Heart of Darkness

The manager is the one that can be blamed for all of the disorder and cruelty of the three stations; he is in charge of everything. All three men, and accountant, brickmaker and manager lost their individuality, and they are trying to hide from themselves and their own hearts of darkness. Marlow also sees the appearance of the accountant as somewhat absurd, in contrast to the dark jungle that has engulfed them. He ultimately is the villain of the novella, as at his command a young native is beaten for the fire of the trash shed. To conclude, the brickmaker shows to Marlow that the darkness is more than just a blanket of shadows, but picks at the mind, and can turn rivalry into evil.

Secondly, the manager is the epitome of hollowness of the white Company agents in Africa. This man has lost human dignity and is corrupted into a simple appearance of civilization, only a shell remains. He had been in the Congo for one year, and was only looking out for himself. He has been in the Congo for nine years, and Marlow sees that his blue eyes look distinctively cold. The brickmaker does not make bricks, as there aren’t the materials, and instead acts somewhat as the manager’s secretary. The accountant hides away in his books, while the brickmaker schemes for ways to get ahead. The Manager however keeps his sanity from slipping away, but loses all moral values. He only notices the natives suffering when their moaning is loud enough to distract him from his work. This mutely foreshadows further events, as the accountant manages to keep proper appearance and all the records in tact while in the Congo. The weaker minded accountant hides from everything in his books, while the brickmaker decidedly turned Marlow and Kurtz into his enemies for his position of assistant manager.