I was, to put it nicely, disappointed.
There was no exciting, suspenseful conclusion to keep the reader on the edge of their seat. No amazing, unforeseen revelation.
The one part of the chapter, though, that truly did intrigue me and kept me reading was Marlow going to visit Kurtz's fiancee (as he never offers her given name I will refer to her as Julia for the purposes of this blogpost). Julia is described in the terms of a complete angel, being exceptionally beautiful and having an "ashy halo." While this furthers the similarities between Inferno and Heart of Darkness, the visit serves little other purpose other than, perhaps, putting a conclusion to the relationship between Marlow and Kurtz. In short, it tied up the loose ends.
Admittedly, I had been expecting something a little more dramatic. The book spent a great deal of time building up suspense for the equivalent of nothing to occur.
As it is, Marlow visits Julia, leaves Julia never to see her again, and believes this to be a satisfactory conclusion to his narrative. Then we return to the frame story where Marlow just sits there silently (his throat probably hurts from telling such a long story), the ships continues to sail, and the sailors notice that it is dark outside.
The end.
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