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Joseph Conrad Heart of Darkness

STAGE 6 • Unabridged Text

Heart of Darkness

Heart of Darkness

Marlow, a man who has spent his life at sea, tells the story of a journey up the River Congo which changed his life. His journey upriver to find Kurtz, the charismatic head of a colonial trading station, takes him into the very heart of Africa and leads Marlow to question both Kurtz’s dubious methods and his own very nature. Conrad’s dark and powerfully evocative tale is a compelling study of inner conflict and a devastating critique of European imperialism.

Joseph Conrad

Joseph Conrad

STAGE 6

Eli Readers is a beautifully illustrated series of timeless classics and specially-written stories for learners of English.

In this reader you will find: - Information about Joseph Conrad’s life - An introduction focusing on background and context - Background pages on colonialism, critical readings and themes and symbols - Notes on the text - Activities to help with technical vocabulary - Post- and pre-reading activities Tags Adventure

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Introduction to Heart of Darkness

The Author Joseph Conrad, whose real name was Józef Korzeniowski, was born in 1857 in what is now the Ukraine. His parents were from Poland and Conrad’s first language was Polish, his second was French, yet he wrote in English, a language he only began to learn when he was an adult. Conrad was a sailor in the French and British merchant navies on various routes and his books all draw inspiration from his travels. Heart of Darkness tells of a nightmare journey up the River Congo, a journey Conrad himself made in 1890 when he travelled up the Congo to Kinshasa. Five years later, he published his first novel, having given up the sea after an illness he contracted when he was in Africa. For a full biography, see page 138.

On Screen Perhaps the most famous interpretation of Heart of Darkness came in 1979 with the film Apocalypse Now, written by John Milius and directed by Francis Ford Coppola. In the film, the setting is now the Nung River, the jungle is in Cambodia and the context is that of the Vietnam War. The film stars Marlon Brando as Colonel Kurtz.

Other members of the cast include Martin Sheen, Robert Duvall and Dennis Hopper.

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heart of darkness Critical Interpretations Heart of Darkness remains popular with critics and readers for a number of reasons: the richness of Conrad’s prose, the physical evocation of the journey into the Congo and the psychological journeys made by Marlow and Kurtz, the exploration of the morality of imperialism and Conrad’s ability to involve the reader.

Critics have also studied the work from different points of view.

In “An Image of Africa: Racism in Conrad’s Heart of Darkness”, a lecture held in 1975, Chinua Achebe famously denounced Heart of Darkness as racist. He argues that the real problem with the work is “the dehumanization of Africa and Africans”, the fact that Conrad is only really interested in Africa as a setting for “the break-up of one petty European mind”. He also draws attention to Conrad’s negative depiction of Africans as “ugly” and his frequent use of the word “nigger”, so offensive a term today. Other critics have disagreed, suggesting that Conrad’s stance was anti-colonial or that he should be judged by the values of his time, not seen out of context. Some critics have written about Conrad’s depiction of women in Heart of Darkness and other work. It has been argued that women characters are peripheral and that Conrad resorts to stereotypes. Others have studied Heart of Darkness from a psychoanalytic point of view.

Publication Heart of Darkness was first published in serial form in Blackwood’s Magazine, in three instalments, in February, March and April 1899. It was well received by the magazine’s readership. Heart of Darkness was first published in book form, with two other stories, in 1902 and the first American edition followed in 1903. This text is the 1902 version.

Broadly-speaking, Conrad’s original spelling and punctuation have been left unchanged.

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Before you read

Nautical Vocabulary 1

There are references to different types of ocean or river-going vessels throughout Heart of Darkness. Match these nouns to their dictionary definitions.

1 ■ trireme /"traIriÜm/

2 ■ yacht /jÅt/

3 ■ barge /bAÜdZ/

4 ■ yawl /jOÜl/

5 ■ man-of-war /mœn ´v wOÜ/

6 ■ steamer/steamboat /"stiÜm´/ /"stiÜmÆbeUt/

7 ■ dug-out /"døgÆaUt/

a a boat with two masts, often used for racing today. Its name derives from the Dutch word jol. b a large flat-bottomed boat.

