2. Parallels & Foreshadowing. The unnamed first-person narrator prepares the way for Marlow's initial meditation "evok[ing] the great spirit of the past upon the lower reaches of the Thames" river (1368). Marlow begins his story suddenly: "'And this [England] also . . . has been one of the dark places of the earth'" (1368), "'when the Romans first came here nineteen hundred years ago--the other day . . .'" (1369). In describing the Roman conquest of England (1369-1370), Marlow suggests parallels to the main story of Heart of Darkness: what seems to be foreshadowed? How does Marlow define "conquerors" and what kind of "idea" might redeem such conquest (1370)?  [See also Marlow's attitude toward women below.]  Revisit the opening section of Part 1 after you have finished reading Heart of Darkness.

FORESHADOWING: "The technique of introducing into a narrative material that prepares the reader or audience for future events, actions, or revelations.  Foreshadowing often involves the creation of a mood or atmosphere that suggests an eventual outcome; the introduction of objects, facts, events, or characters that hint at or otherwise prefigure a developing situation or conflict; or the exposition of significant character traits allowing the reader or audience to anticipate the character's actions or fate.  Occasionally the theme or conclusion of a work is foreshadowed by its title. . . . Although there are many methods of foreshadowing and many reasons to use this technique, its effect is to unify the plot by making its development and structure seem logical and perhaps even inevitable" (Murfin and Ray 173).  

3. Marlow's Story-telling.  The unnamed Nellie narrator describes Marlow at various moments in the novel. What is Marlow like? How do the others regard him? How does the unnamed narrator characterize Marlow's tales (1369)? Marlow suggests that his audience must "'understand the effect'" on him to construct the meaning of this story--what the unnamed narrator calls another of "Marlow's inconclusive experiences" (1370). Later Marlow says, "It seems to me I am trying to tell you a dream,'" perhaps an "'impossible task'" (1385).
What, then, is the nature of such story-telling?  Where does its meaning lie?

4. Settings & Plot Events.  Try constructing a chart, timeline, or map identifying the key places, events, and stages of Marlow's journey: his initial attraction to Africa, the Company's office in the "city," the voyage from Europe to Africa, the first stop in the Congo, stages of the journey up the Congo River to Kurtz, and the return.

5. More Foreshadowing.  Consider Marlow's account of what drew him out to Africa. What is suggested by his likening the Congo River to a "snake" and himself to a foolish, charmed "bird"? Note the case of Fresleven, the river captain whom Marlow is to replace; Marlow's comparison of the city of his employers to "a whited sepulchre" (1372); the ominous atmosphere of the Company's office with the two women knitting black wool and "guarding the door of Darkness" (1373); the doctor ["alienist" = early psychologist] who measures Marlow's head because he has a scientific interest in measuring "the mental changes of individuals" who venture out to Africa in the Company's employ (1373). What type of experience, what type of journey, do these signs seem to predict?

6. Notice Marlow's attitude toward "excellent" women like his aunt [and later Kurtz's fiancée, the"Intended"].  Characterize Marlow's attitude toward women like his aunt (1374). Despite his protest that the Company is "run for profit," note that Marlow has been "represented"--like Kurtz before him--as "an exceptional and gifted creature," "Something like an emissary of light" or "lower sort of apostle," and his "excellent" aunt runs on about '''weaning those ignorant millions from their horrid ways.'" Afterwards he feels he is "an imposter." Compare that "too beautiful" world such women live in, apt to fall apart at the first encounter with reality, to the image of the blind-folded woman carrying a "lighted torch" depicted in Kurtz's painting (1383) in the room of the young aristocratic agent at Central Station.

7. Europeans in Africa. Describe Marlow's first impressions of the European presence in Africa, captured in his observations regarding the French steamer firing into the coast and regarding the Company's lower station (1376-1379). Contrast the Europeans' naming of the Africans as "enemies" to Marlow's view of the Africans.

8. Marlow’s Devils. Consider Marlow's description of the "devils" he has seen (1377). What are the different types of "devils" he describes? Why is he so appalled by the "flabby, pretending, weak-eyed devil of a rapacious and pitiless folly" that he sees in most Europeans in Africa? What does he mean?

9. Europeans in the [Belgian] Congo. Consider the Europeans that Marlow meets at the Company's stations:
(a) the Company's chief accountant (1378-79: why does Marlow respect him?),
(b) the manager (1380-81: why is such a man in command?),
(c) the "faithless pilgrims" (1382: why does Marlow call them that?),
(d) the "manager's spy" (1382: what kind of "devil" is this "papier-mache Mephistopheles" [1384]?);
(e) the "sordid buccaneers" of the Eldorado Exploring Expedition (1387). How does Marlow assess these men and their motives for coming to and remaining in Africa?

10. African Wilderness as Setting & Character: How does Marlow describe the setting: the Congo jungle--the "wilderness" (e.g., see pp. 1384, 1387)? [Consider how Conrad's representation of the physical nature differs from that of the Romantics.]

11. Marlow & Kurtz. Long before he meets Kurtz, Marlow hears from others that Kurtz is extraordinary, "remarkable." On what evidence do these claims seem to be based? By the end of Part I, Marlow develops a strong curiosity about Kurtz: why?

12. Marlow’s Attitude toward Lies. Marlow sometimes leaps ahead of his story, as when he says that he would not have fought for Kurtz, "but I went for him near enough to lie" (1384). Why does Marlow "flashforward" in this way at times in his narrative? What is Marlow's attitude toward lies (1384)?  What is the consequence of his allowing the "young fool" to overestimate Marlow's "influence in Europe" (1385)? Here we are returned to the "narrative present" of the narrative frame: how does the unnamed Nellie narrator feel at this point in Marlow's narrative (1385)?