Heart of Darkness, a 1902 novella by Joseph Conrad, tells the story of a man named Charlie Marlow and his journey on the Congo River in Africa. Appointed captain of a river steamer by an unnamed organization, Marlow sets out optimistic about what he will find.
However, his expectations are quickly soured as he witnesses the evils of imperialism and hears of a colonial agent named Kurtz. As Marlow penetrates deeper into the jungle, it becomes clear that his journey is not only into a geographical “heart of darkness” but into his own psychic interior, and perhaps into the darkened psychic interior of Western civilization.
Heart of Darkness explores themes of colonialism, human evil, racism, and the corruptibility of the human soul.