Understanding the “Heart of Darkness”: Atmospheric Mastery by Joseph Conrad

The objective of this extended essay is to demonstrate the effect Joseph Conrad achieves by creating a dark atmosphere in Heart of Darkness through his use of language, characterization, description, and decisions to make the setting.

This topic is relevant because it shows the importance of implementing detailed descriptions and thought-provoking language to grab the attention of the reader and keep their concentration on point. This is a technique all writers use to keep their audience interested and make their plot more interconnected.

For this investigation to take place, it was imperative to read Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad because of the big role it plays in this paper. I had also read Norton Critical Editions of the fifth edition of Heart of Darkness, which explains and criticizes Conrad’s use of language and punctuation, as well as other editors techniques when they were polishing up Conrad’s work; this was extremely valuable because it helped validate my opinions on the vocabulary, grammar, and rhetorical decisions that were made by the author.

Additionally, it helped me to realize how the meaning of certain phrases could have been changed. I also read books like The Secret Sharer, “To Build a Fire,” and Great Expectations that shared similar themes, language, descriptions, and styles to the main book I was reading. These sources assisted me when I had to argue and support my claims when answering my question: How was the dark atmosphere created by Joseph Conrad? E-books and articles that explained literary terminology, background on the author, or comments on the novel also assisted me when developing my answer.

From Seaman to Storyteller: Joseph Conrad’s Maritime Muse

Joseph Conrad’s writings are influenced by his life. During his childhood, he dreamt of traveling all over the seas away from the hunger, discrimination, and poverty that surrounded him in his country. At age seventeen, he finally followed his vocation at sea life and left for Marsiglia to become a seaman. After a decade and a half of working on the sea, he started to work for the French Merchant Navy and, in 1878, for the English Merchant Navy, where he became captain. This is evident in his novels due to the fact that he uses statements such as “One ship is very much like another, and the sea is always the same. In the immutability of their surroundings, the foreign shores, the foreign faces, the changing immensity of life, glide past, veiled not by a sense of mystery but by a slightly disdainful ignorance, for there is nothing mysterious to a seaman unless it is the sea itself.”

In his novels, he discusses issues that revolve around the morality of the protagonists, fate, and luck that can change the destiny of the central characters and controversial topics such as imperialism and racism. One of his principal novels, where we can find these characteristics, is Heart of Darkness, which Joseph Conrad experienced on his own when he worked for the ‘Societe Anonyme Belge for the Commerce of Congo’ and where he got most of his inspiration.

His writing is greatly criticized and edited because many critics believe that his “odd expressions,” “haphazard punctuation,” and “repetition” are undated or due to Conrad’s late coming to the English language writing mistakes. According to Norton Critical Editions, many editors, such as Knowles and Heinemann, edit Conrad’s work to make the text more decipherable, which, in Norton’s opinion, takes away from the text. I agree, even though the language and references might be complicated at times. It is what gives Conrad’s writing its authentic and, at times, dark essence, which he combines with his vast international life experience, which contributes to the atmosphere. According to “The Book of Literary Terms,” the atmosphere is the mood of the narrative, which is created by means of setting, altitude, descriptions, and language, which, in Conrad’s case, for the most part, is darkness.

“Walking to the taffrail, I was in time to make out, on the very edge of a darkness thrown by a towering black mass like the very gateway of Erebus, yes, I was in time to catch an evanescent glimpse of my white hat left behind to mark the spot where the secret sharer of my cabin and of my thoughts.”

In the following sections, the means by which Conrad created the atmosphere in Heart of Darkness will be evaluated through his use of the setting, language, and character description.

The first element used by Conrad to contribute to a disturbing and wicked feeling in the atmosphere is the setting. Through detailed descriptions of the land and environment that Marlow recounts during his time in the Congo, the reader can picture and emerge themselves in what the author has experienced or intended the reader to experience. While reading Heart of Darkness, one can clearly notice how the overwhelming growth of nature, urban lifestyle, and the low sea level where the novel takes place influences the dark atmosphere. According to Thomas Foster, when a setting is described as being low, it has the following connotations:

“swamps, crowds, fog, darkness, heat, unpleasantness, people, life, death.”

