HoD Post

It is already evident that Joseph Conrad had a vendetta when setting out to write this short novel. His diction and continual yield to drawn out detail indicates that this story is one of great depth and trivial symbolism. Conrad depicts a time of exploration and colonization within Africa through the use of dark imagery and symbolic diction. The character Marlow describes the African land as a place of "... utter savagery... that mysterious life of the wilderness that stirs the forest, in the jungles, in the hearts of wild men." It is clear that the new continent is a land without clear restraint; a "savage" land full of life, yet is in some way dark and sinister.
It is also clear through character interaction and background information found within the text that the European influence in Africa is somewhat controversial within the mind of each individual settler. Throughout Marlow's personal story he indicates several times that the political, economical, and moral reasons for settling colonies and exploring further into the the continent are certainly unclear in many aspects. He describes the European treatment of the natives and the violence that surrounds the issues of confronting local tribes. The haze of darkness that surrounds the line of work within the story is not discussed directly; simply indicated through diction as "it had become a place of darkness" during the course of discovery.
I found it interesting that Conrad had Marlow's character continually return to the topic of the river and its symbolic representation of a deceiving snake. The river seems to be a place of comfort and stability for the explorers. It is the light that enters the darkness. Yet, it is continually referred to as a snake, subduing the sailors into the darkness of an "inescapable enchantment." This indicates the significance of the river as the passage to which the theme revolves around.