In joseph conrads heart of darkness, marlow spends more time on the steamboat than anywhere else. Read the full text of chapter 1 of heart of darkness on shmoop. With him are the director of companies their captain, a lawyer, an accountant, and. Get the entire heart of darkness litchart as a printable pdf. Marlow discovers the various forms of darkness in congo and this throws light on himself. What saves us is efficiencythe devotion to efficiency. In this lesson, youll learn about the significance of the steamboat in the novel. At night sometimes the roll of drums behind the curtain of trees would run up the river and remain sustained faintly, as if hovering in the air high over our heads, till the first break of day. The director, a lawyer, an accountant, the narrator, and marlow.
The old river in its broad reach rested unruffled at the decline of day, after ages of good service done to the race that peopled its banks, spread out in the tranquil dignity of a waterway leading to. This is the beginning of a lengthy passage of marlow speaking. Heart of darkness mind, he began again, lifting one arm from the elbow, the palm of the hand outwards, so that, with his legs folded before him, he had the pose of a buddha preaching in european clothes and without a lotusflowermind, none of us would feel exactly like this. Waiting for the tide to turn, the men listen to marlows story. Forthwith a change came over the waters, and the serenity became less brilliant but more profound. Remember that whats on the page is the unnamed narrators account of what marlow says, as indicated by the quotation marks. Beyond the fence the forest stood up spectrally in the moonlight, and through that dim stir, through the faint sounds of that lamentable courtyard, the silence of the land went home to ones very heart its mystery, its greatness, the amazing reality of its concealed life. As you read, youll be linked to summaries and detailed analysis of quotes and themes. Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools. Whether it meant war, peace, or prayer we could not tell. Breaking down of the conscious world, chapter iv the shadow, and chapter v.
My students cant get enough of your charts and their results have gone through the roof. The dawns were heralded by the descent of a chill stillness. Marlows narrative is framed by another narrative, in which one of the listeners to marlows story explains the circumstances in which marlow tells it. Explore studypools library of literature materials, including. Marlows story of a voyage up the congo river that he took as a young man is the main narrative of heart of darkness. Heart of darkness begins on board the nellie, a small ship moored on the thames river in london. Both have a concentrated darkness, with multiple levels leading to this core. Heart of darkness parallels the structure of dantes inferno. You may copy it, give it away or reuse it under the terms of the project gutenberg license included with this ebook or online at. We penetrated deeper and deeper into the heart of darkness. After describing the river and its slowmoving traffic, the unnamed narrator offers short descriptions of londons history to his companions who, with him, lazily lounge on the deck, waiting for the tide to turn.