Heart of Darkness - Outline

414 Words1 Page

Marlow stands on the Thames River and remarks that the land he and his comrades is standing on was once a place of darkness and an uncivilized wilderness

· Through nostalgia he remembers an incident from his past when he commanded a steamboat on the Congo River.

· He talks about the Company’s chief accountant who first mentions Kurtz to him.

· The accountant tells him that Kurtz supplies more ivory for the company than everyone else combined.

· Marlow’s interests in Kurtz is perked.

· Marlow discovers that the steamer he is supposed to command has been destroyed in a wreck.

· He meets the local manager who mentions Kurtz in conversation.

· He tells Marlow that Kurtz is ill and he must get to Kurtz swiftly and bring him back for medical treatment.

· Marlow speaks with a brick maker who admires and envies Kurtz.

· Marlow eavesdrops on a conversation between the manager and uncle. He learns that the manager resents Kurtz.

· Three months pass. Marlow and a crew set sail towards Kurtz’s location.

· Fifty miles before Kurtz’s station, they discover a hut bearing wood for the steamboat and message to proceed with caution.

· Two days later they awaken to an attack by the savages. The helmsman is killed. Kurtz blows the steamboat whistle to frighten away the savages. Dumps dead helmsman’s body overboard so cannibals don’t get any ideas about eating him.

· They arrive at the Inner Station. Greeted by a Russian that takes care of Kurtz.

· Through conversation with the Russian, they learn that Kurtz has not been the most upstanding and moral person. He’s been abusive to the natives.

· Kurtz appears, carried on a stretcher.

· They carry Kurtz onboard the steamboat.

· The manager tells Marlow he disapproves of Kurtz.

· The Russian makes a visit to Marlow, tells him that Kurtz ordered the attack on their vessel that killed their helmsman.

· Kurtz escapes and swims ashore. Marlow goes after him and cuts him off.

· They make a departure, savages show up, Marlow blows whistle and scares them away again.

Show More
Related

  • Heart of Darkness/Apocalypse Now One Pager

    608 Words  | 2 Pages

    In both the film and the movie, Kurtz is portrayed as a man of great stature and mastery whose actions become questioned due his barbaric conduct. While Marlow slowly learns more and more regarding who Kurtz is and what he has done through others’ conversations, Willard educates himself about Kurtz through pictures and files he has of Kurtz. He states that he feels like he already knows a thing or two about Kurtz that are not in the papers he has, and that beyond the bridge, there is only Kurtz. This goes to show how Kurtz develops a prof...

    Read More

  • Imperialism and Existential Freedom in Works Such as Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness and Johann Goethe’s Faust

    1048 Words  | 3 Pages

    Marlow is driven by morality and is able to see what is right and wrong; he is not blinded to the truth. The truth that these “civilized men” are destroying countless numbers of people so that they can worship th...

    Read More

  • The Power of Kurtz in Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness

    656 Words  | 2 Pages

    Power this is what kept Kurtz in the jungle for such a long period of time.  Determined not to become another causality he becomes allies with the natives through fear.  Kurtz is a brilliant man who did not have to adapt to his environment but had it adapt to him.  On top of a hill his hut is surrounded by the heads of men who have betrayed in him some sort, this serves as a reminder to anyone who contemplates going against his wish.

    Read More

  • Marlow Vs. Willard

    1097 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...urtz. Marlow could tell that Kurtz was dying while Willard knew what he had to do and that was kill Kurtz. Willard had doubts about killing Kurtz but after seeing Kurtz’s camp he knew what had to be done. Marlow knew that Kurtz had a good reason to do what he did but the ways he did them was not moral. The plundering of ivory was not good. Marlow and Willard both went through a substantial change after meeting Kurtz. The mystery that both Marlow and Willard had about Kurtz was all over. They met this man that was on their minds since leaving for their missions. One cannot tell, if Marlow and Willard were disappointed, of the states they found Kurtz. Willard at one point was even considering joining Kurtz. Willard finally realized the power of the jungle and how it took in Kurtz.

    Read More

  • Heart of Darkness

    2215 Words  | 5 Pages

    3.     Kurtz, who is not the protagonist or antagonist is a very significant character in the book as Marlow and Kurtz essentially form a team as the novel progresses. He is the chief of the Inner Station and Marlow basically follows him. Kurtz is a man of many talents (he is a talented musician and painter). His abilities are nothing without his charisma and his ability to lead. Kurtz is a man who understands the power of words, and his writings present a complexity that obscures their horrifying message (his writings are often hard to understand, as they are complex in structure, often hiding the morbid message behind them). Although he remains a “puzzle,” e...

