Implications of the title Heart of Darkness Literature Essay (Essay Sample)

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04 November 2019
Implications of the title Heart of Darkness
The title of Joseph Conrad's most read novella Heart of Darkness has multiple meanings, all of which tie to the central theme of the novel. The novel explores darkness on two levels: physical and psychological. Physical darkness refers to the uncivilized populations inhabiting the heart of Africa, while psychological darkness refers to the primitive impulses that lie in the heart of every human being. The most significant meaning of the title includes a heart of darkness as a reference to the interior of Africa called Congo and its minimal civilization, a representation of the primitiveness that each person has in their heart of mind, and a lack of knowledge. 
The first meaning of Heart of Darkness is a reference to an interior region of a territory which not yet affected by modernization where the people hold their customs and traditions dearly and live a nomadic and primitive lifestyle (Watts 9). The novel was written in the late 1800s when European countries were scrambling to colonize Africa. Most regions in the continent, mainly the central and eastern, were yet to be explored by missionaries come colonizers. As such, Africa came to be popularly known as the Dark Continent. Although the events at the start and the end of the story happen outside Africa, the major events in the story take place within the continent. Kurtz becomes influenced by the "savages" and identifies with them in a place called Congo in the Dark Continent. Kurtz joins savages to become part of the heart of darkness.