Heart of Darkness Chapter Summaries
Conrad organizes Heart of Darkness into three parts that track Marlow's journey deeper into the Congo and deeper into truth about imperialism. The structure is both geographical (Thames → Outer Station → Central Station → Inner Station) and moral (civilization's surface → colonial absurdity → ultimate horror).
The Three-Part Journey Structure:
- 1.Part I: Frame narrative & journey to Africa—establishing absurdity of colonial enterprise
- 2.Part II: Central Station & upriver journey—incompetence and growing danger
- 3.Part III: Inner Station & return—Kurtz, "the horror," and lying to preserve illusions
Part I: Frame Narrative and Journey to Africa
Overview:
The frame narrative opens on the Thames River where Marlow begins telling his Congo story to crew aboard the Nellie. He describes getting hired by the Company, traveling to Africa, and his first encounters with colonial absurdity at the Outer Station. The grove of death and wasted machinery reveal imperialism's brutality immediately.
Key Events:
- •Frame opens on Thames—connecting London to Congo imperialism
- •Marlow hired as steamboat captain after previous captain killed
- •Company office: ominous women knitting black wool
- •Arrival in Africa: man-of-war shelling continent absurdly
- •Outer Station: Grove of death where sick workers abandoned
- •Company Accountant mentions Kurtz's remarkable ivory collection
- •Marlow begins 200-mile trek to Central Station
Why This Part Matters:
Part I establishes the frame structure, introduces imperialism's absurdity and violence, and sets up Kurtz as mysterious figure Marlow must find. The journey from Thames to Congo shows this is British imperialism's story too—the darkness begins in Europe.
Part II: Central Station and Upriver Journey
Overview:
Marlow reaches Central Station and finds his steamboat sunk. He spends months repairing it while observing colonial incompetence and petty politics. The Manager fears Kurtz's influence. Finally departing upriver, the journey reveals nature overwhelming human constructs as they travel deeper into jungle toward Inner Station.
Key Events:
- •Central Station: Marlow finds steamboat sunk, begins repairs
- •Manager revealed as mediocre but enduring through outlasting others
- •Brickmaker makes no bricks—colonial waste and absurdity
- •Eldorado Exploring Expedition brings only destruction
- •Repairs complete after months, finally depart upriver
- •Journey through increasingly dense jungle
- •Attack with arrows—African helmsman killed
- •Growing anxiety: Will they find Kurtz alive?
Why This Part Matters:
Part II reveals colonial administration as incompetent and corrupt, driven by profit rather than civilization. The journey upriver transitions from absurdity to genuine danger. The helmsman's death highlights how African lives matter less. Anticipation of Kurtz builds.
Part III: Inner Station, Kurtz, and Return
Overview:
Reaching Inner Station, Marlow discovers Kurtz has become brutal god-figure worshipped by indigenous people, conducting unspeakable rituals with severed heads decorating his compound. Kurtz dies saying "The horror! The horror!" Marlow returns to Europe, visits the Intended, and lies about Kurtz's last words—preserving civilization's illusions.
Key Events:
- •Arrival at Inner Station: Russian trader explains Kurtz's terror
- •Discovery: Kurtz's compound decorated with severed heads on poles
- •Kurtz carried to steamboat, dying from illness
- •Kurtz's African companion appears—magnificent but voiceless
- •Escape downriver with dying Kurtz
- •Kurtz dies: "The horror! The horror!"
- •Return to Europe—Marlow visits the Intended
- •Marlow lies: Says Kurtz's last words were "your name"
- •Frame closes back on Thames where it began
Why This Part Matters:
Part III reveals colonialism's endpoint: Kurtz as European civilization stripped of restraint, becoming barbarism. His death cry names what colonialism produces. Marlow's lie shows truth cannot penetrate Europe's illusions. Circular structure: Ends where began, but knowledge has changed everything.