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    Heart of Darkness Study Guide and Book (Annotated)
    Heart of Darkness Study Guide and Book (Annotated)
    Heart of Darkness Study Guide and Book (Annotated)
    Ebook172 pages3 hours

    Heart of Darkness Study Guide and Book (Annotated)

    By BookCaps

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    About this ebook

    Heart of Darkness may be short, but that doesn't make it an easy read; the short novel is loaded with themes, imagery, and symbols. If you need a little help understanding it, let BookCaps help with this study guide.

    Along with chapter by chapter summaries and anaylisis, this book features the full text of Conrad's classic novel is also included.

    BookCap Study Guides are not meant to be purchased as alternatives to reading the book.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBookCaps
    Release dateAug 8, 2012
    ISBN9781476350851
    Heart of Darkness Study Guide and Book (Annotated)
    Author

    BookCaps

    We all need refreshers every now and then. Whether you are a student trying to cram for that big final, or someone just trying to understand a book more, BookCaps can help. We are a small, but growing company, and are adding titles every month.Visit www.bookcaps.com to see more of our books, or contact us with any questions.

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      Book preview

      Heart of Darkness Study Guide and Book (Annotated) - BookCaps

      Chapter Summaries

      Part I

      Waiting On The River Thames

      The story begins with an unnamed narrator on board the Nellie with Marlow, a lawyer, an accountant and the Director of Companies serving as captain. The yawl is waiting for the tide to turn on the River Thames in front of London, which is noted as the biggest, and the greatest town on earth. The narrator describes the scene in admiring prose, giving the river an aspect of a tired entity resting, and then describes the setting sun (the first of many references to darkness). He also recounts the tales of Sir Francis Drake and Sir John Franklin- highlighting how they and so many other explorers launched from the Thames into unknown lands, some never returning and others coming home with gold and treasures. And not only did they return with treasures, but the narrator points out how they left with the dreams of men, the seed of commonwealths, the germs of empire. The sun finally sets, and London lights up in response, which makes Marlow remark how the city has been one of the dark places of the earth.

      Marlow is described by the narrator as a sailor through and through, but an atypical one in that while most sailors are happy to never understand the mysteries of life, Marlow sees a mystery enveloping everything. It is here that Marlow’s narrative voice takes over the story.

      He begins by imagining out loud what it must have been for a Roman military man to have been stationed here, so far north from the civilized comforts of Rome in a barbarous landscape. He suspects that the terrifying sensation that they felt when facing the darkness doesn’t inflict the modern European in the same way due to a commitment to efficiency.

      Marlow quickly sketches out what effect his experience in Africa did to him- noting that it cast a light on him- and describes how he went about getting the job that took him down there.

      After resting in London from six years in Asia, Marlow tired of the life and sees a map that makes him long for Africa. He bothers some friends about a job who refuse him, and then enlists the women in his life to beg for him. An aunt eventually writes a letter and manages to find Marlow a job due to some other steamboat captain- Fresleven-  having been killed. Marlow says that he eventually learned that Fresleven had been killed in a fight over some hens, and that the tribe whom the killer belonged to had entirely abandoned their village, afraid of the punishment they would receive, though if never came. Eventually, Marlow finds Fresleven’s bones untouched- lying where the man had died.

      The Company’s Offices

      Marlow details his trip across the English Channel to the Company offices to sign the papers of employment. He says the city reminds him of a white sepulchre, where the citizens were happy about the prospect of running an overseas empire. In the waiting room of the office, sit two women knitting black wool, one of which ushers him into a room further in where a map detailing Africa and the colonial powers that hold it hangs on the wall. Another secretary brings him into the owner’s office, where Marlow quickly signs the papers. Before he knows it, he’s outside in the waiting room with knitting women again, who now seem to be making palls. This is appropriate, as Marlow suspects that not even half the men who come into this office ever come back alive.

      The Company’s doctor then examines Marlow. They both have a drink, and the latter talks about how the physical and mental effect on men from the Congo is how he is reaping the benefits from colonialism.

      Before he sets off, he says his farewells to the aunt that acquired the job for him. They discuss the nature of the work, and the aunt frames Marlow as an envoy of civilization. Marlow clearly doesn’t believe this, and makes observations about the delicate nature of women and how they live in some made-up world that is out of touch with reality.

      Sailing Down African Waters

      Marlow sails down the African coastline in a French steamer that stops at various ports along the way to let people off. The names of the ports sound strange to him- fitting, for the coast seems to be grim, formless, and unlike any other he has seen before. They pass another French boat that is blindly firing off its guns into the jungle.

      Marlow then reaches the mouth of the Congo River, but still needs to travel 200 miles more. He books passage on a steamer that is captained by a Swedish man who invites him to talk. The Swede brings up that a man had hung himself, though he couldn't explain as to why the man committed suicide.

      The Company Station

      Marlow is dropped off by the Swede Company’s station where a railway is being built. He sees the natives in various states: some are chained together, and moving earth, others are sick and starving under the shade of trees, and even others have been reclaimed and are dressed in European ware, overlooking the atrocities. He is horrified and suspects that somewhere amongst this horror he will meet a weak European whose only strengths are greed and a lack of mercy.

      Marlow then meets the Company’s chief accountant, an orderly man. Marlow admires the fact that the accountant can manage to both keep his own space in order and still dress well, even after three years of being out in the jungle. That being said, the accountant also seems downright unconcerned about the well being of fields agent who are brought back to the station when they are deathly ill. The accountant is also the first person whom mentions Kurtz, who is described by him as someone who is going to go far in the Company.

      Through the Jungle to Central Station

      Marlow begins a 200-mile trip through the jungle on foot with sixty men. He notices that everything is either abandoned and uninhabited, but it’s no surprise as the men in his company often force the natives to help them carry their packs. Every now and then they’ll come across a dead worker whose load is still strapped to him, and his body left by the wayside or hear the faint sounds of drums and singing in the night.

      Marlow has contact with only two other white men on the voyage. The first has come along with him, though his large weight made him physically unfit for the trek. This leads to him having to be carried in a hammock by the sum of the nonwhites- a task that they all despise and makes Marlow threaten the group if they don’t shape up. At some point, the hammock is accidentally felled and- echoing the murder of Fresleven- the workers who had been carrying the hammock were nowhere to be seen.

      The other white man was accompanied by some guards and camped along the side of the road, claiming to be looking after it. Marlow then finds the body of worker on the road who had been shot in the head and left

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