First published in serial form in 1899, Joseph Conrad's novella Heart of Darkness later caused controversy as presenting a racist view of Africa and Africans. Such arguments notwithstanding, it is also very much a work that is opposed to capitalism and colonialism.
I have read this book numerous times, but have never felt I really understand it. But then that's one of the things about great literature: there's always another layer to be lifted and sifted, always more food for thought.
The title alone is far from simple, for heart refers to the centre of Africa, to what was then the Congo Free State, as well as to our vital organ, with all its connotations, while darkness is applicable both to the jungle and human nature.
The novel is a framed narrative, a recital of past events told by seaman Charles Marlow while the crew of a yawl waits on the Thames for the tide to turn. The first words that Marlow utters condemn London as being 'one of the dark places of the earth'.
He later mentions Brussels, and says it always reminds him of 'a whited sepulchre', a reference to Chapter 23, verse 27 of St Matthew's Gospel, in which Christ berates the scribes and Pharisees for their hypocrisy, comparing them to whited sepulchres, which are outwardly beautiful, 'but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness'.
As with the great cities, so with certain men such as the much-praised agent Kurtz, whom Marlow finally meets after a protracted journey through the jungle. He is reportedly 'an emissary of pity and science and progress', but turns out to be a man 'hollow at the core'. In his desire for ivory he has become corrupted to the point of savagery, and a ruthless exploiter of the indigenous peoples; he ends a report for the International Society for the Suppression of Savage Customs with the postscript: 'Exterminate all the brutes!'
Kurtz spoke of love, but his hut was surrounded by shrunken heads on sticks. Witnessing Kurtz's death, however, Marlow suspects that he experiences despair at the end, along with a moment of self-knowledge. For Kurtz's last whispered words are: 'The horror! The horror!'
"As I think every lawyer should read Bleak House and To Kill a Mockingbird, I now consider every politician should read Heart of Darkness."
One hundred and twenty years after being written, Heart of Darkness is still alarmingly relevant to the world