Joseph Conrad took command of a steamship in the Belgian Congo in 1890 and from hs experiences came the outline for Heart of Darkness. This work provides a bridge between Victorian values and ideals of Modernism. The novel relies on traditional ideas of heroism, which are under constant attack in places far from England. Conrad uses imagery and objective observation of Marlow, the protagonist and narrator of the novel o establish a criticism of civilized society. Although it does not seem obvious at firstm corroborative descriptions of civilizations create a distasteful and critical depiction of it. Both Marlow and Kurtz confront a conflict between their images of themselvesas civilized Europeans and the temptation to bandon morality once they leave European society.
             Conrad uses plenty of symbols in this work. symbols are objects, chracters, figures, or colors used to represent abstract ideas or concepts. One of the symbols in this novel is teh Congo, whch is the key to Africa for Europeans. It allows them to acces to the center of xontinent and still to remain separate or outside. The river also seems to want to expel Europeans from Africa because its flow makes travel upriver sloww and difficult, but travel downriver, back toward civilization is quick and seemingly inevitable. Marlow's journey on the river can be said to represent a ourney into one's own spirit. As Marlow is traveling up the river in his search for Kurtz, he begins to learn more and more about about himself. He realizes that he probably has more in common with the natives than the smug Europeans who came to civilize them. At the end of his journey, Marlow learns that everyone has a dark side but some people can hide it better than others. Antoher symbol is Kurtz's painting which Marlow sees hanginh in the brickmaker's room. It is a blindfolded woman carrying a lighted torch, which distors her face. This woman looks like the personofication of justice. The torch ...