Heart of Gothicism

A Gothic novel is one that “is characterized by an atmosphere of mystery and horror”(Dictionary.com). Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad can be classified as a Gothic novel because of its sense of mystery, eerie setting and ghostly attributes. A Gothic novel is one that portrays the feeling and atmosphere of dread and horror, which are prominent throughout the novel. Marlow travels to a barbaric country knowing very little of its inhabitants aside from their inferiority and animalistic characteristics. As he travels through the Congo River, he is constantly surrounded by fog and strange noises adding to the uneasy mood that Conrad portrays. The reader is forced to hold their breath with Marlow as he ventures into the unknown. This tense mood is very gothic for it is pessimistic in the novel as Marlow travels deeper into the darkness; he sees more and more horror.

            Aside from the mood of the novel feeling very negative, the setting itself is dreary and unpleasant, another major theme of a Gothic novel. Aside from the fog surrounding the river implying the lack of sunshine and extreme gloominess, the things Marlow sees are gruesome. At one point he noticed a fence lined with human heads as the stakes, “They would have been even more impressive, those heads on the stakes, if their faces had not been turned to the house. Only one, the first I had made out, was facing my way. I was not so shocked as you may think” (Conrad 112). The inferred violence and maltreatment of the people whose heads had been used as a fence forces a repugnant picture into the reader’s head for they have to envision real human heads. The horror and darkness of the setting fall easily into the category of a Gothic novel.

There are no real ghosts during the novel, although supernatural elements are present throughout. As Kurtz lies dying his last words are very Gothic, “stare with that wide and immense stare embracing, condemning, loathing all the universe. I seemed to hear the whispered cry, 'The horror! The horror!'" (Conrad 152). The fact that Marlow is unsure of whether or not he hears Kurtz adds yet another level of mystery to the novel along with the wonder as to exactly what ‘horror’ Kurtz is exclaiming about as his final words. Overall, the mystery in the mood, setting and actions of the novel along with the universal darkness classify Heart of Darkness as a Gothic novel.

Works Cited

Conrad, Joseph. Heart of Darkness.NY,NY: W.W. Norton and Company, Inc., 1988.

Dictionary.com Unabridged. Random House, Inc. 08 Mar. 2015.