Heart of Darkness Pages 31-42

In pages 31-42, Marlow starts off on his journey into the darkness. On his boat, there is a group of cannibal men, who are black, and the manager. Marlow thought the cannibals were fine men and that they were good to work with. He was surprised they did not try to eat him or his crew since there were thirty of the cannibals to five of Marlow’s men. All they did was ask for food. To respond to this, the leaders would give them brass wire that they could use to “trade” with tribes when the landed ashore. However, this was futile because there weren’t many villages, they didn’t stop very often, or the villages were hostile. They could not use the brass to obtain food so they went six months without eating.

In this section, the author uses the black and white theme. It talks about how the uncle was “the lone white man turning his back suddenly on headquarters…setting his face towards the depths of the wilderness” (32). However later in the section, Marlow says he sees the uncle was a “black display of confidence” (33) because he thinks he is evil animal with darkness in his heart. The uncle is going into the forest without a good reason.

Also in this section, the author uses the theme of work. He says how work keeps Marlow from thinking about the darkness. It keeps him from going crazy and realizing the reality of where they are going. It kept him from thinking about “the stillness of an implacable force brooding over an inscrutable intention” (34).