Mainly used on rivers and canals to transport goods. c a type of warship used by the ancient Greeks, Romans and Phoenicians. d a craft which is driven by steam power. e a canoe made from the hollowed-out trunk of a tree. f mainly used for recreation and racing today, these craft were originally built for speed. g an old Royal Navy term for a heavily-armed warship.

2a Jobs in Sailing. Write definitions for these jobs related to sailing at the time Conrad was writing. Check them in your monolingual dictionary.. sailmaker • helmsman • lookout • woodcutter • pilot • skipper • boilerman

2b Consider/Discuss these points.

Which of these jobs would have been the most difficult in the late nineteenth century?

Which of these jobs would have been the most dangerous in the late nineteenth century?

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3

Basic Boating Vocabulary. Read the descriptions of the following nautical terms and use them to label the positions on the boat.

a bow /baU/noun [C] The front or forward part of a vessel.

b stern /st‰Ün/noun [C] The back part of a vessel, opposite the bow.

c port /pOÜt/noun [U] If you are facing the bow, port is to your left.

d starboard /stAÜb´d – stAÜbOÜd/ noun [U] If you are facing the bow, starboard is to your right.

e amidships /´"mIdSIps/ adj. adv. towards the centre of a vessel.

f forward (nautical) /"fÅr´d/ adj. adv. towards the bow of a vessel.

g aft /AÜft/ adj. adv. towards the stern of a vessel.

6 ________ 4 ___________ 7 _____________ 2 3 _______________ ________________

5 ___________ 1 _____________

4 Some other words used by Conrad. Fill the blanks in the sentences taken from the text, using words from the box. You will need a monolingual dictionary. seaward • snags • yarns • tide • sea-reach • mizzen-mast

1 “The _______ of the Thames stretched before us.”

2 “The only thing for it was to come to and wait for the turn of the _______.”

3 “He stood in the bows looking to _______.”

4 “Marlow sat [...] leaning against the _______.”

5 “The _______ of seamen have a direct simplicity.”

6 “I had to watch the steering and circumvent those _______.”

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9

I

2 The Nellie, a cruising yawl*, swung to her anchor without a flutter of

the sails, and was at rest. The flood had made, the wind was nearly calm, and being bound down the river, the only thing for it was to come to and wait for the turn of the tide.

The sea-reach of the Thames stretched before us like the beginning of an interminable waterway. In the offing the sea and the sky were welded together without a joint, and in the luminous space the tanned sails of the barges drifting up with the tide seemed to stand still in red clusters of canvas sharply peaked, with gleams of varnished sprits*. A haze rested on the low shores that ran out to sea in vanishing flatness. The air was dark above Gravesend*, and farther back still seemed condensed into a mournful gloom, brooding motionless over the biggest, and the greatest, town on earth*.

The Director of Companies was our captain and our host. We four affectionately watched his back as he stood in the bows looking to seaward. On the whole river there was nothing that looked half so nautical. He resembled a pilot, which to a seaman is trustworthiness personified. It was difficult to realise his work was not out there in the luminous estuary, but behind him, within the brooding gloom. yawl (here) a pleasure boat sprit a piece of wood crossing a sail diagonally

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Gravesend a town on the Thames estuary biggest and greatest town on earth a reference to London

heart of darkness Between us there was, as I have already said somewhere, the bond of the sea. Besides holding our hearts together through long periods of separation, it had the effect of making us tolerant of each other’s yarns – and even convictions. The Lawyer – the best of old fellows – had, because of his many years and many virtues, the only cushion on deck, and was lying on the only rug. The Accountant had brought out already a box of dominoes, and was toying architecturally with the bones. Marlow sat cross-legged right aft*, leaning against the mizzenmast*. He had sunken cheeks, a yellow complexion, a straight back, an ascetic aspect, and, with his arms dropped, the palms of hands outwards, resembled an idol. The Director, satisfied the anchor had good hold, made his way aft and sat down amongst us. We exchanged a few words lazily. Afterwards there was silence on board the yacht.

For some reason or other we did not begin that game of dominoes.

