
Heart of Darkness & Other Stories
Synopsis
Heart of Darkness remains one of the most widely read – and debated – novels about the European colonization of Africa. Inquisitive and ambitious sailor Charles Marlow journeys to Congo in the employ of an ivory trading company. As he travels along the Congo River in his steamboat, Marlow witnesses the brutal subjugation of the region’s indigenous people. Faced with the apathy and cruelty of his fellow Europeans – chief among them the enigmatic Mr Kurtz – Marlow must confront his own complicity in the violence that has been perpetrated in the region.
The trio of Conrad’s works contained in this book – Heart of Darkness, Youth and The End of the Tether – were first published as a collection by William Blackwood in 1902. Together, they offer the reader a haunting portrait of life at sea and the complexities of human nature.