One of the most vivid and significant symbols of the novella “Heart of Darkness” by Joseph Conrad is that of the painting. Novelist Joseph Conrad fashions a masterpiece by whipping paradoxes into a frenzy, until the reader can no longer differentiate light from darkness, sanity from insanity, and truth from lies. The fateful painting is one of the only clues that guide the reader to the destination after deciphering the three pairs of oxymorons cleverly placed throughout the novella.

Conrad describes the painting as “representing a woman, draped and blindfolded, carrying a lighted torch. The background (of the painting) is sombre – almost black.” (387) Perhaps the most obvious of the three, the enigma of light and darkness is present in the contrast between the lighted torch and the dark background. The contradiction leads to some perplexity on the part of the reader. Did the light spring from the darkness? Or did the darkness emanate from the light? Scientists often ponder the famous question of which came first, the chicken or the egg. However, Conrad reveals hints that shed light upon the mystery. For example, in paragraph 21, the speaker describes one of The Company’s captains, Fresleven, when he states, “Fresleven was the gentlest, quietest creature that ever walked on two legs. No doubt he was; but he had been a couple of years already out there engaged in the noble cause.” We later discover that Fresleven was killed after he wrathfully attacked a native. Through this short connotation, we see that the captain embarked on the voyage with seemingly good intentions. Yet, after a few years, his intentions changed, which led to his ferocious manner before his death. Hence, the lighted torch, which symbolizes “the gang of virtue” (Conrad 385), eventually fades into darkness. Furthermore, we see the example of Mr. Kurtz, whom is described by the “first-class agent” (386), as “an emissary of pity, and science, and progress” who came to Africa “for the guidance of the cause intrusted to us by Europe, so to speak, higher intelligence, wide sympathies, a singleness of purpose.”(Conrad 386) At the end of the novella, while Kurtz shows every sign of sanity, he is described to have lived in “a region of subtle horrors, where pure, uncomplicated savagery was a positive relief.” (Conrad 413-414) Once again, we find that light has, over time, faded into darkness.

Furthermore, the painting represents the peculiar way in which sanity and insanity intermingle. As we notice, the woman in the painting carries a torch in the midst of a dark background, seemingly to provide light to see her path. However, we also notice that the woman is blind. Is not to be blind and carry a torch the very depiction of insanity? Nevertheless, within this sinister, unnatural action, the mood of the painting is somber and Conrad specifies that “the movement of the woman was stately.” (385) Could it be that the woman is unaware of her own insanity? This appears to be the case throughout the novella. We see proof in many of the minor characters who have a method to their madness, who find lucidity in the heat of absurdity. Conrad foreshadows the effect the journey to Africa has on the Company’s workers through the tongue of the old doctor who tells Marlow, “I always ask leave, in the interests of science, to measure the crania of those going out there (Africa).” In response to Marlow’s question on whether the doctor measures the employees’ crania when they come back, the doctor says, “Oh, I never see them and, moreover, the changes take place inside, you know.” (Conrad 376) We see a hint of the sanity wrenched from the insanity in the character of the Company’s Chief accountant, a white man of impeccable appearance, who converses with Marlow. When the bed of a sick man was placed in the accountant’s office, the accountant confided in Marlow, “The groans of this sick person distract my attention. And without that it is extremely difficult to guard against clerical errors in this climate.” (Conrad 382) Later, when Marlow asks if the sick man is dead, the accountant replies, “No, not yet. When one has got to make correct entries, one comes to hate those savages – hate them to the death.” (Conrad 382) Here, we clearly hear the accountant’s cool, indifferent tone. In fact, the role of the accountant is no greater than that of a machine, meant to blindly calculate, while kept sated with crisp, white shirts and starched collars. After three years in Africa, the accountant is devoted to his work as ever, but loses all humanity, hence the sanity within the insanity. Similarly, Conrad uses an illicit description of one of the white workers who Marlow encounters, when the latter expresses, “One of them, a stout excitable chap with black moustaches, informed me…that my steamer was at the bottom of the river…Oh, it was ‘all right.’ The ‘manager himself’ was there. All quite correct. ‘Everybody had behaved splendidly! splendidly!’” (384) Doubtlessly, though of a similar disposition than the accountant, the worker has continued to operate in order, but the man has lost the ability to function by himself.

The third and final oxymoron in the novella is that of truth and lies. We return to the final two features of the painting. We notice that the woman is veiled, giving the impression of deception. Ironically, this deception is revealed by naught but the light from the lantern held by the woman, thus the truth. Conrad wishes to point out that not every lie is devoid of truth. In fact, a twisted truth may result in a lie, while a twisted lie is, so strangely, quite often the truth. Marlow expresses his distaste for deception in the sixty-fourth paragraph where he claims, “You know I hate, detest, and can’t bear a lie, not because I am straighter than the rest of us, but simply because it appalls me.” Through careful study, we discover that one of the main reasons for Marlow’s dislike of his journey to Africa, from its ‘savage’ natives to the stocky manager who inspired uneasiness, is deception. The Company’s employers, secretary, doctor, and knitting women did not warn Marlow of the impending journey. Further on, Marlow discovers that the Company’s ‘goal’ to spread Western civilization to Africa is a fabrication. Although a truthful goal at first for most of the Company’s men, the truth was eventually mutated to describe spreading Western tyranny into Africa, bringing back ivory and fame. The intention to spread the civilization of the West into Africa is still buried, deep in the men’s hearts. Yet, the actual byproduct of this intention was highly detrimental to the African natives. Hence, we find the truth embalmed inside the lie.

In conclusion, Joseph Conrad uses “Heart of Darkness” to elicit three aspects of human nature and explain how each aspect consists of two contradictory abstract elements. As paradoxical as these elements may seem, the novella reveals how they, employed in a certain fashion, may bond so seamlessly, like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle, till we can no longer differentiate between them. Conrad cleverly fashions the painting in the fifty-ninth paragraph to vividly symbolize the three aspects which create the heart of the novella. By understanding these three aspects of human nature, the reader views life in a whole different light, of contradicting ideas.

Ayah Gouda

Works Cited:
Conrad, Joseph. Heart of Darkness. From Literature & Composition Reading Writing Thinking      by Carol Jago, et al, Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2011, pp. 369-429