Heart of Darkness

"Heart of Darkness", by Joseph Conrad, is widely regarded as a significant work of English literature and has been the most influential in shaping Western culture. The story tells of Charles Marlow, an Englishman who took a foreign assignment from a Belgian trading company as a ferry-boat captain in Africa. "Heart of Darkness" exposes the dark side of European colonization while exploring the three levels of darkness that Marlow encounters: the darkness of the Congo wilderness, the darkness of the Europeans' cruel treatment of the natives, and the unfathomable darkness within every human being for committing heinous acts of evil.