1. Stations
1.1. Central Station
1.1.1. “Grove of Death”
1.1.1.1. Outer Station
1.1.1.1.1. Job Interview
1.1.1.1.2. Aunt says Marlow is an “emissary of light”
1.1.2. Marlow’s passivity shows
1.2. Kurtz and his heads
2. Monomyth
2.1. Separation/Entrance into the Unkown
2.1.1. Initiation/Trials
2.1.1.1. The Return
2.1.1.2. Kurtz is (maybe) the boon and the crew takes him away. His last words are “the horror, the horror” and this leaves a lasting impression on Marlow, probably scarring him.
2.1.1.3. Marlow returns home and delivers the news alongside a little white lie.
2.1.2. Marlow begins a 200-mile journey down the Congo Snake. Many things slow him down, like the sinking of his ship or the native attacks.
2.2. The ladies knitting black wool serve as Threshold Guardians. Marlow leaves Brussels for Africa anyways and sees odd things like guns firing at no one and purposeless holes, showing the impact of the unknown.
3. Ideas
3.1. British Manifest Destiny
3.1.1. “The Horror”
3.1.1.1. Darkness
3.1.1.2. Truly, no one in this book is portrayed in a positive light. Marlow gives a young man a ship biscuit.
3.1.1.3. But no one is shown in a better light. The man is fed like an animal and Marlow feeds him like an animal.
3.1.1.4. “Conrad was a thoroughgoing racist” as Chinua Achebe said and that fact can not be ignored. It is a racist book, but is regarded as a good piece of literature for a reason and it is worthy of the read we gave it.
3.1.2. Kurtz’s final words are the final realization of his actions and the impact of imperialism.
3.1.3. He spoke it only softly, as if he was looking back and regretting his actions. We’ll never know.