Vocabulary in Heart of Darkness

A small two-masted sailing vessel, with the second, shorter mast positioned near the stern. Conrad uses it to describe the Nellie, the boat on which Marlow tells his story.

Something outwardly respectable or beautiful but inwardly corrupt and rotten — a biblical phrase for a whitewashed tomb. Marlow uses it to describe Brussels as a city that looks civilised but conceals moral decay.

Mournful and dismal in an exaggerated, almost absurd way. Here it describes a grim comedy in the scene Marlow witnesses, something both sad and darkly ridiculous.

A strange, wry, or oddly comic quality in something that is not meant to be funny. Marlow uses it to capture the absurd, grim humour of a scene that is also deeply disturbing.

Scattered or dispelled so that a feeling or impression disappears. Marlow says the sense of grim absurdity was not driven away even by someone's reassuring words.

A strong, persistent longing or craving for something. Marlow uses it to describe his deep desire to explore the one large blank space left on the map.

In a sincere and serious manner, with genuine conviction. It describes the tone of someone trying hard to reassure Marlow about what he was seeing.

Marlow's ironic nickname for the white company agents aboard the steamer, men who carry staves and wander the Congo as if on a hollow, self-important mission rather than a sacred one.

To detect or make out something that is not clearly visible, using careful attention or judgment. Marlow uses it for reading the hidden dangers of the river from faint, subtle signs.

A sudden intuitive insight rather than reasoned knowledge. Marlow means he had to rely on instinct and gut feeling to navigate the dangerous, unmarked river channel.

Grew wildly and without restraint, spreading in uncontrolled abundance. Conrad uses it to describe the overwhelming, almost violent profusion of jungle vegetation along the river.

Dark, gloomy, and suggesting something threatening or sad. Conrad uses it to describe the heavy, oppressive atmosphere of the overcast waterway at the novella's close.

The very farthest or most extreme point imaginable. Conrad uses it to suggest the river leads not just to a distant place but to the absolute edge of the known world.

The distant part of the sea visible from shore, beyond the area near the coast. Conrad uses it to describe the far horizon of the waterway, which is blocked by dark clouds.

To put a haunting memory or troubling obligation finally to rest, as one might lay a restless spirit. Marlow uses it to mean he freed himself from the burden of Kurtz's unfulfilled promise by telling a lie.

The person who steers a boat or ship, controlling its direction at the wheel or tiller. On Marlow's steamboat, the helmsman is a Congolese crewman whose death affects Marlow deeply.

The enclosed cabin on a ship from which the vessel is steered and navigated. On the steamboat it is where the helmsman stands and where his body lies after he is killed.

People who eat human flesh; here, the word Conrad uses for the Congolese crewmen aboard the steamer, presented as restrained and reliable despite the label applied to them.

A note added at the end of a letter or document, after the main text is finished. Kurtz's postscript is a scrawled addition to his report that reveals his true, murderous intent.

A tomb or burial vault, typically one cut from rock or built of stone. In the phrase 'whited sepulchre' it stands for something that looks clean on the outside but conceals death within.

A state of complete irrationality or madness. Marlow uses it not as a medical term but to convey that the scene he witnessed made no logical or moral sense.

An action, event, or course of conduct that is underway. Marlow uses it to refer to the strange, disturbing activity or scene he is describing, treating it with detached formality.

Covered entirely by thick cloud so that no blue sky or sunlight is visible. Conrad uses it to reinforce the gloom and darkness of the final image of the Thames.