Question about Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness

[The Catcher]

Hi, im doing a seminar on Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness for my english class and it requires a few questions that me and my friend can't really figure out.

at the beginning and the end Marlow and his crew are on The Nellie in England. What we can't figure out is where they are headed and what they are doing on the Nellie? We need to know this in order to the use the significance of the final line of the novella "seemed to lead into the heart of an immense darkness". Thanks for any help!

[ennison]

They are not heading anywhere. The vessel appears to be at moorings, waiting for the tide to turn.Their intention seems to be to head downriver towards the open sea once they have the right conditions. One of Conrad's points is that The Thames had a history of darkness quite as much as the great rivers of any less advanced society. Conrad also intends to suggest that civilisation is no great protection against the darkness that can rise up in any human heart. Marlow is a technical device for Conrad to put distance between the reader and the story. Marlow isn't the narrator and isn't the main character. The narrator is one of Marlow's listeners and Kurtz is definitely the main character.

[The Catcher]

sweet thanks so much. that actually helps a lot :). Hey does anyone wanna write up a 30 minute seminar presentation for us? no no takers? ok.