Heart of Darkness #1

Within the opening twenty pages of Heart of Darkness, Joseph Conrad walks through the process in which Marlow decides to journey up the river for his life changing exploration. To begin, Marlow discusses his childhood dreams of delving into the unexplored territories of his empty maps. As he grew up, blank, unknown places on his maps were discovered and his dreams of exploration became more realistic. His attention is drawn to a specific river, "resembling an immense snake uncoiled, with its head in the sea, its body at rest curving afar over a vast country, and its tail lost in the depths of the land (71)." Here, Conrad creates a metaphor of the river to a snake to illustrate the dangerous and exotic nature of Marlow's trip. Typically, snakes are not the safest creatures to interact with. Some are poisonous and it is impossible to know if a snake is deadly without prior knowledge. Conrad's comparison of the river to a serpent highlights the risk that Marlow is taking in order to follow his childhood dreams and explore the compelling waterway. His route is not well-explored but he still wishes to journey down the river. Marlow does not know the dangers that lie ahead, but he is not extremely concerned at first because "the snake ha[s] charmed [him] (72)." Here, Conrad uses an alternate understanding of snakes to display Marlow's adamance towards adventuring down the river.

Although Marlow appears fearless and anxious to start his journey, the explorer does not get by without revealing some concern. When getting examined by the doctor, the physician asks, "Ever any madness in your family? (76)" and Marlow is quick to grow annoyed. Conrad uses the doctor's question to focus on the risks of the journeyer's trip. The doctor is pointing out that venturing out into dangerous and mostly unknown territory can be detrimental to mental health. Marlow does not know what he will be forced to face, and his annoyance with the physician's question shows that he realizes that there are risks with his trip, he is just unwilling to accept them. The explorer goes on to say that he "ha[s] a moment, [not] of hesitation, but of startled pause (77)." Although he says he is not hesitant, a moment of "startled pause" is a euphemism for hesitation. Marlow is worried about his trip up the unexplored river, but admitting his fear to himself would make the danger overwhelming. He has wanted to journey through the waterway since childhood, and he does not want his distress getting in the way of his life-long dream.