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.]] ''Heart of Darkness'' is a Novella (published 1902 ) by Joseph Conrad . Before publication, it appeared in a three-part series in '' Blackwood's Magazine '' (1899). This highly Symbol ic Story is actually a story within a story, or Frame Tale , narrated by a man named Charlie Marlow to a group of men on a ship at dusk and on into the evening. It details an incident earlier in Marlow's life, a visit up what we can assume is the Congo River (although the name of the country Marlow is visiting is never specified in the text) to investigate the work of Kurtz , a Belgian trader in Ivory in the Congo Free State . The Kurtz. ( Emily Brontë 's '' Wuthering Heights '' and Mary Shelley 's '' Frankenstein '' use a similar device, but the best examples of "frame stories" include '' Don Quixote '' by Miguel De Cervantes and '' The Canterbury Tales '' by Geoffrey Chaucer ) BACKGROUND To write ''Heart of Darkness'', Conrad drew heavily from his own experience in the Congo. Eight years before he wrote the book, he served as a sea captain for a Congo steamer. On a single trip up the river, he had witnessed so many atrocities that he quit on the spot. Conrad's experiences in the Congo and the historical background to the story, including possible models for Kurtz, are recounted in the historical work, '' King Leopold's Ghost '' by Adam Hochschild . THEMES The theme of " Darkness " from the title recurs throughout the book. It is used to reflect the unknown, the concept of the "darkness of Barbarism " contrasted with the "light of Civilization ", and the " Spiritual darkness" of several Characters . This sense of darkness also lends itself to a related theme of Obscurity — again, in various senses, reflecting the ambiguities in the work. Moral issues are not clear-cut; that which ought to be (in various senses) on the side of "light" is in fact mired in darkness, and so forth. To emphasize the theme of darkness within ourselves, Marlow's narration takes place on a Yacht in the Thames Tidal Estuary . Early in the novella, the narrator recounts how London , the largest, most populous and wealthiest city in the world, where Conrad wrote and where a large part of his audience lived, was itself in Roman times a dark part of the world much like the Congo then was. The theme of darkness lurking beneath the surface of even "civilized" persons is further explored through the character of Kurtz and through Marlow's passing sense of understanding with the Africans. In the opening passages of the novel, Conrad repeatedly describes London in terms of its darkness and "gloom," and later describes Belgium as a dark place. This could suggest that Conrad is critical of the supposedly enlightening civilization that is colonising Africa and that London itself is the "Heart of Darkness". Theme s developed in the novella's more superficial levels include the naïveté of Europeans — particularly Women — regarding the various forms of darkness in the Congo; the Belgian Colonialist s' abuse of the Natives ; and man's potential for Duplicity . The symbolic levels of the book expand on all of these in terms of a struggle between Good and Evil , not so much between People as within every Major Character 's Soul . Through the novel, Conrad stresses the importance of restraint. Restraint in his view, is a person’s "primitive honour" against his or her basic impulses. From the perspective of existentialism, people who do not have restraint will be trapped in the destructive cycle and their lives will be absurd and insane. Having restraint can save them from the cycle and keep them sane. CONTROVERSY Some literary critics, most notably author and professor Chinua Achebe , the writer of '' Things Fall Apart '', have criticized Conrad for having a racist bias throughout the novella despite the book's intentions to expose the atrocities in the Congo. In particular, critics have objected to the depiction of Africans as primitive, irrational people and of Africa itself as a savage, dark continent. Controversy over ''Heart of Darkness'' first appeared in Achebe's 1975 lecture "An Image of Africa: Racism in Conrad's ''Heart of Darkness''."[http://www.erinyes.org/hod/image.of.africa.html] In this lecture, Achebe emphasized the implications and explicit statements of the inferiority of African people. According to Achebe, his opinions were met with dismay and outrage from some peers: "After I delivered my lecture at Harvard, a professor emeritus from the University of Massachusetts said, 'How dare you? How dare you upset everything we have taught, everything we teach? ''Heart of Darkness'' is the most widely taught text in the university in this country. So how dare you say it’s different?" [http://www.failuremag.com/arch_history_chinua_achebe.html] Despite allegations that it has racist overtones, ''Heart of Darkness'' is considered to be a literary classic and is widely read in educational institutions around the world. Others, such as Cedric Watts in '' A Bloody Racist: About Achebe's View of Conrad '', refute Achebe's critique. (A quick 'Point by Point' refutation of Achebe's critique to Watts' rebuttal was done by one Alexis and Carla .) Other critiques include Hugh Curtler's '' Achebe on Conrad: Racism and Greatness in Heart of Darkness. '' The context in which the novella was written should not be discarded lightly, as Conrad was expressing unprecedentedly forthright and controversial views from within the heart of the empire. To criticise it as racist may be accurate, but to compare any literature from over a hundred years ago with the full righteousness of today's modern relativistic values seems not a little facetious. Particularly as Conrad himself played a part in laying down the basis for those views. IN THE ARTS
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