‘Heart of Darkness’ Essay Sample

heart of darkness essay
“Heart of Darkness” is a book written by Joseph Conrad, the famous Polish-British author. The story behind this book is very interesting as it discusses themes like cruelty, madness, greed and imperialism. The book is narrated in the first person, but what is particular about it is that the first and last chapters are told by an unknown narrator. The only clue to the identity of this person is that he was traveling abroad the Marlow’s ship. The rest of the book is written from Marlow’s perspective. As the book progresses, the tone of the narrator changes to convey the author’s messages in an effective manner.


The first narrator, who was abroad Marlow’s ship was a plot device used by Conrad to describe and introduce Marlow’s character to the audience (SparkNotes). The tone in this first paragraph is calm and serene, as the action hasn’t quite started yet. His choice of words incites a calm and quiet feeling to the audience, like in this example on page 1, where the author writes: “The flood had made, the wind was nearly calm, and being bound down the river, the only thing for it was to come to and wait for the turn of the tide.”(Conrad, pg. 1)

When Marlow starts narrating, he is excited to start traveling and work for the company. But, as the book progresses, and he is faced with the injustices that slaves have to go through, the narration gets much darker and graver. Conrad’s choice of words borderlines on poetry, which is a very interesting way to describe the horrors. The book ends with the first narrator, which returns to the calmness of the beginning (Shmoop Editorial Team, Nov. 18th 2008).

All in all, this is a masterfully written book with strong messages. The author uses the tone of the narrator to convey his messages and to show the progression of the plot and characters.

Works Cited

  1. Shmoop Editorial Team. “Heart of Darkness Tone.” Shmoop, Shmoop University, 11 Nov. 2008, www.shmoop.com/heart-of-darkness/tone.html.
  2. “Heart of Darkness.” SparkNotes, SparkNotes, www.sparknotes.com/lit/heart/themes.html.
    Conrad, Joseph. Heart of Darkness. Pearson Education Ltd, 2008.

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