Heart of Darkness

Heart of Darkness is one of Joseph Conrad’s most famous works and one that still haunts readers to this day.

The novella served as the inspiration for Francis Ford Coppola’s film Apocalypse Now with Marlon Brando’s character Colonel Kurtz being an adaptation of Mr. Kurtz in the novella.

The novella follows Charles Marlow, a character who appeared throughout Joseph Conrad’s works. Marlow is an English sailor who first appeared in the short story “Youth” published in 1898 – a year before Heart of Darkness was published. Charles Marlow is hired by a Belgian company to travel to Africa to come into contact with Mr. Kurtz – an ivory trader.

While the particular African country isn’t explicitly mentioned in the novella, it’s believed to be the Congo Free State as this was ruled by King Leopold II – the King of the Belgians at the time. To this day, the Congo and specifically its jungles serve as an inspiration as well as a challenge for adventurers, archaeologists, zoologists, anthropologists, artists, missionaries – and perhaps a few crazy individuals who wish to fashion themselves as Mr. Kurtz.

It's often thought of as one of the most frightening novellas of all time and is an example of how well Joseph Conrad could reel the reader into a dangerous adventure. For some readers, they’ll be inspired to visit the jungles of the Congo after reading Heart of Darkness.

For others, entering through the novella is an adventure enough and the real thing would be too frightening…