Character Masters of Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad

This report provides a character analysis of major and minor characters in Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad, including Marlow, Kurtz, and others. It also includes a brief summary of the plot of the novel.

Running head: CHARACTER MASTERS
Character Masters
Name of the Students:
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CHARACTER MASTERS
Executive Summary
This report is aim to do the Character Masters of the book named Heart of Darkness by
Joseph Conrad. This primarily will make a synopsis of all the chief and relevant supporting
characters. This synopsis will include the analysis of the characters on the basis of their
characteristics, personalities, inspiration and activities. This report also include a brief
summary of the plot of Heart of Darkness.

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Table of Contents
Summary:...................................................................................................................................3
Introduction:...............................................................................................................................3
Discussion:.................................................................................................................................3
Conclusion:................................................................................................................................6
References:.................................................................................................................................7

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Summary:
Heart of Darkness written by the celebrated novelist Joseph Conrad was first published in
Blackwood’s Magazine as a three part sequential story in 1899 and later published as a book
in 1902 (Joseph, 2017). The aim of this novel is to state the difference between the alleged
elegant civilized humans and the people who used to get described as savages in order to rise
the valid questions regarding the colonization and racism. The voyage of Charles Marlow, the
narrator of this novel who also appears to be the protagonist, leads the plot of this novel to the
climax and to the ultimate realization.
Introduction:
Heart of Darkness presents the story of Marlow’s voyage as a significant ivory
transporter to Congo. He developed a curiosity in inspecting an ivory agent named Kurtz in
an ivory manager while working in Congo. Marlow was extremely surprised to find what the
European dealers have done to the communities. English novelist Joseph Conrad penned
down Heart of Darkness in the year 1898 which can be marked as the eight year after
returning from Africa (Levin, 2017).
Discussion:
Character Analysis of Marlow- This is significant that Marlow plays the role of the
protagonist in Heart of Darkness (Alaei et al., 2016). It is to be found that he is an ethical and
rational minded free thinker as his character is being analyzed. He has a significant skeptical
attitude to all the consequences of his surroundings. Marlow draws the attention of the
listeners immediately with his quality of a good and convincing narrator. His stories most of
the time highlight the prejudice of his fellow Europeans.

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Character Analysis of Kurtz – Kurtz becomes the center of Marlow’s quest by playing role
of the antagonist in this book (Mafe, 2015). His talents of being a great musician and fine
artist lead him to create a powerful impact upon the people of his surroundings. Kurtz is also
blessed with the capability of understanding words and writing marked with fluency. His
activities including disregarding the duplicitous rules of Government lead his downfall.
The list of minor characters include General Manager, Brick maker, Chief accountant,
Pilgrims, Cannibals, Russian trader, Kurtz’s African Mistress, Kurtz’s fiancée, Aunt,
Marlow’s friend and Fresleven.
Character Analysis of General Manager- The general manager with an average appearance
dedicated in running the central station possesses an extraordinary quality of overpowering
people (Hunter et al., 2014).
Character Analysis of Brickmaker- Brickmaker dedicated working as a business spy is able
to manage the image of a favourite official. He waits for significant elements that have not
delivered and does not produce bricks for obvious reasons.
Character Analysis of Chief account- Chief account manages to be a competent employee
with a practice of dressing up in a significant tidy manner. He even keeps a domestic help for
arranging his wardrobe. Pilgrims act as the desirous agents in Central Station. They tortured
the natives in an inhuman manner instead of taking proper steps for trading ivory and earning
in order to generate good revenue.
Character Analysis of Cannibals - Cannibals are dedicated natives who have been hired to
work as crews of the steamer. They earn respect of the narrator with their well acceptance of
difficulties, intelligence and struggling accordingly.

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Character Analysis of Russian Trader- Russian trader is a charming young man who
works under Kurtz’ influence. He has visited in an African interior as the representative of a
renowned Dutch company.
Character Analysis of Helmsman- Helmsman, was a responsible pilot of the steamer who
gets killed in the attack on the steamer by the natives.
Character Analysis of Kurtz’s African Mistress- Kurtz’s mistress is known as a beautiful
bold woman who loves to wear jewelries. Both Kurtz and the community people are
significantly influenced by her grace.
Character Analysis of Kurtz’s fiancée- Marlow met fiancée of Kurtz after the death of
Kurtz. Her character is being revealed by Marlow as a woman who lives in her own
dreamland far away from the reality.
Character Analysis of Aunt- Marlow starts believing that women are not conscious about
their surroundings after analyzing the character of Kurtz’s fiancée and Marlow’s aunt. He
stated that women live in the world of illusion and assumption. His aunt helps him to get his
position. She has complete faith in colonialism. She thinks colonialism is a charitable activity
that helps the religion and communities to get out of the grief (Morrison, 2016).
Character Analysis of Marlow’s friends- Marlow’s friends are seen to accompany
Marlow in his a voyage on Thames in the opening lines of this novel. They are playing the
major role of the audiences in this novel. They are the middle aged regular sailors belong to
the middle class families. They are boost with good moral. However, they appear as ignorant
about the places apart from England.
Character Analysis of Fresleven- Fresleven was an ancestor of Marlow. He worked as a
captain of the ship. He is known for his good, nonviolent and kind person. However, he got
killed in a fight over few hens (Wesley, 2015).

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Conclusion:
It can be concluded that Marlow and Kurtz play the major characters of this novel. It
is clearly being evident that the character analysis is slightly influenced by the narrator’s
point of view. However, the analysis is also based on the other researches in terms of history
and literature of that particular time. This done by evaluating these major and minor
characters on the basis of their appearances, personal traits, motives behind activities and
activities.

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References:
Alaei, M., & Ahangari, S. (2016). A Study of Ideational Metafunction in Joseph Conrad's"
Heart of Darkness": A Critical Discourse Analysis. English Language Teaching, 9(4),
203-213.
Hunter, S., & Smith, S. (2014). A Network Text Analysis of Conrad’s Heart of
Darkness. English Linguistics Research, 3(2), 39.
Joseph, C. (2017). Heart of Darkness. Strelbytskyy Multimedia.
Levin, Y. (2017). Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad. Journal of Colonialism and Colonial
History, 18(2).
Mafe, D. A. (2015). It's the Master! (Step in Time): Hearts of Darkness and Postcolonial
Paradoxes in Doctor Who. The Journal of Popular Culture, 48(3), 443-463.
Morrison, H. (2016). 'I am sorry it is not more, but it is all I could earn': Presbyterian
Children, Christmas and Charity in Colonial New Zealand, c. 1909-1945. Papers:
Explorations into Children's Literature, 24(2), 33.
Wesley, C. (2015). Inscriptions of resistance in Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness. Journal
of Modern Literature, 38(3), 20-37.