What Does The Congo River Symbolize

The Congo River encloses the Congo to represent a barrier between light, the outside, and dark, the inside of Africa. In Joseph Conrad’s novel, Heart of Darkness, the Congo River symbolizes movement and a journey into one’s inner spirit. The main character Marlow is on a journey to Africa to meet Kurtz, a man of great abilities. Marlow joins The Company, a trading company in the Congo, in order to be able to travel. Marlow’s journey takes course on the Congo River whose current is flowing strong in the opposite direction. The journey up the river is long and gruesome for Marlow and his crew. They endure encounters with the natives of the land and Kurtz. Marlow had to fight off evil to be the person he wanted to be. Compared to the ride up the river, the ride out of the jungle is swifter and less rough on Marlow. He
The movement of Marlow and his crew and passengers into the heart of the Congo comes from the river. Descriptions of the river include its color of brown and the strength of the current facing Marlow and his steamboat. The color of the river is brown, which adds support to the motif of darkness in the novel and can make the river appear as dirty and contaminated. The strong current going against Marlow slows down progress and allows him to get a sense of what the Congo really is, it gives Marlow incite on the darkness of the jungle. Marlow describes the river as flowing out of the heart of darkness with faster speed than going upstream. The river is not just a way of movement for Marlow but serves a purpose of moving the plot along. It takes Marlow from station to station and keeps him moving towards his goal. The inner station is the furthest point from civilization that Marlow encounters. The trip downstream was faster and easier than going into the Congo. Marlow was able to overcome the temptation of evil and leave the Congo knowing he had conquered the situation he was