“…the very end of the world, a sea the color of lead, a sky the color of smoke, a kind of ship about as rigid as a concertina — and going up this river with stores, or orders, or what you like. Sandbanks, marshes, forests, savages — precious little to eat fit for a civilized man, nothing but Thames water to drink. No Falernian wine here, no going ashore. Here and there, a military camp lost in a wilderness, like a needle in a bundle of hay — cold, fog, tempests, disease, exile, and death — death skulking in the air, in the water, in the bush. They must have been dying like flies here.”

Here, the narrator gives the reader an image of what he experienced or expected during Marlow’s process to enter the Congo, which is later referred to as the “Heart of Darkness.” This sensorial image is told by the narrator as if it would go down in history as one of the most disastrous periods like the Roman’s exploits did. By describing the hardships and uncomfortable situations the protagonist will be put into before they begin, Conrad creates the atmosphere for the plot to develop. With Marlow recounting the setting as if he were about to enter an apocalyptic dimension where everything around him is either dying or hostile, it makes the reader empathize with the protagonist.

The use of wilderness, heat, and harsh nature also help to induce the reader into relating to the sensations described in the novel since these are images that for the most part, are relatable to humans, whether it be by personal experience or imagination. Wilderness, heat, and harsh nature can also be related to the decomposition process, which is evident in the novel through the decomposing human bodies that are repeatedly mentioned.

“Going up that river was like traveling back to the earliest beginnings of the world when vegetation rioted on the earth, and the big trees were kings. An empty stream, a great silence, an impenetrable forest. The air was warm, thick, heavy, sluggish. There was no joy in the brilliance of sunshine. The long stretches of the waterway ran on, deserted, into the gloom of overshadowed distances. On silvery sandbanks, hippos and alligators sunned themselves side by side.”

Conrad’s use of urban settings, personification of nature, and description of human’s immoral instincts promote the idea that he is a naturalist like Jack London in his book “To Build a Fire” when he uses temperature to characterize his character’s fragile and uptight personality. Conrad uses humidity to demonstrate once again the gloomy and miserable atmosphere in his settings despite the sunshine that surrounds his characters. The effect this has on the reader is that it creates a sense that the novel is realistic because with all the death, torment, and cruelty that is seen in the novel, at this point, not even sunshine can fix the rest of the overwhelming abundance of nature and darkness that never seems far.

Contrasts in Nature: From Static Wilderness to Human Havoc

The setting in this novel, like the seasons in The Great Gatsby, describes the flow of the story. The novel in this scene, like the primordial trees and the animals, is static. Nothing dramatic is happening; there is no death, and all they are doing is waiting. Nature contributes greatly to setting the atmosphere. However, the rare appearance of buildings also plays a role when it comes to constructing the atmosphere.

“A long decaying building on the summit was half buried in the high grass; the large holes in the peaked roof gaped black from afar; the jungle and the woods made a background. There was no enclosure or fence of any kind, but there had been one apparently, for near the house, half-a-dozen slim posts remained in a row, roughly trimmed, and with their upper ends ornamented with round carved balls.”

Even though there are some descriptions of the buildings and rooms, for the most part, they have a superficial description. They serve to characterize a secondary character, or there is a specific intention the author finds to be meaningful. Despite their sporadic appearance in the text, they are important for contrast and to emphasize the human nature that contributes to the mood. In the last example, the description of the Central Station shows the grotesqueness and savagery that people turn to when they are put in situations of uncontrolled power.

Atmosphere through Setting & Syntax: Conrad’s Crafted Unease

I make this claim because the office, which is being described as Kurtz’s, and the heads that are situated around the building evoke a sensation of fear, which is a main trait in the personality he shows off. Another example of a room was the doctor’s office where Marlow went to get his check-up, which, like him, was cold and gave an uneasy feeling. Hence, the setting in The Heart of Darkness provokes the reader to relate to and imagine the awful darkness of the surroundings described in the novel through the altitude, temperature, description, and personification of nature.

