England's dark heart exposed in Heart of Darkness Joseph Conrad's novel, "Heart of Darkness", describes events from his personal life and how he came to believe that Europe The invasion of the African Congo had to end. Joseph Conrad had a childlike fascination with the maps and blank spaces of the African continent. Therefore, when he was given the opportunity to become the captain of a small steamship on the Congo River, he jumped at the chance. In addition to Conrad's sense of adventure, he also had a curiosity about King Leopold's actions in the Belgian Congo and had a strong desire to witness the action unfolding firsthand. After learning that his assigned ship was under repair, he accompanied another crew on the assigned passenger ship to bring back an ailing company agent, George Klein, who later died on the return voyage. These events formed the backdrop, so to speak, to Conrad's novel, Heart of Darkness. The character of "Kurtz" was modeled on the company's agent, George Klein. Although Conrad never names the Congo or other significant landmarks, he later admits that the book is a "snapshot" of his trip to the African Congo. (Longman p2189). Heart of Darkness is written in the narrative framework and Conrad uses the character of Marlow to tell his story about the “darkness” of European colonization. Marlow tells his tale aboard a yawl to an anonymous Congo crew, resulting in the deaths of millions of native Africans due to inhumane practices. He felt he could make an impact on readers by describing these horrors in his novel the natural intelligence of man…middle of paper…memory of the time when the English were actually helping these natives by civilizing them to British standards. In conclusion, Joseph Conrad uses the theme of "heart of darkness" throughout his novel to portray the darkness of humanity. He describes how man has a natural aspiration for superiority and control. Conrad deliberately leaves places unnamed in an attempt to demonstrate that the "heart of this darkness" can shift on its axis (Longman p2189) As Marlow indicates, the journey up the river was also a reverse journey, a journey back from Africa to the darkness. which lies at the heart of an England which claims to civilise those it is merely conquering. (Longman p2189)Works CitedDamrosch, David, et al., ed. The Longman Anthology of British Literature: B. Compact Ed York: Longman - Addison Wesley Longman, 2000.