Prompt 18

Heart of Darkness gains its title from the way the outsiders see Africa and its inhabitants.  They are dark skinned, "in the dark" about some major technological advances, and generally gloomy and savage.  Heart by definition means "the central or innermost part of something". The dictionary also defines darkness as "the absence of light, wickedness and evil, obscurity and concealment, lack of knowledge, and blindness".  All of those different definitions of darkness fit the novella.  Wickedness and evil reek from Marlow and Kurtz, the jungle conceals the obscure happenings, the savages are not perceived as having much knowledge, and the sailors seem blind to the ways and ideals of the natives.  With those definitions, the literal meaning of the title is very belittling to the people of the land. Any combination of those multiple meanings of darkness does not have a good connotation.  In its simplest form, the meaning is "center of the absence of light".   By this meaning, Africa is the place where light no longer shines.  Enlightenment no longer occurs.  In this translation, Africa and its inhabitants are going to be the most difficult culture for the imperialists to overcome.  The title of the novel foreshadows the attitude of the rest of the novel.