Heart+of+Darkness+Gallery

“…and this also has been one of the dark places of the earth.” – 2%

“…and this also has been one of the dark places of the earth.” – 2%

“…and this also has been one of the dark places of the earth.” – 2%

“ These round knobs were not ornamental but symbolic; they were expressive and puzzling, striking and disturbing -- food for thought and also for vultures if there had been any looking down from the sky; but at all events for such ants as were industrious enough to ascend the pole. They would have been even more impressive, those heads on the stakes, if their faces had not been turned to the house. Only one, the first I had made out, was facing my way. I was not so shocked as you may think. The start back I had given was really nothing but a movement of surprise. I had expected to see a knob of wood there, you know. I returned deliberately to the first I had seen -- and there it was, black, dried, sunken, with closed eyelids -- a head that seemed to sleep at the top of that pole, and, with the shrunken dry lips showing a narrow white line of the teeth, was smiling, too, smiling continuously at some endless and jocose dream of that eternal slumber.” – pg. 130-131 “…. Without a glance, with that complete, deathlike indifference of unhappy savages.” – 16% “The faces twitched with the strain, the hands trembled slightly, the eyes forgot to wink.” – 49%

“… And on we went again into the silence, along empty reaches, round the still bends, between the high walls of our winding way, reverberating in hollow claps the ponderous beat of the stern-wheel.” – pg.104

"but there was one river espcially, a mighty big river, that you could see on the map, resembling an immense snake uncoiled, with its head in the sea, its bosy at rest curving afar over a vast country, and its tail lost in the depths of the land' - pg 12 penguin edition

your strength is just an accident arising from the weakness of others - pg 10 penguin classics

"What redeems us is the idea only. An idea at the back of it; not a sentimental pretence but an idea; and an unselfish belief in the idea - something you can set up, and bow down before, and offer a sacrfice to...'' - pg 10 penguin classics

''We live in the flicker - may it last as long as the old earth keeps rolling! But darkness was here yesterday'' - pg 8 penguin classics



"One day he remarked, without lifting his head, 'In the interior you will no doubt meet Mr. Kurtz.' On my asking who Mr. Kurtz was, he said he was a first-class agent; and seeing my disappointment at this information, he added slowly, laying down his pen, 'He is a very remarkable person.' Further questions elicited from him that Mr. Kurtzwas at present in charge of a trading post, a very important one, in the true ivory-country, at 'the very bottom of there. Sends in as much ivory as all the others put together. . . .' He began to write again. The sick man was too ill to groan. The flies buzzed in a great peace."


 * "The conquest of the earth, which mostly means the taking it away from those who have a different complexion or slightly flatter noses than ourselves, is not a pretty thing when you look into it too much."

For picture one, on the left: "To the left a clump of trees made a shady spot, where dark things seemed to stir feebly. I blinked, the path was step" Many times throughout the text we see that Conrad describes Africans as "black things", giving the idea of an object and making them sound inferior.

For picture two, on the right: "They would have been even more impressive, those heads on the stakes, if their faces had not been turned to the house. Only one, the first I had made out, was facing my way" This is when Marlow, upon his arrival at the inner station, sees and describes the heads on the sticks surrounding the house.



"...a steady droning sound of many men chanting each to himself some weird incantions came out from the black, flat wall of the woods as the humming of bees comes out of a hive..." 75%

"he rose, unsteady, long, pale, indistinct, like a vapour exhaled by the earth and swayed slightly, misty and silent before me..." 76%

"a black figure stood up, stored on long black legs, waving long black arms across the glow. It had horns-antelope hours, I think- on its head. Some sorcerer, some witch man, no doubt: it looked fiend-like enough." 76%



"Trees, trees, millions of trees, massive, immense, running up high; and at their foot, hugging the bank against the stream"



“When the sun rose there was a white fog, very warm and clammy, and more blinding than the night.”



“Six black men advanced in a file, toiling up the path. They walked erect and slow, balancing small baskets full of earth on their heads, and the clink kept time with their footsteps. Black rags were wound round their loins, and the short ends behind waggled to and fro like tails. I could see every rib, the joints of their limbs were like knots in a rope; each had an iron collar on his neck, and all were connected together with a chain whose bights swung between them, rhythmically clinking.”

 this is the cover of my copy of HOD. in many ways i feel that this represents the novel. for example when i read this quote in the book this is what i pictured: "There was no room to turn even if I had wanted to, the snag was somewhere very near ahead in that confounded smoke, there was no time to lose, so I just crowded her into the bank--right into the bank, where I knew the water was deep." Conrad, Joseph (2006). Heart of Darkness (p. 47). Public Domain Books. Kindle Edition.

 though this cartoon does not directly relate to the book, i does relate to the time period and context of the book because the larger, more established countries, like Belgium (Leopold), were doing exactly as this cartoon portrays when the story is set.

 "And at last, in its curved and imperceptible fall, the sun sank low, and from glowing white changed to a dull red without rays and without heat, as if about to go out suddenly, stricken to death by the touch of that gloom brooding over a crowd of men." <span style="color: #910808; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">and: <span style="color: #910808; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">"The sun set; the dusk fell on the stream, and lights began to appear along the shore. The Chapman light-house, a three-legged thing erect on a mud-flat, shone strongly. Lights of ships moved in the fairway--a great stir of lights going up and going down. And farther west on the upper reaches the place of the monstrous town was still marked ominously on the sky, a brooding gloom in sunshine, a lurid glare under the stars." <span style="color: #910808; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Conrad, Joseph (2006). Heart of Darkness (p. 7). Public Domain Books. Kindle Edition.

<span style="color: #800080; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">'will they attack, do you think?' asked the manager, in a confed<span style="color: #800080; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">ential tone' - 53% kindle edition

<span style="color: #800080; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">'They were talking about Kurtz. I was broad awake by this time, but, lying perf<span style="color: #800080; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">ectly at ease' - 38% kindle edition



<span style="color: #800080; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">' The Chapman light-house, a three legged thing erect on a mud flat, shone str<span style="color: #800080; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">ongly' - 2% kindle editon