woman shows that their attempt is totally in vain, because she cannot enlighten all of Africa.

= = = = =Ivory= Ivory is the ultimate symbol of greed in the story. Ivory is worshiped by all at the Central Station, and it is revered above everything else as a path to making money. The lust for ivory is what leads to the destruction of all of the morals of the men in Africa. They are so overcome with greed that they abandon all other ideas in order to obtain more, becoming completely obsessed with it.

=The Frame Story= Marlow's initial frame story provides an interesting example of symbolism. The story that Marlow tells to the other passengers of //The Nellie// begins at sun rise of one day, continuing well into the night of the next. Within the inner part of the story, the heavier the subject matter and the more immoral the characters become, the later in the day it becomes as Marlow tells his tale; thus, the darker it gets. The overwhelming darkness of the night, which leads them to be unable to see each other at all during the darkest parts of the tale, represent the evil going on in the story.