Heart of Darkness as a Gothic Work

Struggling to classify Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness as Gothic is not a difficult task. When thinking about the conventions of a Gothic work we have learned about in AP Lit, conventions that include the presence of the sublime, a sense of misery or dread, ambiguity and ambivalence, or even the type of weather depicted, many of these conventions are incorporated heavily into the book. All of this before even mentioning that the key convention of Gothic literature, being intrinsic darkness as it relates to humanity, is used of all places in the novel's title.
The presence and use of the sublime occurs early on and often by Conrad. The sublime is defined as "an overpowering sense of greatness in nature that can be both terrifying or uplifting" (Heckmondwike Grammar). As Marlow first approaches the Outer Stations, this sublime power is depicted in Marlow's revelation of the horrid conditions of the native villages and their workers malnourishment and exhaustion when saying "It was unearthly, and the men were - No they were not inhuman. Well you know, that was the worst of it - the suspicion of their not being inhuman " (Conrad Part 2). While this plays into the concept of the sublime, it also plays into another major convention of Gothic Literature which is the darkness intrinsic to humanity.
This darkness, a moral darkness, is portrayed through the novel's main theme of the hypocrisy of imperialism. We see as readers throughout the novel this perpetual fear of Kurtz, the head man in charge throughout the Congo, and at the end of the novel learn of how he has asserted himself as a God over the African natives by means of force and aggression.
Other important conventions of Gothic Literature that are used in this novel is the dark and ominous weather. Often times, scenes are depicted as foggy or stormy. Historically, fog and rain used in novels often contribute to a darker tone that the author may be trying to convey to readers and even foreshadow events to come such as the fog in this novel foreshadowed the native Indian attack on Marlow's ship.
Conrad's writing as well gives off an ambiguous tone, one he was known for throughout the years as "he also said that he didn't like to explain what his books were about, because that would open him up to the criticism that he had failed as an artist to achieve understanding in" (Lipka 1). This writing style, combined with the Gothic nature of the text and the conventions employed certainly help to support this claim that Heart of Darkness does function as a Gothic novel.

Works Cited

Lipka, Jennifer. "The Horror! The Horror!: Joseph Conrad's Heart Of Darkness as a Gothic Novel."Web. 4 March. 2015.

Conrad, Joseph. Heart of Darkness. Print.