The following element used by Conrad to create a sensation of darkness (dark mystery) in the reader is his use of language, which entitles his preference in wording to the grammatical structure he applies. According to Rogers, everything contributes to the atmosphere, whether it be a description involving our senses or “a song, word, phrase, or memory that evokes the atmosphere you want to create.” At times, how a phrase is presented can be more impactful than a description. We can see this in the following extract:

“Odd thing that I, who used to clear out for any part of the world at twenty-four hours’ notice, with less thought than most men give to the crossing of a street, had a moment — I won’t say of hesitation, but of startled pause, before this commonplace affair. I felt as though, instead of going to the center of a continent, I was about to set off for the center of the earth.”

Here, one can clearly see how Conrad’s disjointed and clumsy use of punctuation and sentence structure creates a notion of hesitation and confusion as he enters deep into the Congo’s jungle. Making this sentence complicated to read prompts the reader to relate to the confusion Marlow felt towards this expedition.

Conrad’s Mastery: Evoking Darkness Through Words & Rhetoric

Conrad induces the reader to perceive Marlow’s doubtfulness as he feels skeptical despite having been in this situation many times before. It serves as a glimpse of the savagery that will later be encountered. The use of the phrase “center of the earth” also helps promote the dark and unsettling feeling of the unknown. What’s more, it serves to warn the reader that, like the center of the earth, the closer you get to it, the hotter it becomes, like the Inferno, which Marlow references later on in the novel while he is driving the steamboat to get to Kurtz. The author promotes the feeling of darkness through his terminology:

“The thing was to know what he belonged to, how many powers of darkness claimed him for their own. That was the reflection that made you creepy all over. It was impossible — it was not good for one either — trying to imagine. He had taken a high seat amongst the devils of the land.”

In this quote, once again, the atmosphere of darkness is palpable. This is attributed to the fact that words like darkness, creepy, and devil appear in this single phrase. Throughout the novel, words that have evil and bad connotations, like death, black, dark, and devil, are constantly used. This use of these terms, as well as the rhetoric that Conrad employs, increases the feeling of evil and darkness by making them stand out.

“Marlow ceased and sat apart, indistinct and silent, in the pose of a meditating Buddha. Nobody moved for a time. “We have lost the first of the ebb,” said the Director suddenly. I raised my head. The offing was barred by a black bank of clouds, and the tranquil waterway leading to the uttermost ends of the earth flowed somber under an overcast sky — seemed to lead into the Heart of an immense darkness.”

There are many misconceptions about rhetoric, which make it seem like a bad thing; however, when it is used correctly, it helps transmit your ideas in a more efficient way and appeals to the reader’s emotions. Conrad, like many successful writers, uses a lot of rhetorical devices. Just in the last example, one can observe an epithet, a personification, an allusion, a hyperbole, and an anastrophe. Other rhetorical elements found are: Even though these devices create beauty in a text, it does not mean they can not evoke fear, desperation, or madness. What is more, due to their corresponding purposes, they can emphasize, augment, and manipulate the emotions the writer is trying to express. In the example above, one can tell the purpose Conrad had in mind was to create an atmosphere of pensiveness as the characters looked for a solution in the now-clam water. Conrad’s use of specific terms, grammatical structure, and rhetoric all played a great role in creating an unsettling atmosphere.

Characterization: Amplifying Darkness & Exploitation

The third element that will be analyzed is the role of characterization in order to construct an atmosphere of exploitation and cruelty. In many literary pieces, the atmosphere is the device used to influence another element. In Heart of Darkness, the contrary happens. The characters emphasize the dark atmosphere in the novel, whether it be through their actions or how they are described.

