Heart of Darkness Setting

            Setting is always a key component in a novel. However in Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad the vast jungles of the Congo transcend the ordinary role a setting plays and become much more significant. In a way the dense jungles are more of a character than most of the ones who are present in the play. The importance of the setting raises the question: can setting truly be more important than characters? In the novel the jungle holds far more importance than any of the characters, and is what symbolizes the “Heart of Darkness”.

            Conrad does not rely heavily on characters to convey his message. We can see in the begging of the novel how we doesn’t even give name to a great number of characters including the narrator. On the other hand he spends a great deal of time describing the setting and using vivid imagery to make it come alive, a distinction none of the characters share, with the possible exception of Kurtz. Here is a quote for example: “the creek, the mud, the river-seemed to beckon with a dishonoring flourish before the sunlit face of the land a treacherous appeal to the lurking death, to the hidden evil, to the profound darkness of its heart.”(102). Aside from the imagery proposed by Conrad the Jungle holds a lot literary value. It is debatable whether the “Heart of Darkness” is actually the Jungle or if it is the colonial mentality shared by the colonizers. This could mean the heart of darkness is interchangeable and the Thames could be the real heart of darkness as it is the way in which the colonizers are connected towards the rest of the world.

            Joseph Conrad has done a unique thing in this novel. He created a setting which outshines all other elements in the novel as far as importance. The unique nature of the jungle resembles its darkness and encourages us readers to find where the “Heart of Darkness” resides in our lives.