Heart of Darkness Illustration

    “It was the same kind of ominous voice; but these men could by no stretch of imagination be called enemies. They were called criminals, and the outraged law, like the bursting shells, had come to them, an insoluble mystery from the sea. All their meager breasts panted together, the violently dilated nostrils quivered, the eyes stared stonily uphill. They passed me within six inches, without a glance, with that complete, deathlike indifference of unhappy savages” (13).

     The image is black and white to convey the tone of the book. Indeed, it would not be appropriate to use any colors. This is a perfect illustration for Heart of Darkness because Joseph Conrad really focuses on the black color in this book: “A black figure stood up, strode on long black legs, waving long black arms.”

     Even though, the illustration is very detailed, when it comes to the natives’ faces - it is really hard to see their facial features, especially the eyes. If you look closely, you can see that the artist did not bother to paint the actual eyes, instead he has a few blurry dark circles. Even though, the eyes are the windows to your soul, we can’t actually see anything in their eyes but the darkness.  

     The pain and sorrow are killing the “unhappy savages” from the inside. They are not only suffering from the emotional pain, but they also had to deal with the diseases and the starvation. Even though, the people on this image have weapons, “these men could by no stretch of imagination be called enemies”. They are so vulnerable, sick and depressed that they would not be able to harm you in any way. They don’t live; they just exist and wait for the end.