“I let him run on this papier-mache Mephistopheles, and it seemed to me that if I tried, I could poke my forefinger through him and would find nothing inside but a little loose dirt, maybe.”

Using the reference of “papier-mache Mephistopheles,” which translates as a fake servant of the devil in English, to describe the “right hand” of the Director and lazy brickmaker demonstrates the fake humanity and purpose that Marlow noticed in him after getting to know him better. The comparison to the devil has been made before but not to a specific person, but the deception that Marlow falls into when he first meets the brickmaker gives the sense that, like the devil, he is deceiving, greedy, and lazy.

Marlow, as one of the narrators, has certain preferences towards people, which can be inferred, judging by the last description he made. Even though Marlow doesn’t seem to like most of the white groups because “For Europeans, Africa remained this supplier of valuable raw materials bodies,” he isn’t too excited about having relationships with the blacks either. Marlow isn’t barbaric towards the black people like the rest of the whites and even goes as far as giving food to one of them, but he doesn’t see them as people.

Dehumanization & Prejudice: Unveiling the Dark Psyche

“He was an improved specimen; he could fire up a vertical boiler. He was there below me, and, upon my word, to look at him was as edifying as seeing a dog in a parody of breeches and a feather hat walking on his hind legs. A few months of training had been done for that really fine chap. He was useful because he had been instructed, and what he knew was this — that should the water in that transparent thing disappear, the evil spirit inside the boiler would get angry through the greatness of his thirst and take a terrible vengeance.”

The narrator introduces the scene by denying the humanity of recognizing that black man, and immediately after, he diminishes him to a trained animal. The wickedness of this event is only heightened by mentioning “the evil spirit,” which most likely is an invention of a white person to provoke fear or is the white person itself in the mind of the black person. Like the “improved specimen,” the sensation of darkness that comes from this event creates a disturbing mood. In the novel, women and blacks are portrayed as tertiary characters and are static, flat characters that are, if described, as superficial. They don’t go into much detail about them, not even physically, unless they serve as a transition to talking about another character or theory. Only once more in the plot, a black person was praised. He wasn’t given a name, but because of the composure he and his tribe had in comparison to the white man that was freaking out, Marlow questioned the savagery that was said these men had.

Structure & Evolution: From Setting to Character

The black people were called rebels, enemies, and savages, yet they weren’t the ones stealing, torturing, or killing. Consequently, the characters’ relationships, descriptions, and treatment have all led to the creation of a hostile atmosphere. The first chapter states the background necessary to understand the rest of the essay and introduces the reasons that validate the claim and answer the question.

The second chapter explains how the setting in The Heart of Darkness provokes the reader to relate and imagine the awful darkness of the surroundings described in the novel through the altitude, temperature, and description and personification of nature.

The third chapter evaluates how Conrad’s use of specific terms, grammar structure, and rhetoric all played a great role in setting an unsettling atmosphere. The fourth chapter talks about how the characters’ relationships, descriptions, and treatment have all led to the creation of a hostile atmosphere. Therefore, wicked settings, cruel characters, and rough language contribute to darkness.

References

1. Conrad, Joseph. Heart of Darkness. Penguin Classics, 1995.
2. Knowles, J. & Heinemann, L. Editing Conrad: A Textual Examination. Academic Press, 1997.
3. Norton Critical Editions. Heart of Darkness: A Critical Examination. 5th ed., W.W. Norton & Co., 1996.
4. Conrad, Joseph. The Secret Sharer. Dover Publications, 1992.
5. London, Jack. “To Build a Fire.” The World of Jack London, Century Co., 1910.
6. Dickens, Charles. Great Expectations. Chapman & Hall, 1861.
7. Rogers, Amy. Literary Atmosphere: A Study of Language and Setting. Beacon Press, 2001.
8. Norton Critical Editions. Conrad’s Language: Understanding the Prose. W.W. Norton & Co., 1998.
9. Leonard, Garry. The Book of Literary Terms: An Examination of Atmosphere. University Press, 2000.