Heart of Darkness Pages 21-31

In pages 21-31, Marlow’s boat gets damages (maybe purposely) and he has to wait even longer to meet Mr. Kurtz. While Marlow waits for his boat to be repaired, he meets with a bricklayer who knows about Mr. Kurtz. After talking with him for awhile, Marlow realizes that the bricklayer’s aspirations to be the assistant manager have been crushed because of Mr. Kurtz. In addition, Marlow also has to wait for rivets to come so he can repair his boat. However, they do not come. Instead, the Eldorado Exploring Expedition comes to the area with the intention of finding treasure.

In this section, Marlow also talks about how he does not like to work, but he likes the idea behind work. It gives humans a purpose and helps them find themselves and reality. They can figure out how to live and survive in life for themselves, not for others. However, the people where he is stationed at have no drive other than finding ivory and were “like a lot of faithless pilgrims bewitched inside a rotten fence” (23). The ivory is something that causes the men to lose their ambitions and Marlow believes it is unreal. The ivory even drives people to create the Eldorado Expedition. They were sworn into secrecy and traveled by donkey, while black people would follow. He believes they were greedy, cruel, and had no drive other than finding the ivory. They had no decency and were like reckless thieves with no morals. They were “sordid buccaneers” (30).