Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad, the story of a sailor who sails up the Congo River in search of the ambiguous and infamous Mr. Kurtz. During his journey down the river, Marlow discovers the hypocrisy of imperialism and the truth about the white man's burden. This is not a book for the faint of heart as it is far from being a simple fable. The confusing story relies heavily on symbolism to depict certain key elements of the story that often require further analysis in order to fully understand it. The most important aspects of the book to consider when analyzing should include how the limited narrator affects the narrative, the character of Mr. Kurtz, the portrayal of Africans' relationships with Europeans as well as the hypocrisy of the 'imperialism. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay The narrator of the story is limited, which consequently means that a stream of consciousness is absent. Indeed, it is Marlow who tells the story from his point of view, while the narrator is the one who listens to him speak. An omniscient narrator creates a stream of consciousness. A stream of consciousness is usually of great help in a narrative as it contributes to the understanding of the character's thoughts and emotions, resulting in effective character development. The lack of stream of consciousness primarily affects the narrative in two ways: first, it limits one's understanding of characters such as Mr. Kurtz by restricting one's knowledge of them. Second, it also makes the reader dependent on how Marlow remembers and describes things. The descriptions given by Marlow are therefore, due to the limited narrator, arguably less accurate because there is a probability that they are wrong. The absence of an omniscient narrator accentuates the vagueness of the story. Additionally, Marlow's lack of knowledge becomes glaring when it comes to Mr. Kurtz and thus the character known as Mr. Kurtz also becomes vague "to this day I am unable to say what Kurtz's profession was" . The enigmatic character of Mr. Kurtz is someone who is known for his unparalleled eloquence and ability to deliver ivory. Mr. Kurtz begins as an imperialist with the intention of civilizing the natives. He thought he was doing them a favor by taking on the white man's burden. In his pamphlet he writes: “By the simple exercise of our will we can exercise practically unlimited beneficial power.” When this story was written, imperialists were often convinced that Europeans were superior beings and that they were perceived, by Africans, as "supernatural beings." Additionally, Mr. Kurtz symbolizes the white man's greed and mentality as he felt obligated to take on the white man's burden to obtain ivory. The irony of Mr. Kurtz is that, in his mission to civilize the savages, he himself turns into a savage. “Exterminate all the brutes!” was the last thing Mr. Kurtz wrote before he turned savage. Through Mr. Kurtz's transformation, Conrad is arguably implying that imperialism is imperfect and that savagery is a universal human trait that exists among Europeans as "the chained form of a conquered monster." In Heart of Darkness, it is obvious that Marlow does not approve of the mistreatment of Africans, but the vagueness of his words sometimes makes it difficult to decipher what he is really implying. It is unclear whether Marlow himself views Africans as equal in terms of humanity, but he acknowledges that there is a kinship between him and Africans. “They were screaming,.