Britain’s Queen Victoria was even portrayed as the colonies' ' great white mother.' And writing in The New Review in 1897, adventurer Charles de Thierry (who tried and failed to establish his own colony in New Zealand) echoed the imperialistic exuberance of many with his declaration: “Since the wise men saw the star in the East, Christianity has found no nobler expression.” 7. The 'Scramble for Africa' had seen European powers stake their claims on the majority of the continent.

Imperialism-now viewed as misguided, oppressive, and ruthless-was much in vogue when Conrad’s novella hit shelves. COLONIZING WAS ALL THE RAGE WHEN HEART OF DARKNESS APPEARED. Among those suggested as the real Kurtz include a French agent who died on board Conrad’s steamship, a Belgian colonial officer, and Welsh explorer Henry Morton Stanley. The identity of the person on whom Conrad based the story’s antagonist has aroused many a conjecture. THERE HAVE BEEN MANY ALLEGED KURTZES IN REAL LIFE. Though he survived, Conrad suffered from poor health for many years afterward. Conrad came down with dysentery and malaria in Belgian Congo, and afterwards had to recuperate in the German Hospital, London, before heading to Geneva, Switzerland, to undergo hydrotherapy. And these two characters almost never existed, owing to their creator’s health troubles. Illness claimed Kurtz, an ivory trader who has gone mysteriously insane. LIKE KURTZ AND MARLOW, CONRAD GOT SICK ON HIS VOYAGE. As a career seaman, Conrad explored not only the African continent but also ventured to places ranging from Australia to India to South America. In 1890, 32-year-old Conrad sailed the Congo River while serving as second-in-command on a Belgian trading company steamboat. The well-traveled Marlow-who appears in other Conrad works, such as Lord Jim-is based on his equally well-traveled creator. At the story’s conclusion, the “tranquil waterway” that “seemed to lead into the heart of an immense darkness” is none other than the River Thames. Though it recounts Marlow's voyage through Belgian Congo in search of Kurtz and is forever linked to the African continent, Conrad’s novella begins and ends in England. HEART OF DARKNESS BEGINS AND ENDS IN THE UK.

He didn’t even know any English-the language of his literary composition- until age 21. Born Józef Teodor Konrad Korzeniowski in 1857, Conrad was a native Polish speaker. This achievement seems all the more impressive when considering that he wrote it in English, his third language. It’s impressive enough that Conrad wrote a book that has stayed relevant for more than a century. Joseph Conrad’s 1899 novella about venturing into the moral depths of colonial Africa is among the most frequently analyzed literary works in college curricula.

Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad