Covintree is currently pursuing a master of fine arts degree at Emerson College. In this essay, Covintree explores the way Høeg illustrates colonialism in his short story.

Almost one hundred years after Joseph Conrad wrote his acclaimed novella Heart of Darkness, Danish author Peter Høeg has written "Journey into a Dark Heart." Like Conrad's, Høeg's story is set deep in the jungle of central Africa. Høeg follows many of Conrad's conventions, though this time, instead of a journey by boat, it is a journey by train. Høeg sets his story on March 19, 1929, five years after Conrad's death. Still, Høeg chooses to include a character on his journey that is a resurrected Conrad with the name Joseph K. (for Korzeniowski which was Conrad's real last name). He is one of three men in the train who...