Study Questions: Joseph Conrad, The Heart of Darkness

 

·        Why does Conrad choose to tell the story the way he does (i.e. with a narrator other than himself and then through an additional intermediary, Marlow)?

·        What are the different motifs and themes that reoccur throughout the book (i.e. darkness, efficiency, etc.)? What do each of these themes mean (in the figurative sense)?

·        What is the purpose in the story of each character? Marlow? The narrator? The doctor? Kurtz? The accountant?

·        What are the positives and negatives involved with thinking about Heart of Darkness as a historical source? Is it better than history in some way? Worse?

·        What, ultimately, can we take from Conrad’s work? Is it racist as some critics have suggested? Anti-racist?