Joseph Conrad's The Heart of Darkness is a dark and haunting tale about the search for a substantial and mysteriously powerful man named Mr. Kurtz. Heart of Darkness centers around Marlow, a sailor and also narrator of the novella. Throughout the work, Conrad uses an array of literary devices to suggest his style of writing.

The title of the work itself, The Heart of Darkness, is an example of the use of metaphor. Darkness is a significant part of the book's title conceptually. However, it is difficult to discern exactly what it might mean, given that absolutely everything in the book takes place in darkness. Africa, England, and Brussels are all described as gloomy and somehow dark, even if the sun is shining brightly. Darkness thus seems to operate metaphorically. In relation to the work, darkness is the inability to see, therefore describing human conditions as profound implications...