Book Analysis - Joseph Conrad's The Heart of Darkness

     Joseph Conrad’s book, “The Heart of Darkness” was first published in 1902, but since then has been adapted by many other writers. The most well-known adaption of this story was the movie “Apocalypse Now”, directed by Francis Ford Coppola in 1979.

     Conrad’s writing and descriptive ability brings the reader back to the late 1800s, in the depths of the deep African jungle. He uses his story’s environment to reflect on human nature. As the main character ventures deeper into the jungle, up a secluded river, he is witness to the animalistic behavior of man. As he departs from civilization in the physical sense, the civilized behavior of those around him also ceases to exist. This story of one culture dominating another is very adaptive to many other times and places in human history. Francis Ford Coppola grasps this in his bringing Conrad’s story out of Africa and moving it to a more modern era of the Vietnam War during the late 1960s-1970s.

     The depth of description in this book specifically is very intriguing. Joseph Conrad’s writing is very much worth the time to read slowly and enjoy. Although looked at as a biased figured because of his use of terminology and how he characterizes other races and cultures, this author’s work is still valuable. The reader must only accept that he wrote in his own time, and not in ours.