Conrad based Heart of Darkness on his journey to the Belgian Congo in 1890. By checking his diaries at the time, we can trace his experience against his fictional portrayal. But this novella is more than an autobiographical account of his time spent there. It is a modern work that challenges the basic ethical question of good and evil in mankind, a topic explored by many authors. We need only think of the Adam and Eve myth, Milton’s Paradise Lost, Dante’s Divine Comedy, Golding’s Lord of the Flies, and Burgess’s A Clockwork Orange to name a few. Francis Ford Coppola based his film Apocalypse Now on this philosophical concept by updating Conrad’s story to the Vietnam War and the Southeast Asian jungle of the 1960s.

Conrad also tackled the political environment of the Congo in Heart of Darkness. When King Leopold of Belgium founded the “International Association for the Suppression of Slavery and the Opening Up of Central Africa,” he attempted to impose civilization and order. Greed, though, fostered widespread abuse. By the time Conrad visited the Congo, exploitation festered everywhere. Brutality and degradation reigned, not progress and enlightenment. The natives’ sufferings and Kurtz’s writings about them reflect the historical reality.

A number of factors influenced Conrad and other twentieth-century British writers. We have to first understand Victorian England and the reasons why the modern novelist rejected the values and beliefs of that time to mold a new society founded on different ideals.

Victorian England believed in materialism and progress. Their bourgeois (middle class) values served to stabilize all facets of society, so they believed. The writings of Jane Austen Charles Dickens and George Eliot represented the standards of their time, with Pride and Prejudice, Great Expectations, and Middlemarch serving as landmarks in fiction at that time. Their novels usually followed the traditional three-volume format. They focussed on many details, often writing at length about seemingly insignificant details.

As the era closed, reaction against Victorian life, commercialism, and community spread. The artist stood, not as a member of society, but in isolation from it. Once embraced by authors, religious faith even declined.

With formal religion destroyed, writers needed to discover a new faith to follow—with art often filling the void. In his preface to The Nigger of Narcissus, Conrad wrote: “Art itself may be defined as a single-minded attempt to render the highest kind of justice to the visible universe, by bringing to light the truth, manifold and one, underlying its very aspect.” For him, art was religion.

New techniques emerged for novelists to tell their stories. The stream of consciousness and internal monologue emphasized a shift in focus from the external world to the interior world. Dreams, thoughts, and explanations of a character’s mental process replaced lengthy descriptions of external objects. Even though Conrad did not use these devices per se, he did focus on the internal world of his characters, and the reality of their dreams and thoughts. Marlow’s story suggests a nightmarish journey into the unknown.

More than any other factor, the advent and progression of psychology shaped the new vision of man in the universe, as well as the artist’s conception of him. Freud’s ideas showed the different aspects of man’s personality. With Freud’s analysis, man is not easily understood unless we consider his multi-layered make-up. His terms “ego,” “id,” and “super-ego” reveal the depth of our conscious and subconscious mind. After Freud’s work appeared, many works received a “psychological” interpretation. This added a depth of meaning to each work which had not existed before.

If we look at Heart of Darkness specifically and apply Freud’s concept of the human psyche, we can analyze Marlow’s journey not only as a literal one, but a psychological one. Marlow and Kurtz represent different aspects of man’s personality. Marlow reflects the “ego” (man’s more rational side), while Kurtz represents the “id” (man’s primitive force within). This difference explains why Marlow recoils at Kurtz’s barbaric behavior.

The recurring symbols in Conrad’s work show Jung’s influence. Many things represent not only their actual meaning, but a symbolic one, as well. The jungle, Marlow’s journey, and even Kurtz himself suggest other ideas and meanings besides their literal ones. Since Conrad gives no clues, the reader must interpret each one.

Bergson’s theories of time relate to Conrad’s use of a non-chronological narration. He could have had Marlow tell his story without any alteration in time, by starting at the beginning and proceeding straight through until the end. Instead, Conrad lets Marlow jump ahead, then return at whim. This technique merges the past with the present, making the reading more challenging. It shuffles the pieces of a strict chronological plot. As with the symbols, the reader must order the time to organize the sequence of events.

In his preface to The Nigger of the Narcissus Joseph Conrad wrote how an artist’s (writer’s) success allowed readers a “glimpse of truth for which you have forgotten to ask.” He also said: “Art itself may be defined as a single-minded attempt to render the highest kind of justice to the visible universe, by bringing to light the truth, manifold and one, underlying its every aspect.” In each case, notice his reference to the “truth.” Here, Conrad proclaimed what his contemporaries felt. Only the artist could lead society to the truth. Only the work itself could enable society to understand the truth. The modern artists stood before their audience like prophets addressing the multitudes. The twentieth-century novelists’ work represented a way for the reader to see the new reality.

