Heart of Darkness Summary: Plot, Characters and Ending
Heart of Darkness is a novella in which the sailor Marlow tells how he once took a job steering a steamboat up the Congo River for a Belgian trading company. His goal was to reach Kurtz, a celebrated ivory agent deep in the interior, and what he found there changed him.
Marlow tells the story to friends on a boat anchored on the Thames at dusk.
| Character | Who they are |
|---|---|
| Marlow | Sailor who narrates the journey |
| Kurtz | Brilliant ivory agent who has gone beyond all limits |
| The manager | Head of the Central Station, jealous of Kurtz |
| The brickmaker | Manager's spy, who makes no bricks |
| The Russian | Young admirer of Kurtz dressed in patches |
| The Intended | Kurtz's fiancée in Brussels |
How does Marlow's journey begin?
Marlow gets the job through an aunt and visits the Company's office in Brussels, which feels like a tomb. Sailing along the African coast, he sees a French warship firing into the forest at nothing. At the Outer Station he finds chained workers and dying laborers in a grove, and an immaculately dressed accountant who first mentions the remarkable Mr. Kurtz.
↑ Back to the topWhat happens at the Central Station?
After a long march Marlow reaches the Central Station and finds his steamboat sunk. For months he waits for rivets to repair it. He learns the manager and others resent Kurtz, who sends back more ivory than everyone else and is said to be gravely ill.
↑ Back to the topWhat happens on the way to Kurtz?
The trip upriver is slow, the forest silent and watchful. Near Kurtz's station, the boat is attacked with arrows and spears, and Marlow's African helmsman is killed. Marlow scares off the attackers with the steam whistle.
↑ Back to the topWhat does Marlow find at the Inner Station?
A young Russian sailor who worships Kurtz greets them. Marlow sees human heads on stakes around Kurtz's house. Kurtz has made himself a figure of awe to the local people, raided for ivory and given in to every dark impulse. He is carried out on a stretcher, a dying, eloquent shadow. One night he crawls off toward the forest and Marlow brings him back. As the steamer leaves, a proud African woman stands on the shore with her arms raised.
↑ Back to the topHow does Heart of Darkness end?
On the trip downstream Kurtz dies, crying out about the horror of what he has seen. Marlow falls ill himself and returns to Europe. A year later he visits Kurtz's fiancée, the Intended, who still idolizes him. When she asks for his last words, Marlow cannot tell her the truth and says that Kurtz spoke her name. Back on the Thames, the river seems to lead into the same darkness.
↑ Back to the topMore about Heart of Darkness
This summary reveals the whole plot, including the ending.