1. Chinua Achebe argued that Heart of Darkness is an “offensive and deplorable book” that “set[s] Africa up as a foil to Europe, as a place of negations at once remote and vaguely familiar, in comparison with which Europe’s own state of spiritual grace will be manifest.”
Is Achebe correct about Heart of Darkness? Does it reduce Africa and its people to the role of a foil for Europe? Or is Conrad’s point of view more complicated, using Marlow as an ironic commentator on colonialism?
2. Explain how Heart of Darkness functions allegorically, focusing on characters. If you’re not 100% what an allegory is, look it up!
3. Explain the deliberate juxtaposition of The Intended and the The Mistress. What do we learn from their implicit comparison? What lessons does Marlow learn?
4.Explain the significance of Marlow’s reliability as a narrator. How accurate is his portrayal of Africa, especially his description of the end of Kurtz’s life?
