The title can be understood in a number of ways, depending on how you understand the word “darkness.” Here is a short list:
- Kurtz’s mysterious encampment is the ”heart” of darkness, the most mysterious place.
- The “darkness” is akin to wildness, or nature untamed by man; Marlowe’s journey into the jungle is a journey into the “heart” of this wildness.
- “Darkness” can also be understood as moral corruption or greed; Marlowe’s journey up the river reveals the Company’s decay as a result of a force for “civilization."
- “Darkness” can be thought of as a kind of madness or psychological condition; in this sense, the title might refer to an inward journey from sanity to madness.
- ”Darkness” might mean a kind of primitive essence present in all men. The “heart” of this essence lies in Kurtz’s fate.
- ”Darkness“ can be understood ironically, in that the “dark” element of the story is the Europeans; the station in this case becomes the “heart” of...
(The entire section contains 6 answers and 1049 words.)
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