Facing the Dark Truth in Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad Heart of Darkness has two main components: a candid look at the reality of imperialism, especially in the Belgian Congo, and an exploration into the darkest depths of human existence. A symbolically dense part of the play occurs when Marlow and companions are attacked on their journey into the "heart of darkness" and towards Kurtz. The attack begins suddenly, and each member of the company is forced to deal with this intrusion into life as they see fit. The men of the company immediately fired their pistols into the bush. I couldn't even see the ripple or the snag." The Pilgrims' shooting causes Marlow to be unable to see the snag, and this doesn't even stop the attack, although the Pilgrims are definitely proud of themselves . "'Hey! We must have made a splendid massacre in the bush. Huh? What do you think? You say?' He really danced, the little red, bloodthirsty beggar. And he almost fainted when he saw the injured man. I couldn't help but say, "You made a lot of smoke, by the way." I had seen, by the way the bush tops rustled and flew, that almost all the shots had gone too high. You can't hit anything if you don't aim and shoot from the shoulder, but these guys were shooting from the hip with their eyes closed. "I think this behavior of the pilgrims is representative of the imperialist movement as a whole. It was started recklessly and without real objectives, despite the claim that it was a movement that civilized the world. History and listening...... center of the card ......g his boat across the river, careful of obstacles. There is enough superficial truth in this to occupy him completely and leave him no time to distinguish the nature of the "sticks" flying here and there it finally sinks into his consciousness that the sticks are arrows and that they are "shot", yes confront the truth that is hidden in the dark depths..." (69-70). It almost sounds like "mind your own business", but I don't think it's that simple. Conrad is simply suggesting that you complete your "task at hand", but, when faced with something, you must be willing to face the dark truth and show restraint, as Conrad himself did. He had been to the Congo, which the book is based on, and showed restraint and came back alive, staying within the confines of society, faced the dark truth and wrote a book about it.