Colonial “Idea” and “Work”: The Evil in Marlow’s Heart of Darkness

Abstract

This chapter focuses on the representations of evil in Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness and argues that despite appearances, colonial evil is not extrinsic to Marlow’s voice and that it inheres in his very worldview. It draws out the implicit evil in Marlow’s colonialism by close attention to the muted concepts and vague ideas in his intimate inner voice. Marlow’s affective but uncritical formulations of “idea” and “work” reflect colonial ideology in unsettling ways, secretly allowing for the justification of criminal, evil forms of colonial practice.