What are the conflicts in Heart of Darkness?

Major conflict Both Marlow and Kurtz confront a conflict between their images of themselves as “civilized” Europeans and the temptation to abandon morality completely once they leave the context of European society.

What is the main problem once Marlow gets to the Congo?

As he travels to Africa and then up the Congo, Marlow encounters widespread inefficiency and brutality in the Company’s stations. The native inhabitants of the region have been forced into the Company’s service, and they suffer terribly from overwork and ill treatment at the hands of the Company’s agents.

Does Heart of Darkness take place in the Congo?

Heart of Darkness primarily takes place in the late nineteenth century in the Belgian-controlled Congo Free State. Most of the action happens in Africa, but Heart of Darkness begins and ends in a boat on the River Thames, just outside of London. …

What did Kurtz do in the Congo?

What is Kurtz doing in the Congo? Kurtz goes to the Congo as an emissary for the Company, a Belgian operation that has set up stations along the Congo River to facilitate the export of ivory. Kurtz runs the innermost station, and he proves to be the Company’s most efficient exporter.

What are Kurtz last words?

Kurtz dies on the boat with the last words, “The horror! The horror!” Kurtz ultimately was changed by the jungle. At first he wanted to bring civilization to the natives, as his painting shows, but by the end he wants to “exterminate all the brutes!”

Why does Marlow obsessed with Kurtz?

Marlow becomes fascinated with Kurtz and wants to see if he has maintained his civility. He also wants to see if the rumors surrounding Kurtz are true. Meeting Kurtz becomes Marlow’s main focus after he realizes that the Company is full of inefficient, greedy individuals.

What is Congo in Heart of Darkness?

Heart of Darkness tells a story within a story. The novella begins with a group of passengers aboard a boat floating on the River Thames. One of them, Charlie Marlow, relates to his fellow seafarers an experience of his that took place on another river altogether—the Congo River in Africa.

Why are Kurtz last words the horror the horror?

Kurtz is not stable mentally or physically, slowly succumbing to death on his boat. When he realizes he is near death, he utters this phrase, which carries deep meaning, as his last words. In fact, he refers to all things witnessed and done throughout his stay in the Congo.

How did heart of Darkness reveal the horror of Congo’s?

For in the years between Conrad’s visit and the publication of Heart of Darkness, the Congo Free State had become a “horror” of imperial exploitation, its idealistic principles in tatters over the most nakedly abusive colonial regime in the world.

Where was Congo Ivory found in heart of Darkness?

If you were a late-19th-century European lady or gentleman of leisure, passing your hands over the piano keys or clicking balls on a billiard table, you might have touched a piece of Congo ivory.

What was the story of heart of Darkness?

It appeared on the face of it to be the quintessential river story, running from here to there: a journey from Europe to Africa, overlaid by metaphorical journeys from present to past, light to dark, civilization to savagery, sanity to madness. Heart of Darkness also looked in some ways like a clear passage from truth into fiction.

How did the king of Congo solve his debt problem?

In late 1891, the king hit upon a novel solution to his debt problem: he declared huge tracts of Congo territory to be a domaine privé, on which the government alone could reap and export products. The king and his agents set about wringing profit from their concessions by several methods.