Heart of Darkness, a novella, by Joseph Conrad was published in 1902. Conrad was a Polish-British writer. He is considered to be one of the greatest English novelists although he did not speak fluent English till his 20s. When he was in his 20s he decided to sail the seas, since school bored him. His many sailing expeditions caused him to meet many different places and meeting many different types of people. This eclectic experience inspired in him the settings and characters of his stories and novels.     

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Heart of Darkness follows the sailor Marlow, who ventures out to find a man named Kurtz in the heart of Africa. Marlow must trek through the harsh elements of the Congo river in order to locate the man Kurtz. Kurtz, throughout the book is revered as a sort of god. Marlow witnesses the horrors of imperialism and the greed in man's heart. 

 

One of the major themes in Heart of Darkness is darkness/horrors. One of the most famously quoted lines that was actually put into a movie based upon this book, Apocalypse Now, is "The Horror! The Horror!"

The horrors of the greed which filled man's heart as he tried to steal ("to tear out the bowels of the land", Conrad, 31), and conquer the land. This book truly shows how a halcyon land can be torn apart by greed and desire. This book displays the wickedness of mans heart in his vying for riches and fame.