Heart of Darkness Quotes

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1. “There were no signs of life, but there was the ruined roof, the long mud wall peeping above the grass, with three little square window-holes, no two of the same size; all this brought within reach of my hand, as it were.” Conrad displays an image of a ruined scene that involves a ruined roof and a mud wall. This example of imagery creates an image of a deserted area that Conrad sees too, and gets his message across. 2. “These round knobs were not ornamental but symbolic; they were expressive and puzzling, striking and disturbing” (55) The round knobs were heads of the savages displayed on a pole. Kurtz did not turn them around, but kept them faced towards the front as a sign of his power. This act symbolizes his want to instill fear and intimidate those that came across it. Marlow does not seem too affected by this showing his deadness to these inhumane events. 3. “But the wilderness had found him out early, and had taken on him a terrible vengeance for the fantastic invasion. I think it had whispered to him things about himself which he did not know, things of which he had no conception till he took counsel with this great solitude—and the whisper had proved irresistibly fascinating” (56) This quote personifies the wilderness as being wise and having knowledge. This use of personification demonstrates the wilderness’ ability to reveal and inner understanding about themselves that they had not known about until being alone in the wilderness. 4. “The brown current ran swiftly out of the heart of darkness, bearing us down towards the sea with twice the speed of our upward progress” (64) The choice of diction in this sentence expresses the fast movement of time. Leaving the wilderness seems to be a faster experience than it was arriving there. Marlow feels like going towards Europe is faster because he is moving forward. 5. “They had come
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