The Congo River is the second longest river in Africa after the Nile, and it allows access into the interior of Africa. The river in the novel works as a divider, it was the main method of transportation for the Europeans, and it allows Marlow to see the two opposite sides of the Congo. It symbolizes the connection between civilization and the natives, the good colonies and the evil interior. The river is very hard to travel up because of its strong current pushing downstream Marlow’s boat. His trip to the heart of the jungle, to the inner station, is so slow because of the current and thank to this it makes him realize of the horrors and contorting power of dark, dense, wilderness.
“The brown current ran swiftly out of the heart of darkness, bearing us down towards the sea with twice the speed of our upward progress.” The color of the river is also important. The brown current is symbolic of the dark skin of the natives in the Congo. The color brown also makes you think of a dirty and polluted river, it seems like the darkness is trying to come off the interior of the jungle. Perhaps the river is moving so swift away from the interior so that it can get away from the evil. And maybe the river is so slow when going towards the inner station because it doesn’t want anybody to see the horror of what happens in there.
The trip back home was also much easier for Marlow because making his way into the Congo, he had to fight off temptations and evil to choose the person that he wanted to be. The river reflected this because it also pushed back on Marlow, on his boat, and made progress slow and dangerous with its many traps along the way, such as the fog. While leaving the Congo, the river was much swifter, making the trip much smoother and faster. This is the same for Marlow’s thoughts because he had to overcome the temptation and could leave the Congo knowing that he had just conquered his situation and made the right decision, not like Kurtz.
In conclusion, the Congo River is Marlow’s temptation of evil, as the snake is for Adam and Eve. But Marlow is capable to overcome the situation as we can see through the novel, not like Kurtz, who has gone mad.
