Dark And Darkness In Joseph Conrad's Heart Of Darkness

Dark as an adjective is a describing word. When adding a few more letters, the word dark can be turned into darkness. According to the online dictionary, the first definition of darkness is the partial or total absence of light. The dictionaries second definition for the word dark is wickedness or evil. Throughout Heart of Darkness the word darkness has been read, shown and thought of in different ways that have impacted the readers view of the novel. The title and pages portray meanings that emphasize the word dark in the content that allows the reader to better understand the novel.

Having an absence of light most often leaves a room dark. This form of dark might also be associated with the color black. Black in color has a meaning of being mysterious and powerful. In Heart of Darkness, the word choice of dark was used several times to describe what was happening in that moment. A simple example from the book using the word dark as a color is “The edge of a colossal jungle so dark green as to be almost black, fringed with white surf, ran straight, like a ruled line, far far away along a blue sea whose glitter was blurred by a creeping mist” (Conrad 13). The text shares that the darkness was almost black, leaving the reader with a strong visual picture as it is being described.

Another example of the word dark being used in the novel, “The air was dark above Gravesend, and the farther back still seemed condensed into a mournful gloom brooding motionless over the