    Read More

  • The Powerful Voice of Kurtz in Conrad’s Heart of Darkness

    1022 Words  | 3 Pages

    The voice of Kurtz is heard and realized not in the familiar words of others, but in the journey down the river into the unknown. People’s inability to pronounce Kurtz’s name suggests the authenticity of Kurtz’s own voice and the weakness of the words used to describe him. When describing Kurtz, familiar vocabulary fails altogether; Kurtz remains a word with little meaning. Marlow first hears of Kurtz from the Company’s chief accountant at Outer Station. When asked who Kurtz is, the accountant responds, “He is a very remarkable person” (37).* The accountant does not mention his name without adding t...

    Read More

  • Conrad's Heart of Darkness - Marlow and the Wilderness

    1073 Words  | 3 Pages

    Marlow then proceeds to head for the Congo, and when he finally reaches the company's lower station he begins to see how the white man has come to try and civilize and control the wildness of Africa and its inhabitants. The blacks were being used as slaves at the station to build railroads. The scene left Marlow feeling that the blacks "were not enemies, they were not criminals, they were nothing earthly now,--nothing but black shadows of disease and starvation" (p. 2202). Marlow sees how the asserted superiority of the white man has led to the devastation of the black natives in both spirit and body.

    Read More

  • Human Nature in Heart of Darkness and Apocalypse Now

    760 Words  | 2 Pages

    Kurtz once was considered an honorable man, but living in the Congo separated from his own culture he changed greatly. In the jungle he discovers his evil side, secluded from the rest of his own society he becomes corrupted by power. "My Ivory. My people, my ivory, my station, my river," everything was under Kurtz's reign. While at Kurtz's camp Marlow encounters the broken roof on Kurtz's house, the "black hole," this is a sign of the uncivilized. The black hole represents the unknown and unconquered, and therefore represents the uncivilized. Also, Marlow notices the "black heads" on Kurt...

    Read More

  • Heart of Darkness and Wide Sargasso Sea: Depiction and Effect Due to Colonization

    1988 Words  | 4 Pages

    Kurtz was the chief of the Inner Station, where he was in charge of a very important ivory-trading post. Marlow learns that because of Kurtz’s ability to obtain more ivory than anybody else, he is of “greatest importance to the Company” and is to become a “somebody in the Administration” (Conrad 143). However, a critical aspect is the way in which he went about his business, as it was ruthless and selfish, characteristics that go hand-in-hand with European colonization.

    Read More

  • Heart of Darkness: Analysis of the Two Major Themes

    917 Words  | 2 Pages

    Later, Marlow encounters cannibals who are characterized by restraint. They outnumber the whites “thirty to five” and were “big powerful men, with not much capacity to weigh the consequences.” Marlow describes them as being utterly capable of simply overpowering and consuming the Europeans. He even considers that he would have as soon expected such restraint fro...

    Read More

  • Colonialism, Imperialism, Symbolism, and Materialism in Heart of Darkness

    1046 Words  | 3 Pages

    Furthermore, when he says, "I was an impostor," Marlow recognizes the fact that he is an invader into a foreign land, yet he sticks to his moral values. Marlow observes many kinds of abuse of power by other whites, simply because they have better weapons of war. When the manager severely battered a young black boy for the burnt shed, Marlow disapproves. However, when he sees abuse and unjust treatment, he does not physically try to stop it. Instead, he just turns away and accepts that it is happening.

    Read More

  • Racism in Heart of Darkness

    355 Words  | 1 Pages

    This sight angers Marlow, and when he gets to Kurtz, it’s too late. Even he has been pulled in by the darkness. Conrad makes an effective distinction between Marlow and Kurtz.

    Read More

  • Hypocrisy Of Imperialism In Joseph Conrad's Heart Of Darkness

    1131 Words  | 3 Pages

    It is very intriguing and for the audience this is very important because as we get farther in the story and see how truly mad Kurtz has become, one can see the theme of madness being displayed. On page 28 of Heart of darkness we discover that Kurtz came to the Congo to set up stations that would serve to improve the morals of the natives (Conrad). Unfortunately the natives began to treat Kurtz as god of some sorts and it got to his head and he was smart enough to use this to his advantage, leading him to going mad. Inching closer to Kurtz station and becoming intrigued with Kurtz as a person, Marlow begins to realize that Kurtz is not inherently bad. He admires him almost as much as he disagrees with his decisions he has

    Read More

  • The Hero and Anti-Hero in Joseph Conrad?s Heart of Darkness

    1377 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...s to look at Kurtz as a hero for all that he had accomplished, no matter how evil. Marlow?s obstacles as the hero are not the overcoming of a dragon or evil villain. It is the eternal battle of the story of a Hero versus Antihero. Marlow?s blindness to Kurtz?s impurities are both his strength and weakness. His ignorance to the greatness of his own qualities can best be stated one way: ?The Horror.?

    Read More

  • Marlow and Kurtz in Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness

    791 Words  | 2 Pages

    Before the boat can reach Kurtz's outpost, it is "attacked" by the local natives. M...

    Read More

More about Heart of Darkness - Outline

Open Document