Joseph Conrad

adaptation by Cristina Gioli
 Heart of Darkness (1899) tells the story of Charles Marlow, a sailor who takes on the job of steamboat captain with a Belgian ivory trading company in the African interior. The novel is a strong critique of European colonial rule in Africa, implicitly commenting on imperialism and racism. It also examines the themes of evil, power and morality, mainly through the central fictional character, Kurtz, a cruel, charismatic ivory trader and commander of a trading post. The native Africans see him as a demigod, so he manages to collect huge quantities of ivory and sets up a reign of terror in the darkness of the African jungle. The reader is enriched with inserts about the main themes and symbols of this novel.
 
 Teacher's Resources available online: Answer Key - Audioscripts - Summing-up Activities 
 
 Heart of Darkness racconta la storia di Marlow, capitano di un battello a vapore di una compagnia commerciale belga nel cuore dell’Africa. Il romanzo è una forte critica al colonialismo e tratta di imperialismo e razzismo. Il male, il potere e l’etica sono esaminati attraverso il personaggio centrale, Kurtz. Questi è il comandante di una stazione di commercio di avorio, che instaura un regno del terrore nelle oscure tenebre della giungla africana.

Chapter 1 – The unnamed Sailor’s narrative

Extension: Colonialism

Chapter 2 – Getting nearer

Extension: Belgian colonisation of the Congo

Chapter 3 – Along the Great River

Extension: The White Man’s mission

Chapter 4 – The Harlequin

Extension: Marlow’s journey

Chapter 5 – The horror! The horror!

Extension: Features, themes and symbols

Picture gallery

Summing-up activities

Glossary

S U M M I N G - U P AC T I V I T I E S WORKING ON THE TEXT 1 Choose the correct option. a. What is the opening setting of Heart of Darkness? 1. Brussels 2. A boat on the Thames 3. A boat on the Congo b. The Company trades chiefly in ............... . 1. slaves 2. diamonds 3. ivory c. Who helps Marlow to get a job with the Company? 1. His aunt 2. Kurtz 3. An old friend d. At the Company offices, Marlow speaks with ............... . 1. his aunt 2. Kurtz 3. A doctor e. The captain who piloted the steamboat before Marlow died because of a quarrel about ............... . 1. a woman 2. some slaves 3. some hens f. When Marlow arrives at the Company Station, he sees ............... . 1. black men in chains or dying of hunger 2. a girl who offers him flowers to welcome him 3. an old friend g. The Chief Accountant he meets at the Company Station is ............... . 1. lazy and untidy 2. elegant and efficient 3. unfriendly because he refuses to speak with Marlow h. What he sees at the Company Station fills Marlow with ............... . 1. admiration for the agents  efficiency 2. horror for the way the black workers are treated 3. desire to become an agent like Kurtz i. To reach the Central Station, Marlow has to ............... . 1. walk all alone for two hundred miles 2. walk for two hundred miles with other people 3. travel by canoe j. At the Central Station, Marlow learns that his steamboat ............... . 1. has sunk 2. has been stolen 3. is ready and can leave the next day k. What is it that Marlow needs most in order to repair the steamboat? 1. Rivets 2. A new boiler 3. Hammers l. What happens to the Eldorado Expedition? 1. They find a lot of ivory 2. They find Kurtz 3. All their donkeys die 118 

m. The manager and his uncle ............... . 1. admire Kurtz very much 2. hope that Kurtz will be the next manager 3. envy Kurtz and hope he will die n. The steamboat crew consists of ............... . 1. cannibals 2. experienced sailors 3. company agents o. In the hut along the river, Marlow finds ............... . 1. a bag of money 2. an old book 3. food p. Who orders the attack on the steamboat? 1. Kurtz s African woman 2.The Harlequin 3. Kurtz himself q. What does Marlow see on top of some posts at the Inner Station? 1. Human heads 2. Ivory balls 3. Coconuts r. What are Kurtz s last words? 1.  Exterminate all the brutes!  2.  The horror! The horror!  3. His fiancée s name 2 Read this short summary of the novel and fill each space with an appropriate word. Choose among the following: darkness   hired   fiancée   illness   interior   ivory   journey   news   recover   rumours Heart of Darkness is narrated in the first person by an English sailor   Charles Marlow   who is on a boat on the River Thames with some companions, telling them the story of his voyage to the Congo. He had gone there because he had been (1)................................... by a Belgian Company to pilot a steamboat on the Congo River. When he had got there, he had begun to hear a lot of (2)..................................... about another company employee, Kurtz, who lived and worked deep in the (3)................................ of the country, up the Congo River, at the Inner Station. Kurtz was a very capable agent, who had been sending a lot of (4)...................... to the Central Station, and was said to be a very talented person. Marlow, the manager and some of the Company s agents had left on a journey upstream, in order to find Kurtz   who had given no (5).......................... of himself for more than a year   and to (6)................................... the ivory he had collected. When they finally met him, Marlow realised that he had gone mad and had become cruel and greedy. He was even considered a god by the natives of a nearby tribe, who adored him and offered him rites. Now, however, he was dying of some tropical (7)................................... after years in the jungle. 119 

Narrativa inglese, livello B2 intermedio. Il romanzo di Konrad è una forte critica al colonialismo e tratta di imperialismo e razzismo.

Heart of Darkness - Collana RAINBOWS

Level B2 • Intermediate - Collana RAINBOWS

Heart of Darkness

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