Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad - 1902
Introduction
Joseph Conrad's short novel Heart of Darkness is widely considered one of the richest examples of the use of symbolism in modern literature. Though the story is a mere fraction of a normal novel's length, Conrad's dense, layered prose can make for a slow and potentially frustrat-ing—though ultimately rewarding—reading experience. The main story is centered on a river-boat pilot named Marlow who signs on to work for a Belgian company making inroads into the African Congo. Once he reaches Africa, Marlow's piloting job transforms into a quest to locate a mysterious company employee named Kurtz who has all but vanished into the African jungle. Marlow's journey is a nightmarish trip through a land he does not understand, where his European cohorts operate without the influence of laws or "civilized" society.
Heart of Darkness is a frame tale, a structure that was quite popular in the last half of the nineteenth century. A frame tale features a story within a story: the narrator of the frame tale meets a character who proceeds to tell a story, usually based on personal experience, to the narrator. The narrator of the frame tale is essentially an observer who interacts with the storyteller only before and after the "story within a story" is told, thus creating a "frame" around the bulk of the narrative.
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