Heart of Darkness Chapter 2

At the Central Station, continued. What does Marlow learn by overhearing the manager and his uncle? What do they say about Kurtz and what is happening upriver? How does Marlow respond to this talk about Kurtz? What views did Kurtz hold about the nature of the colonial project? He finds out that the manager dislikes Kurtz and that Kurtz has power in the administration. Kurtz is all alone up country. The manager and his uncle say Kurtz sends lots of ivory of the best type. He also learned that made the trip to deliver the ivory but he turned back halfway and returned alone. He believed that every station should be a light towards civilization and each post a center for teaching.

What happens to the Eldorado Exploring Expedition and how does Marlow respond? All the donkeys had died. Marlow believed that the other animals had died too. He says that he really does not care because he is more interested in meeting Kurtz.

The Journey Up the River (105 -on). How does Marlow describe the river? Why does this cause him to insult his companions on the boat in the Thames and thus to create another break in the narrative? How does Marlow go on to describe the journey as "we penetrated deeper and deeper into the heart of darkness" (108)? Marlow describes the river as a trip to mystery, where the wild animals are all over and the trees cover everything. He says that as they move on, he feels more far away from what he thought was life. Marlow said they are in a journey to the unknown and he calls it darkness. He says he will find Kurtz in the darkness and in a place that seems prehistoric. He said there were no memories; it was like a land that was damned. Marlow then insults his companions again because he hears one of them laugh and he asks them if they think that he went to the shore to howl and dance like the natives.

Approaching the Inner Station (110). What does Marlow find when the boat stops for wood? What is the value of the book, according to Marlow? What does he find written in it? He finds a book inside the hut. It was called An Inquiry into Some Points of Seamanship. Marlow says that it was written decades ago but the person who wrote it had put a lot into it. He sees some writings in codes.

What happens the next morning in the fog? How does Marlow describe the cry (113)? How do the responses of the whites and the blacks differ? How does the head-man of the African crew respond? Look closely at how Marlow responds to the idea that the Africans are hungry? What attribute does he find in the Africans that he does not find in the whites? There is a cry coming from the fog. Marlow describes it as if the fog had screamed from all sides at the same time. The whites are really scared while the blacks are just talking. The head-man of the crew asks Marlow to catch him and that they will eat him. Marlow starts to think if they were having enough supplies. He sees the natives surviving on some uncooked dough while the whites have canned food.

What is the effect of having Marlow say "The approach to this Kurtz [. . .] was beset by as many dangers as though he had been an enchanted princess sleeping in a fabulous castle"? Like in the fairy tales, Marlow suggests that getting to the princess is really complicated and that there are a lot of obstacles to guard the princess as there are a lot of obstacles to guard Kurtz.

What happens as the boat approaches the inner station (120)? How do the pilgrims respond to the attack? What does the helmsman do and what is the result? The natives attack the boat. The blacks in the boat try to avoid the arrows. The helmsman steers the boat but then starts shooting. A spear then flew into his ribs and he fell down dead.

Kurtz Interlude (123-130). Why is Marlow so disappointed by the idea that Kurtz is dead? What things come to his mind as he thinks of meeting Kurtz and what followed? Pay special attention to the "girl" and the "lie" for future reference. What did Kurtz look like? What is meant by his reference to "My Intended"? What seems to be going on in Marlow's statement that "The wilderness [. . .] had [. . .] sealed his soul to its own by the inconceivable ceremonies of some devilish initiation"? What sort of picture of Kurtz do we get from this interlude on him? Why is Marlow so bothered by Kurtz? He is sad because he believes Kurtz is dead and he thinks that he went all the way down there for nothing. Marlow says Kurtz is bald and that he looks dead. His “Intended” was his beloved girl. Marlow is trying to say that the wilderness changed Kurtz and made him be different, soulless. Marlow is bothered by Kurtz because he cannot forget him because he feels he was worth the life they risked trying to save him.

What is the report and what does Marlow think of it? What is the argument of the report? How is the report modified by the handwritten statement at the end? What sort of dancing is Marlow talking about? What have we learned about Kurtz so far? Why does Marlow also think again about the dead helmsman? A society had asked Kurtz to write down the report for future plans. He first had said that the way was to civilize them then he wanted to exterminate them. Kurtz organized dancing at midnight with the natives where he was even offered human meat. Kurtz wanted to educate the brutes and to civilize them. Marlow says he was sort of a partner for months for him. He says that he had no restraints.

What does Marlow see as he looks at the inner station through his binoculars? Keep this description in mind. At the top of a hill he sees a house. This house is around a lot of high grass and a dense forest. The house had a fence but not anymore. It now has holes in the roof. A man is waiting for them.