European Presence in Africa

In 1890, Joseph Conrad took a job in the Congo as the captain of a river steamboat. This is also around the time the main events of Heart of Darkness occur. Conrad had to return home after just six months due to illness, but his brief time in Africa left a lasting impact on him. Nowadays, the river central to Heart of Darkness is known as the Zaire, and the country is the Democratic Republic of the Congo. However, during Conrad's time, the country was called the Belgian Congo, and the river was known as the Congo.

European explorers first encountered the Congo River in 1482 and maintained a presence there for centuries, never venturing more than 200 miles upstream. It wasn't until 1877 that the full length and path of the Congo River were mapped by English-born American explorer Henry Morton Stanley, after a three-year expedition across central Africa. Stanley discovered that the Congo stretches approximately 1,600 miles from the eastern coast of Africa to its western edge, where it flows into the Atlantic Ocean. He also identified one impassable section of the river between Matadi, located 200 miles from the river's mouth, and Kinshasa, another 200 miles further inland. In Heart of Darkness, Conrad refers to Matadi as the Company Station and Kinshasa as the Central Station. The journey between these two locations must be made on foot, which is exactly what Marlow does in his "two hundred-mile tramp" between the Stations described in the novel.

In 1878, King Leopold II of Belgium (who reigned from 1865 to 1909) commissioned Stanley to establish a Belgian colony in the Congo. The King tasked Stanley with setting up outposts along the Congo River, particularly at Matadi. Leopold II claimed his intentions were to abolish slavery in the Congo and to civilize the native population, but his true motives were rooted in material gain. In 1885, the Congress of Berlin, an international committee, agreed to the creation of a new nation known as the Congo Free State. In Heart of Darkness, Conrad refers to this committee as the International Society for the Suppression of Savage Customs. Although Leopold II was the sole ruler of this new land, he never visited the Congo Free State. Instead, he formed a company, simply called the Company in Heart of Darkness, to manage the country on his behalf.

The Ivory Trade

During the 1890s, many Europeans believed that African peoples needed to be introduced to European culture and technology to become more advanced. This notion, termed the "white man's burden," spurred a passionate drive to spread Christianity and commerce throughout Africa. In return, Europeans extracted vast quantities of ivory. At the time Heart of Darkness is set, ivory was highly sought after in Europe for making jewelry, piano keys, and billiard balls, among other things. Between 1888 and 1892, ivory exports from the Congo Free State surged from just under 13,000 pounds to over a quarter of a million pounds. Conrad notes that Kurtz was the top agent of his era, amassing as much ivory as all other agents combined.

In 1892, Leopold II declared all natural resources in the Congo Free State to be his personal property. This allowed the Belgians to bypass African traders and take what they wanted directly. Consequently, Belgian traders ventured deeper into Africa to find new ivory sources, establishing stations along the Congo River. One of the most remote stations, located at Stanley Falls, likely inspired Kurtz's Inner Station.

Belgian Atrocities in the Congo

Belgian traders committed numerous documented atrocities against African natives, including severing hands and heads. Reports of these brutal acts reached the European public, sparking an international movement against the Belgian presence in Africa. Despite an order from Leopold II to stop these acts, they persisted and are reflected in Heart of Darkness. In 1908, after the Belgian parliament dispatched a review board to investigate, the king was compelled to relinquish his personal claim over the area, transferring control of the Congo to the Belgian government. The country gained independence from Belgium in 1960 and was renamed Zaire in 1971. A relatively peaceful revolution in 1997 restored its name to the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

In "Heart of Darkness," Joseph Conrad directs his social criticism at the exploitative forces of capitalism and imperialism, themes he frequently explores in his works. This story, inspired by his own journey to the Congo in 1890, uses moral irony to critique the universe and the hollow conventions people use to navigate it. Among the influential forces in the novella is the International Association for the Civilization of Central Africa, established by Belgian King Leopold II in 1875, which aimed to spread European and Christian civilization in Africa. This mission mirrors the concept of "the White Man's Burden" and is paralleled in the novella by the International Society for the Suppression of Savage Customs. Kurtz, a character in the story, writes a seventeen-page report for this society, ending with a shocking call to "exterminate all the brutes." One of Conrad's narrators, Charlie Marlow, challenges the seemingly noble goal of civilizing the Congo by noting that the Thames River, the heart of the British Empire, was once as primitive and exploited as the Congo, serving as an outpost of the Roman Empire. Regardless of the purported motives, the impact on both the conquerors and the conquered remains similar. A stark example of the futility of these civilizing missions occurs during Marlow's voyage when a French man-of-war bombards an unseen native camp from the coast. For Marlow, this senseless act epitomizes madness.

Capitalist mercantile ventures, closely tied to imperialism, propel Marlow's journey into the continent's depths and into a literal and metaphorical heart of darkness. These ventures aim to increase wealth and power in Europe while exploiting the native populations and the traders themselves. From Marlow's initial visit to a "dead house" in a sepulchral city to his journey to Africa with companions who are mostly soldiers, customs agents, or traders, to his encounters with lost souls at the outposts of progress and his meeting with the infamous and deranged Kurtz, his experience with capitalism is marked by themes of death, decay, and dehumanization.

