What is the book heart of darkness about?

Question

im suppossed to read it for english before the school year starts but i just want to know what its about i dont want to know the ending because i still plan to read it.

Answer 1

its a pretty intense book- its "out there" to say the least. the movie apocalypse now is based upon it.

the basic theme is a classic tale of "going native," when a so called civilized individual ends up becoming immersed in a savage or animal culture of some sort. another important theme is the gradual descent into madness. the tale takes place progressing down a river, which is typically a symbol of a path or journey in one direction, in some cases a path down life or a path of growth, in the case of heart of darkness, a path that gets more insane as the main character gets further down the river, deeper in to the heart of darkness. this culminates in kurtz, the imperialist who has descended into savagery.

his final words are one of the book's most famous passages: "the horror! the horror!"

Answer 2

Previously the inspiration for Francis Ford Coppola's Apocalypse Now (1979), the dark novella Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad, a parable about greed-inspired colonialism, was adapted into this television movie by offbeat filmmaker Nicolas Roeg. Ambitious sailor Marlow (Tim Roth) is employed by a British trading company. His mission is a journey to a remote colony in the Belgian Congo, the source of the consortium's profitable supply of ivory, where he's to retrieve some stranded cargo. As he travels upriver visiting the trading stations which acquire the precious commodity through exploitative barter with natives, Marlow hears wild tales of Kurtz (John Malkovich), a hugely-successful company manager whose post is deep in the jungle. It seems that Kurtz is revered as a god by the locals, both worshipped and greatly feared. Reaching Kurtz's compound, however, Marlow finds that the man has become a fiend, committing blasphemous atrocities and driven mad by power and disease.