Who is the first person Marlow meets? Why is he describes as "a harlequin"?. Is this the sort of person we (or Marlow) would expect to meet here? He sees a very funny man. He is described as a harlequin because he has blue, red and yellow patches sewed onto his clothes. It is weird to find someone like that in a place like that one because he seems to have no worries and to be happy.

He says that the natives do not want Kurtz to leave and that is why they attacked the boat. He says Kurtz opened his mind.

Heart of Darkness Chapter 1

Heart of Darkness Study Questions

1.       There was a boat rest but was soon to be sailing on called the Nellie. The steamship was located in the Thames. On the ship were several men. The Director of Companies, the Lawyer, the Accountant and Marlow. The narrator speaks of the past about knights who left on a trip but came back and made the whole nation very proud

2.       Marlow says that he was to be wandering around but is still a seaman. Marlow says that the Romans were brutes that only wanted to conquer the land and in order to do so; they would have to rob with violence and murder in a great scale.

3.       Marlow asks his aunt to get him the appointment. Captain Fresleven was the one who was in command of the ship in Africa. Captain Fresleven was killed because of a fight for two hens and that is how the spot became available. Because of this Marlow is going to try and find out what happened.

4.       Marlow is uncomfortable because of the people in the headquarters. In my opinion they all try to warn Marlow because he doesn’t understand what he is getting on. The “great man” is the man who greets him and the man who will give him the job. His aunt says that the laborer is worthy of his hire. Marlow feels he is an imposter he feels that he is going to the center of the earth instead of the continent.  

5.       Marlow said that he was belonging to a world of straightforward facts. A man of war ship anchored caught his attention. Marlow thought that men were dying of fever and that the French were in war.

6.       Marlow sees pieces of decomposing machinery all around the outer station. He also sees six black slaves working on a railroad. Marlow describes the bodies of the six black slaves and says that their joints on their limbs were like “knots in a rope”. Marlow is amazed about his sights. He says that he has seen all of these devils and that he doesn’t want to mess with them again.

7.       The chief accountant seemed to be out of place with what he had just seen. The chief accountant was well-dressed with a high starched collar, white cuffs, a light alpaca jacket, snowy trousers, a clean necktie, and varnished boots. No hat. Hair parted, brushed, oiled, under a green-lined parasol held in a big white hand. Marlow says that the chief was amazing, and that he respected him. He says that Mr. Kurtz is a class agent and a great person. He is in charge of a trading-post and he sends as much ivory as all the other put together.

8.       He sees complete misery and loneliness. Marlow also sees a man camping alone and he says he is looking after the upkeep of the road. Marlow thinks that is weird because he does not see any road or any upkeep. He says his white companion is not a bad chap, he faints on the hot hillsides, and he was rather too fat. He got a fever and had to be taken on a hammock. But because he was to fat nobody wanted to carry him so he was left behind in a bush.

11     Marlow found out that his ship sank; that the general manager took it and some rocks destroyed the bottom. Marlow thinks that it might have been purposely sunken to prevent him from reaching Kurtz but the manager tells him that he took it to relieve the inner stations. He found out Kurtz is sick.

1    The faithless pilgrims are the white agents in the central station. Marlow calls them this because they wander around all day without any aim. A grass shed was burned down and a black man was being beaten because of this. Marlow heard the conversation of two men who talked about Kurtz and about “taking advantage of the unfortunate accident”.

1    Kurtz painting is an oil painting of a woman who is blindfolded and carries a torch. Because of the light the women gets an evil look and the background is very dark. The man reveals that Kurtz is the chief of the inner station and he says Kurtz.

12.   The man with the moustache is the brick maker of the central station. He is an agent that seems to be of a high class. Other agents say that he is a spy sent by the manager. They had been there for over a year expecting something. The man despises Kurtz because he will get the power and positions he wants. He wanted to be assistant manager but Kurtz didn’t let it happen. Marlow calls him "this papier-mâché Mephistopheles" because Marlow sees him as a toy of the devil.

13.    Marlow wondered whether the stillness on the face of the immensity looking at us two were meant as an appeal or menace when he is with the wreck of his boat. Marlow kept thinking if they would end up controlling the river or if the river would end up controlling them. As he talked about the forest, he said it was full of ivory. Marlow thought what was waiting for him in the forest.

14.   He needs the rivets to repair the ship. The problem is that there are no rivets in the station, and the time it takes for them to get there is three weeks. The people in the station are more concentrated in the ivory rather than the rivets. The foreman is a man who has six children and a dead wife. He is the mechanic there. The mechanic agreed that they needed the rivets but they got really happy when Marlow said they probably had some. The rivets were not coming and instead an expedition arrives.

15.   The Eldorado Exploring expedition is a lot of white men looking for treasures that would make them rich. Marlow thinks they are selfish and full of greed and that they have no common sense. The captain of the expedition is the manager’s uncle and they talk only in private.