Additional Commentary

The combined exploitative forces of capitalism and imperialism are the targets of Conrad's social critique in Heart of Darkness. Conrad directs his moral irony towards the insincere conventions through which individuals attempt to shape the world to their own desires. The imperialists' self-imposed mission to govern and "civilize" nonwhite societies led King Leopold II of Belgium to establish the International Association for the Civilization of Central Africa in 1875. This organization, committed to spreading European civilization and Christian principles throughout Africa, is mirrored in the novella's International Society for the Suppression of Savage Customs. Kurtz pens a seventeen-page report for the society, ending with the call: "Exterminate all the brutes!" Marlow begins his story by noting that the Thames River and its surroundings, the heart of the British Empire, had also been "one of the dark places of the earth." Once a Roman Empire outpost, as undeveloped as the Congo and equally exploited, England has experienced both conquest and domination, illustrating the thin line between these states. The civilizing mission proves capricious for both the society whose traditions are overthrown and the one whose ethics are compromised in the name of conquest.

Kurtz's capitalist trading ventures, which go hand-in-hand with imperialism, draw Marlow into the vast interior of a continent and into a literal and figurative heart of darkness. These ventures aim to increase European wealth and power, but their consequences are the exploitation of the native populace and the moral decay of the traders. From Marlow's initial visit to what he describes as "a dead house in a sepulchral city" to his encounters with the forsaken souls at the outposts of progress and his meeting with the deranged Kurtz, his experience is depicted in terms of death, decay, and the dehumanizing influence of capitalism at its worst.

1890s: The iron steamship has replaced the sailing ship. The British, French, and Dutch Merchant Marines are heavily involved in colonization and the growth of manufacturing. With the advent of the steel steamship in the mid-1800s, Great Britain becomes the leader in shipbuilding and maritime trade.

Today: Turbine and diesel engines introduce new power and speed to shipping, marking the beginning of an era of nuclear-powered vessels. Ocean-going ships remain the primary means for global transport of commercial goods.

1890s: The African slave trade is declining in the Belgian Congo. The Brussels Act of 1890, signed by eighteen nations, significantly restricts the slave trade. However, forced labor continues with extreme cruelty as the profitable trade in rubber and ivory replaces the slave trade.

Today: Slavery is nearly eradicated worldwide, although reports indicate it still exists in some parts of Africa and Asia.

1890s: Due to the ivory trade, the collection of ivory, found only in elephant tusks, prospers in Africa, where elephant tusks are larger than those in Asia. Antwerp (Belgium) and London become major centers of ivory trade, with Europe and the U.S. being the main importers.

Today: The sharp decline in elephant populations, mainly due to mass slaughter for tusks, leads to a complete ban on ivory trading. DNA testing now allows zoologists to trace the origins of tusks, aiding in the fight against poaching and identifying areas where elephant populations are stable enough to allow limited trade.

1890s: The Congo Free State is founded by King Leopold II of Belgium, with the King himself as its head. Leopold II never visits the Congo, and when he hears of atrocities committed by his agents, he orders an end to the abuses. His orders are ignored. Belgium annexes the Congo in 1908.

Today: The Belgian Congo is now the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and the Congo River is known as the Zaire. In 1960, the Congolese army mutinied, leading to the country's independence. In 1989, the country defaulted on a loan from Belgium, resulting in the cancellation of development programs. Since 1990, political instability and economic decline have persisted, even after a relatively peaceful revolution in 1997.

1890s: Christian missionaries are highly active in the Belgian Congo. Predominantly Roman Catholic, they pursue what they call the "white man's burden" to introduce western religion, culture, and technology to African nations.

Today: Over three-fourths of the population in the Democratic Republic of the Congo identify as Christian. Many also practice traditional religious beliefs, and a significant number belong to African Protestant groups. The Congo's population includes about two hundred ethnic groups, most of whom speak one of the Bantu languages, although the official language is French.

"Heart of Darkness" draws its influences from the tales of Chaucer and Boccaccio, the epic poetry of Virgil and Dante, the literature of the Romantic Rebellion, and the cosmic vision found in the novels of Thomas Hardy. It is essential to consider Conrad's earlier fiction as setting the stage for this and his other works. With the traditions of the Victorian novel and the history of Empire as a backdrop, Conrad and several of his contemporaries started crafting stories of adventure and travel in exotic locales.

Authors of the Romantic Revival in the late Victorian period, such as Robert Louis Stevenson, H. Rider Haggard, and Rudyard Kipling, had already set their narratives in the South Seas, Africa, and India. Conrad undoubtedly belongs to the Romantic Revival, especially in his pursuit of experiences in distant parts of the world. Through his use of a protagonist who remains detached yet can still recognize "one of us," he embodies the Romantic spirit and foreshadows the literature of alienation in the twentieth century. In his storytelling and love for the sea, he is the literary successor of Homer, Victor Hugo, and Herman Melville.