We felt meditative, and fit for nothing but placid staring. The day was ending in a serenity of still and exquisite brilliance. The water shone pacifically; the sky, without a speck, was a benign immensity of unstained light; the very mist on the Essex marshes was like a gauzy and radiant fabric, hung from the wooded rises inland, and draping the low shores in diaphanous folds. Only the gloom to the west, brooding over the upper reaches, became more sombre every minute, as if angered by the approach of the sun.

And at last, in its curved and imperceptible fall, the sun sank low, and from glowing white changed to a dull red without rays and without heat, as if about to go out suddenly, stricken to death by the touch of that gloom brooding over a crowd of men.

Forthwith a change came over the waters, and the serenity became less brilliant but more profound. The old river in its broad reach rested aft towards the stern (rear) of a ship

mizzen-mast the shorter mast on this type of boat

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Part THREE – Looking Back

1 Answer the questions about Part Three of Heart of Darkness.

1 Why does the Russian trader want Marlow to take Kurtz back quickly? ____________________________________________________ 2 Who is the beautiful African woman on the shore? ____________________________________________________ 3 How does Marlow alienate himself from the Company manager? ____________________________________________________ 4 Why does the Russian trader leave the Inner Station quickly? ____________________________________________________ 5 Where does Kurtz go in the middle of the night? ____________________________________________________ 6 What does Marlow discover on the fence posts around Kurtz's house? ____________________________________________________ 7 Is the journey downstream initially faster or slower than the journey upstream? ____________________________________________________ 8 When the steamer breaks down, why does Kurtz become depressed? ____________________________________________________ 9 Before his death, what does Kurtz entrust to Marlow? ____________________________________________________ 10 Who says the words “Mistah Kurtz – he dead”? ____________________________________________________ 11 Who nurses Marlow back to health? ____________________________________________________ 12 What words has Marlow removed from the pamphlet he gives to the Company representative? ____________________________________________________ 13 What does the man calling himself Kurtz’s cousin say about Kurtz? ____________________________________________________ 14 What lie does Marlow tell Kurtz’s ‘Intended’? ____________________________________________________

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2 In Part Three, many people give their impression of Kurtz. Match the comments about Kurtz to the character making them.

1 ■

2 ■

3 ■

4 ■

5 ■

6 ■

“He drew men towards him by what was best in them. It is the gift of the great .. I loved him.”

“Nevertheless, I think Mr Kurtz is a remarkable man.”

“Mr Kurtz’s knowledge of unexplored regions must have been necessarily extensive and peculiar – owing to his great abilities …”

“How that man could talk! He electrified large meetings … He would have been a splendid leader of an extreme party.”

“He is very low, very low. We have done all we could for him – haven’t we? But there is no disguising the fact, Mr Kurtz has done more harm than good to the Company.”

“We talked of everything. I forgot there was such a thing as sleep. The night did not seem to last an hour.

Everything! Everything! Of love too.”

a Marlow

b The Belgian official

c Kurtz’s Intended

d The Russian Trader

e The journalist

f The manager

3 Write a short paragraph to explain your interpretation of the phrase “a choice of nightmares” applied to Heart of Darkness.

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About the Author

Background to the Text

About the Author

Joseph Conrad (1857-1924) Early Life Józef Teodor Konrad Korzeniowski was born on 3rd December, 1857 of Polish parents in the Russian Empire city which is now Berdychiv, Ukraine. It was a time of great political unrest.

His father was Apollo Korzeniowski, a Polish patriot and writer who was involved in antiImperial activities. The family suffered exile because of these activities and both Conrad’s parents had died by the time he was eleven years old. He had inherited a love of books and reading from his parents and this was further encouraged by his maternal uncle, Tadeusz Brobowski, who became his guardian.

Joseph Conrad

Life at Sea Conrad lived for a while with his uncle in Krakow, but at the age of sixteen decided that he wanted to go to sea.

Biographers give different reasons for Conrad’s desire to travel: some suggest he wanted to escape unrest and upheaval at home, others that he was in search of the type of adventures he had read about in books by Victor Hugo and James Fennimore Cooper. In his early time at sea, Conrad worked on French merchant vessels, travelling to the West Indies, Central America and South America. It would seem

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that he had an adventurous life: there are stories that he fought a duel, was shipwrecked and was involved with rebels in the Americas. In 1878, Conrad signed a contract with a British ship.

