The three stations in Conrad's novella, The Heart of Darkness, serve as steps in a descent. When Marlow's journey down the Congo is examined, it can be viewed as if it were a descent into the pool that is Africa. The stations themselves are attempts at oases within the harsh jungle, but, through exposure, have become corrupted by the darkness of the land. With each station, Marlow comes closer and closer to his final goal, the inner station where Kurtz waits for him. This final station represents a total and complete immersion into the "darkness," and could thus be thought of as "the heart." At each station Marlow is exposed to more and more of the savagery and chaos that is the essence of the darkness. The steps, or evolution, to this darkness can be seen through the characters and experiences that Marlow encounters at the stations.
             At the Outer Station, the first stepping-stone into the pool, Marlow encounters the Chief Accountant. The duality of this character becomes apparent to Marlow after he meets the Accountant's assistant. The Accountant's personal dress is what one would expect from a person in England, "I met a white man, in such an unexpected elegance of get-up that in the first moment I took him for a sort of vision," and, "He was amazing, and had a penholder behind his ear" (20). All the bookkeeping is done at the Outer Station, and the station itself is kept in such civil order that Marlow is amazed. But through the character of the attendant, it can be construed that the Accountant is not nearly as "elegant" as Marlow believes him to be. When Marlow asks the Accountant how he keeps his clothes so nice in the jungle, the novel states, "[The Accountant] had just the faintest blush, and said modestly, 'I've been teaching one of the native women about the station. It was difficult. She had
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