Joseph Conrad, born Jozef Teodor Konrad Korzeniowski in Poland, played a major role in the development of the twentieth-century novel.  Many devices that Conrad applied for the first time to his novels gained wide usage in the literary period he helped to create.  Perhaps the most effective of his pioneering techniques was his application of symbolism in his novels.  In Heart of Darkness, Conrad's symbolism plays a dominant role in the advancement of themes in the novel.  These themes are revealed not through plot, but instead through the symbolic characters and elements present in the narrative.  Joseph Conrad's use of symbolism in his portrayal of the Africans, the Company, and Kurtz in Heart of Darkness illustrates the value of had work and self-restraint.

    The format of Heart of Darkness is a narrative of the ship captain Charlie Marlow's experiences in the Congo Free State, told to companions on a ship moored at the mouth of the Thames River, southeast of London.  As the vast majority of the text is the story told by Marlow, the reader is intimately acquainted with Marlow‚s opinions and judgments throughout his first-person account.  Thus the relationships between Marlow and other characters in the novel are of greater importance than the characters themselves.  The actions that Marlow takes notice of are used chiefly to serve a symbolic purpose rather than to advance the plot.  The flow of the novel itself is rough and illogical at times, as Marlow's chain of thought is not entirely chronological.  This is one stylistic technique that other authors of the twentieth century, particularly James Joyce and William Faulkner, would make greater use of in their literature (Barron's 23).

    The first of the main symbolic features Conrad makes use of are the native Africans.  In the Congo Free State, recognized as the personal property of Leopold II, Africans were treated as slaves, and made to perform physical labor for the European invaders whose supposed higher purpose of educating the Africans was a mere pretense for profiteering through the sale of ivory.  Throughout the novel Africans are mistreated by Europeans, who regarded them as wild beasts in need of education.  Marlow, however, is able to see the Africans as humans in a way the other Europeans cannot.  He views their hard work and self-denial as evidence of inner goodness that many of his fellow Europeans lack.

    Certainly, the Africans were hardworking.  Forced to do the bidding of their invaders, the native peoples perform back-breaking labor for comically low wages; "[The Company] had given them every week three pieces of brass wire each about nine inches long," (Conrad 42).  The Africans‚ tasks included carrying supplies from the Company's Outer Station to its Middle Station over a 200-mile overland route.  "Day after day with the stamp and shuffle of sixty pair of bare feet behind me, each pair under a 60-lb. load," (Conrad 23) is how Marlow describes the caravan.

    Marlow also expresses admiration of the self-restraint of the Africans.  The dignity with which the Africans carry themselves, even in their state of servitude, gave Marlow a sense of wonder.  When traveling upriver towards the inner station in a company of 5 Europeans and 30 Cannibalistic Africans, the Europeans dined on ample stores of canned food while the Africans had only a supply of hippopotamus meat which had spoiled and was thrown overboard by the Europeans when the scent of decomposing flesh became offensive.  Left without any food, the Cannibals did not eat the Europeans, the very source of their troubles.  "Restraint!  What possible restraint?" (Conrad 43) exclaimed Marlow, marveling at such self-control exhibited by supposed savages.

    A second major symbolic feature in Heart of Darkness is that of The Company.  Through a kind aunt, Marlow had received a commission as steamboat captain for an ivory-trading company in the Congo Free State on a remote river.  During his journey inland, Marlow came in contact with many employees of the company, of whom he respected none.  Concerned solely with profiteering, the Company men were ruthless in their treatment of Africans, other Europeans, and even fellow employees.  It is clear that Marlow deplored the behavior of all employees of the Company.

    In direct contrast to the hardworking Africans, the Europeans‚ sloth and willful inefficiency makes them particularly unappealing to Marlow.  From a bricklayer unable to a manager more interested in seeking petty revenge against his perceived opponents than in anything else, the laziness of Europeans troubled Marlow greatly.  Marlow suspects that the Manager has intentionally sunk the steamboat to retard rescue efforts intended for Kurtz, whom he interpreted as a threat to his occupational security (Barron's 34).

    The Europeans also exhibited a blatant lack of self-restraint.  Their motives in coming to the Congo were exclusively to make money, and their nonchalance regarding the condition of the Africans was a clear sign of their inability to control personal impulses.  While sailing upriver towards the Inner Station, the Europeans threw away the decaying hippo meat because it smelt bad, totally oblivious to the fact that the meat was the only sustenance the Cannibals had available to them, other than the Europeans themselves.  The self-restraint deficiency is also apparent in the wanton killing of Africans the Europeans seemed to delight in.  When attacked by tribesmen sent by Kurtz, the Europeans seem primarily interested in seeing how many of the natives they could shoot, and it is only Marlow's clever use of the steam whistle that saves the Europeans from slaughter.

    The primary symbolic feature in Heart of Darkness is Kurtz, manager of the Inner Station.  Marlow hears of Kurtz from the moment he arrives at the Outer Station, yet Kurtz plays a minor physical role in the plot.  Rather, it is the effect Kurtz has upon Marlow that is of importance.  Legendary for his ivory-collecting and gift of speech, Marlow is eager to meet the great man.  However, the legendary trader fell far short of his billing, having sunken to the level of the other Company employees, if not lower.

    Kurtz, for all his grand reputation and high ideals, was a man of ideas and not of action.  Highly respected for his speaking abilities, Kurtz could always convince an audience an impressionable ear of his noble bearing.

    Kurtz, a former journalist, had in fact prepared an article for the International Society for the Suppression of Savage Customs.  And as could be clearly seen from the human heads resting upon poles, Kurtz has reverted to the savage behavior that he had advocated eradicating.

    Most important to Kurtz‚s downfall, however, is his lack of self-restraint.  Although Marlow felt the pull of the tribal culture, "...I confounded the beat of the drum with the beating of my heart and was pleased at its calm regularity," (Conrad 64) he is able to resist the call of the wild.  Kurtz is unable to do this, and spent months at a time running with the local tribes, using their might to take ivory from other Africans, giving him his high reputation for ivory output.  Despite the crucial differences in sensibilities, Marlow felt a bond with Kurtz, for only Kurtz had actually believed the ideals espoused by the Company to provide a cover for their tyrannical operations, and he alone saw the error in his ways.  In his death bed during the down river return, suffering from dysentery, Kurtz had a moment of lucidity in which he reflected upon his actions in the jungle, and could say only "The horror!  The horror!" (Barron's 61).

    Heart of Darkness is one of the most influential novels of the twentieth century.  Published at the turn of the century, the narrative aired exciting new literary techniques and forms which would become en vogue among future novelists.  While Marlow is not fond of hard work, he recognizes that only through work can one escape the darkness of the jungle and revert to the tribal practices of the natives.  Marlow's dedication to hard work and his self-denial and regulation were the keys to his survival in the forests primeval, and Kurtz's inability to follow these imperatives led to his downfall.  Conrad's use of symbolism creates a world in which the physical action is not as important as the effects of that action, a world that would be exploited in the years to come.