He began to learn English for the first time and in 1886 he became a British citizen at the same time as becoming a Master Mariner. Conrad served with the merchant navy until his retirement in 1894. On his many voyages, he visited the far east and central Africa, where he became a captain on a steamboat on the Congo during his stay.

Writing In 1895, Conrad published his first novel, Almayer’s Folly. His most famous works include Heart of Darkness (1899), Lord Jim (1900), Nostromo (1904) and The Secret Agent (1907). He also wrote a large number of short stories and worked with Ford Madox Ford on a series of novels. All

Conrad’s works draw heavily on his time at sea and his travels in Malaysia and Africa. Although English was not Conrad’s native language, nor even his second language, he is regarded as one of the greatest writers of fiction in English.

Later Life In 1896, Conrad married Jessie George. They had two sons and, apart from holidays abroad, Conrad settled permanently in the south of England. He had a large circle of friends, many of them literary. He initially found it difficult to earn a comfortable living from writing, but as his reputation increased, so did his income and influence.

In August 1924, Conrad suffered a heart attack. He is buried in Canterbury, England, with his birth surname, Korzeniowski.

Joseph Conrad

Look further: www.josephconradsociety.org 139

Background to the text

Conrad’s Congo

The Scramble for Africa

Fang traders with ivory. From The Fetish Folk of West Africa by Robert H. Milligan.

In the late nineteenth century, European countries continued their attempts to colonize the areas of Africa which had remained out of their control. The main colonizing countries were Belgium, France,

Germany, Italy, Portugal, Spain and the United Kingdom and between 1880 and the outbreak of the First World War, huge areas of Africa had been colonized, for a number of different reasons.

Why Africa?

Some of this new impetus towards colonization came from the desire to appropriate Africa’s natural resources and raw materials, with European companies or governments controlling valuable mineral resources. African colonies were also viewed as potential future export markets for European products. European explorers were also interested in the science of mapping areas of the continent which were unknown to them such as the source of the Nile and the Niger: explorers such as Livingstone, de Brazza and Stanley were 140

A specimen of the By-yanzi. Pictures excerpted from HM Stanley's book The Congo and the founding of its free state; a story of work and exploration (1885).

also popular heroes at the time. There had also been huge advances in technology in the years previous to 1880. Sea and overland transport and communications were better, as were weapons.

These advances made it easier to establish, and keep, colonies. Countries such as the United Kingdom wanted to control ports in Africa, which made it easier to access other areas of their empires.

There were other more abstract notions at play including ideas of ‘civilizing’ and ‘converting’ the indigenous populations. Many people supported

The Congo Free State

charitable campaigns to send missionaries to Africa. There was still a campaign to end the slave trade at this time. Although much had been done to prevent people being bought and sold, there were still many areas of Africa where the indigenous populations were captured and traded.

The notion of the diplomatic ‘balance of power’ made it desirable to have colonies in Africa; in the years before the First World War, it was considered useful to be able to trade colonial advantage or even whole towns for diplomatic gain.

Disembarking at Yambuya, today in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

At the centre of Heart of Darkness is the journey up the Congo to a trading station where Kurtz, an ivory trader, is based. At the time of publication, this area of Africa was under the rule of King Leopold II of Belgium, who controlled an organization purporting to bring scientific advances to the area around the River Congo. The area had been named the Congo Free State in 1885, although it was essentially a private trading company, under Leopold’s command, dealing in ivory, rubber and minerals. The indigenous populations were forced into labour for the traders and their agents. Joseph Conrad, like his fictional Marlow, had captained a steamboat

on the River Congo. Marlow tells of the cruelty of the employees of ‘the Company’ and Kurtz’s murderous behaviour in the pursuit of ivory, mirroring the atrocities committed in the Congo, particularly in the rubber trade. Conrad was not the only writer to highlight these atrocities and the scandal led to the end of the Congo Free State in 1908, when the area was placed under Belgian government control.

A native issuing to the war. Pictures excerpted from HM Stanley's book The Congo and the founding of its free state; a story of work and exploration (1885).