For your reading of Heart of Darkness, please emphasize the following passages:

• Introduction of narrators, esp. pp. 1958-1961
• Sojourn in the "sepulchral city," esp. pp. 1963-1965
• Break in narrative, p. 1977
• Primitivism, pp. 1982-1985
• Kurtz & his "Intended," pp. 1992-1996 (long, long paragraph!)
• The native mistress, pp. 2003-2004
• Encounter with the "Intended," conclusion, pp. 2013-2017

Our discussion will focus especially on the narrative technique, especially narrative breaks; on women and empire; and on primitivism.

Be prepared to discuss the following questions:

• Why does Marlowe lie?
• What similarities and differences do you see between Kipling's and Conrad's attitudes towards women, as expressed in the texts we've read?
• What are the Freudian and/or Darwinian connections between the "civilized" and the "savage," as seen in Marlowe's ambivalent attraction/disgust at the "primitive" he encounters in Heart of Darkness?

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