Introduction
Heart of Darkness is a novella that features the primitive darkness of the African tribes during the 1890s under the Shadow of darkness in England in "yesterday". The novella carries a number of symbols to highlight the themes of imperialism and greediness. Before tracing out symbols in Heart of Darkness, we have to discover first that what is a symbol exactly. A symbol is a literary device that uses common things to denote to someone or something. Like rose is a symbol of love. Here are different symbols are hidden in this novella to be traced.
Women
The women of significance in the novella are Kurtz' intended and the African woman. Both of them have been used as the symbol of the blank canvas on which their culture and wealth is displayed.
Knitting
Two women knitting through black threads in the office of the Company at Brussels have been utilized as the symbol of the upcoming darkness in the novella. The women are depicted knitting the shrouds, thus suggesting the ultimate darkness is death. While their indifference towards Marlow hints at the indifference of the colonizers with the colonized and death.
Fog
The season of fog is just a month away. When fog envelops everything on its way, it is difficult to find a way out. But unlike darkness, it gives slight information on where to navigate. Fog, in this novella, is a symbol of a mild obstruction, signalling at the movement but does not tell what exactly lies ahead. For instance, Marlow's steamer is caught in the fog and he is unable to see whether the sea is before him or something else.
River
The symbol of the river hints directly at the Congo River which connects Europe with the middle of Africa without having them to cross the sea. The river streams upwards, thus making sailing from Europe to Africa, a difficult task. Thus, trying to keep the European intruders away and to send them back to the "civilization". But its upward flow is also a symbol of Kurtz' inability to understand the gravity of his wrong-doings. Thus, keeping him in the dark until his soul surrogates itself from "the horrors" practised by its human flesh.
Darkness
Darkness not only lies in the title of this novella but also in its core protagonist (Kurtz). The character of Kurtz has been used as a symbol of the darkness of the ruthless colonizers. But it lies in the heart of Kurtz as well who is unable to realize his ill-doings in the guise of his uncontrollable passion for collecting ivory. Thus, the symbol of darkness has multiple interpretations.
Drums
The "weird, appealing, suggestive, wild" sound of the drumbeats symbolize the celebration or a signal of the arrival of something or the signal of the war. It is difficult to get the exact meaning of the drumbeats being pounded in the novella but they vaguely denote to "war, peace, or prayer"
Ivory
The dark continent of Africa had a great appeal for the extortors of ivory. In this novella, ivory has been utilized as a symbol of the greed of the Western colonizers. It is suggested that the wild passion for the collection of ivory is the primary reason behind the evil-doings of Kurtz. Therefore, the lust for ivory has been used as an indirect symbol of the motive behind imperialism.
Conclusion
Conrad has appropriately utilized the symbols of knitting, river, ivory and darkness which nicely extends the scope of the interpretation of Heart of Darkness.
