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In Heart of Darkness, what is the significance of the quote, "The word 'ivory' hung in the air. You would think they were praying to it"?
Quick answer:
The quote highlights the obsession with ivory in the Congo, symbolizing both greed and corruption. Marlowe observes that the pursuit of ivory is like a religious devotion, reflecting the chaotic and morally bankrupt environment at the Central Station. This obsession is linked to Kurtz, who is consumed by his greed for ivory, leading to his downfall. Marlowe's disdain for this "imbecile rapacity" foreshadows the moral decay and inevitable demise associated with the ivory trade.
Marlowe speaks this line about his first impressions of the Central Station after meeting its manager, who is concerned about Kurtz’s illness and the “very grave” situation at his station. He has only recently arrived in the Congo and is on his way upriver. He briefly lists some manufactured goods that went inland—low-quality cotton fabric, beads, and wire—to be exchanged for “a precious trickle of ivory.” All around the station, the activity is geared toward bringing out the ivory. Both the accountant he had met earlier and the manager praise Kurtz as the Company’s best agent.
Wandering around while he figures out his next steps, as he must figure out to get his wrecked boat repaired, he is struck by the chaotic atmosphere . He says the scene is the “most unreal thing” he has ever seen. Marlowe cannot readily determine what each man’s responsibility is because there are...
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no obvious signs of organized activity. The men are strolling or wandering around the yard. He compares the men to pilgrims who are both faithless and bewitched. He later learns that they are waiting to be appointed to a trading post so that they too can benefit from the ivory trade. Even though he neither hears them say much nor understands the languages they speak, he identifies “ivory” as the main subject of conversation. The full quote is as follows:
The word 'ivory' rang in the air, was whispered, was sighed. You would think they were praying to it.
For Marlowe, the atmosphere is tainted, not just by the faint sounds—whispers, sighs—but as if by smell, and he associates it with mental infirmity death. There is a corrupt, rotten quality to their “imbecile rapacity,” or mentally deficient greed, “like a whiff from some corpse.” In a subsequent section, he brings up disease in speaking about the men’s activities and their obsession with obtaining a post. These passages show Marlowe’s negative opinion of (as well as prefigure business estimation of) the Company’s goals and methods, and these concepts echo his later revelation of Kurtz’s total corruption, illness, and death.
References
Everything that is happening in the Congo stems from the ivory trade. I believe this passage comes toward the end of the story in talking about Kurtz and his compound. Kurtz has fallen victim to the ivory trade. It has taken over his life and his greed for it has overpowered him so much so that he has people praying to it for him and with him. Kurtz was smart enough to be able to brainwash the natives into working for him, but he was unable to self-regulate and therefore, everything that is at his compound is geared toward the ivory. Marlow, on the other hand, didn't come to the Congo to get ivory, so he can keep his mindset based in reality. He was sent to save Kurtz and bring him back, but he finds that that is impossible.