What If? Heart of [Darkness]

Stories have layers and layers of complexities. There's an aesthetic aspect, a poetic aspect, a lingual aspect, a narrative aspect, etc. It's this kind of multiplicity that composes Heart of Darkness. Having an idea of 'darkness' also helps promote the sense of multiplicity. By having such a dissension of information pertaining to the meaning of actual darkness, we are able to explore how the various senses of darkness promote each other.

Throughout the novel Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad the title word 'darkness' is repeated in other specific places. Conrad plays with the concept of darkness against light in order to add confusion and reflect the experience found in Marlow's disorientation and adversative perspectives. But what would happen if you took the darkness out of Heart of Darkness?

HEART OF by Joseph Conrad

A European seaman is sent into the Congo, a very happy place all the time. He meets a bunch of really nice vegetarians that attack him with a fusillade of love. A really sunny person named Kurtz happily shares ivory with everyone. He's really healthy. He talks about his Intended all the time. The last thing we hear him say is her name. 

Maybe not.

But in reality, the book would lack the crucial layer that really makes it what it is. Having this sense of darkness not only adds to the disorientation, but adds to the focus. When Marlow returns to Europe, we get the first real sense of how darkness has built the story. Thus far, we've thought darkness was the Congo. Darkness was the disorientation. Darkness was the world unknown. But once Marlow returns, he sees how ignorant the Europeans are. In a sense, they themselves are in their own sense of darkness and blindness--oblivion. Maybe it isn't the Congo that caused the darkness; maybe it's the Congo that caused the light. Maybe the darkness wasn't only a physical darkness, but a mental darkness.


Closing sentence is in the dark for added effect of confusion.