The Concept of Light in Joseph Conrad´s Heart of Darkness

An Analysis of Marlow’s Choice in Heart of Darkness

The concepts of light and darkness have become synonymous with good and bad, especially in the realm of literature. Light is associated with Heaven, happiness and hope, while darkness symbolizes Hell, hatred and harm. In Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness however, these general conventions are broken in that light symbolizes a far more menacing evil than any form of darkness. While readers seek to view light in a positive way, Conrad’s progressive use of darker examples of light reflects the inner conflict and confusion of the novel’s protagonist, Marlow, and his continued search for light in the world.

At the beginning of the novel, the idea of light being a torch and beacon remains, but the purpose is no longer bright. Before Marlow reaches Africa, the Swedish captain remarks that “it is funny what some people will do for a few francs a month” (Conrad 10). The shining quest for civilising “savages” is reduced to the prospect of riches. Marlow has long realized that the company operates out of profit and is very hypocritical in its goals, thinking that the city it is located in is “a whited sepulcher”(Conrad 6). Nonetheless, Marlow is still a member of the society and considers himself “something like an emissary of light, something like a lower sort of apostle” (Conrad 8), despite realizing that they are not bringing any light. The doctor that checks up on Marlow suggests people change when they go to Africa, and this serves to foreshadow Marlow’s own later changes and perceptions.

The first obvious reference to a reversal in the traditional ideas of light being good and darkness symbolizing evil is in the passage:

Then I noticed a small sketch in oils, on a panel, representi...

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...s left him as a permanent wanderer. Unlike most seamen, a “casual stroll or a casual spree on shore suffices to unfold for him the secret of a whole continent” got Marlow far more than he had bargained for.

Conrad’s use of the frame narrative places Marlow in a unique position in the story. Though he is the protagonist in the story, his position is very similar to that the reader themselves. Marlow’s venture down the river and into the heart of darkness leads both himself and the reader to question the morals and ideals that are given to us by society. Marlow ends the story on the Thames River having gone through the entire experience of light and dark. Like the reader, he can only keep on searching for the light in the heart of darkness.

Works Cited

Conrad, Joseph. Heart of Darkness. Ed. Judith Boss and David Widger. Chapel Hill: Project Gutenberg, 2006. eBook.