Heart of Darkness Essay Light and dark imagery is one element most commonly used in literature, and has held specific symbolic meanings for hundreds of years. Simply stated, light generally symbolizes good, while darkness symbolizes the complete opposite, evil. More specifically, Conrad uses detailed imagery of light and dark to show that white men can in fact be more savage than the natives. While the contrast of light and dark, white and black, and good and evil is a common theme in his novel, Conrad reverses the meanings of the two. In his story often the light is viewed as more menacing and evil than the darkness, and the white characters more spiteful than the black. In Heart of Darkness, Joseph Conrad uses light and dark imagery and the reversing of their regular meanings as a main focal point throughout the novel. Conrad establishes throughout this the theme that not everything is as it seems. Conrad uses light imagery as a symbol of civilization. Darkness is defined as the absence of light just like the black jungle is defined as the absence of white man’s civilization, a civilization full of corruption and evil. Conrad’s first description of Brussels is an example of this. “In a very few hours I arrived at a city that always made me think of a white sepulcher.” It is significant that Conrad describes the building as a white coffin, because the job there is sending men out to retrieve ivory, ultimately resulting in their death. This cycle of evil begins and ends in this town. Describing the town as white is misleading, because the town holds an obvious feeling of death. Conrad makes it clear that this is a deception that the darkness of the jungle does not contain. When Marlow approaches dying slaves in the darkness of the jungle, he states: “They were not enemies, they were not criminals, they were nothing earthly now, - nothing but black shadows of disease and starvation, lying confusedly in the greenish gloom.” The natives of the darkness are considered as ‘black’ shadows, but not in an intimidating way. They are described as helpless and pitiful, black victims of white man’s evil. The white building symbolizes evil and corruption, while the darkness of the forest and its people symbolize purity and innocence. Another way in which Conrad uses his reversed theme of light and dark is with the actual characters of the story. Aside from Marlow, nearly every white man in the story is portrayed negatively. The general manager is an awkward man whose presence causes uneasiness in those around him. He, like all the other white men in the novel, is there for his own greedy purposes. The brick maker is a sneaky man who acts as a spy for the manager, and is untrustworthy and hateful. He is so worried that Marlow will be more successful than him that he grows to hate him. The pilgrims are the white workers that keep Marlow company down the river. These are the worst of the white men, and are full of greed. “They wandered here and there with their absurd long staves in their hands, like a lot of faithless pilgrims bewitched inside a rotten fence. The word `ivory' rang in the air, was whispered, was sighed. You would think they were praying to it.” Conrad establishes that the white men can very clearly be more savage than any native. These men are ungrateful and selfish, and will do anything to make money off of the ivory. Their cruelty to the natives is so horrid that Marlow’s believes the pilgrims are in fact less human than the natives. The cannibals that travel with Marlow are described as reasonable and calm. Marlow much prefers them to the pilgrims. “Fine fellows--cannibals--in their place. They were men one could work with, and I am grateful to them.” The natives have an innocence that the pilgrims do not. The white pilgrims represent corruption, the black natives represent purity.
The third aspect of light and dark is the character of Kurtz. Throughout the novel Marlow proceeds farther down the river toward the heart of the Dark Continent, and moves deeper into the mystery of Kurtz. At first there is only a reference to this so far unknown yet remarkable man. When Marlow finally meets Kurtz, the figure of the man takes on reality; Kurtz is no longer an unknown person, which people speak, but say nothing to. He is at last flesh and blood; the reality becomes more shadowy as Marlow becomes more familiarized with the mysterious man. The savagery which surrounds Kurtz has appealed to some evil instinct which he now embodies, and the "deep damnation" of his response is darker than any savagery Marlow has yet to encounter. Kurtz has moved into the darkest realm where men like Marlow, ordinary, "normal" men, cannot follow. Kurtz represents a dark shadow of Marlow’s imaginations.

In conclusion, Conrad makes a point in his story to stress the importance of appearances being deceiving. He does this simply by taking the common symbols of light and dark and completely reversing them. The white city that sends the white men after the ivory comes into conflict with the dark jungle that contains the black natives. Light and dark imagery in Joseph Conrad’s writing is a very effective and fascinating way to establish his themes. The cruelty of white man to the natives, appearances being misleading, the superiority of the mysterious Mr. Kurtz, all are clear messages of this text that are brought to reader’s attention through the rather clear involvement of this one main element. No better symbol helps Conrad ensure his theme than the battle of light and dark imagery. Conrad’s use of the two literary symbols as the basis of character development in the novel and a big foundation of what Heart of Darkness is focused upon.