Heart of Darkness

Heart of Darkness is Joseph Conrad’s seminal novella in which sailor Charles Marlow journeys up the Congo River into the African interior to find Kurtz, an enigmatic ivory trader. Along the way, he witnesses the horrors of European colonialism and encounters Kurtz—once idealistic, now consumed by power and madness. Through rich symbolism and layered narration, the story exposes the brutality of imperialism and the primal darkness within the human soul.