Conrad delves into the themes of order and chaos, particularly exemplified by the Company's chief clerk. He demonstrates how people manage to persist in their daily routines even amidst turmoil. On a larger scale, the Company is preoccupied with the logistics of dispatching agents into the interior to trade with the natives and gather ivory, all the while disregarding the destruction their actions incite.

However, a closer examination reveals that the Company's Manager is utterly inept at maintaining order or organization. His station is in disarray, and Marlow finds no reason for the Manager's role other than his persistent good health. In stark contrast, the chief clerk is impeccably dressed, to the point that when Marlow first encounters him, he feels as if he's witnessing an apparition. Despite having spent three years in the country and experiencing its horrors, the chief clerk keeps his clothes and books in immaculate condition. He even speaks confidently about a Council of Europe that envisioned Kurtz excelling in "the administration," suggesting that some rational principle guides their existence.