s the reader has less evidence to build from. The little script devoted to the Narrator, however is very clear in reflecting the viewpoint that he believes women have great importance in society. In chapter two, the Narrator foreshadows the importance a woman will play in the plot of the story. Through word usage and a more respectful tone, the reader understands that the Narrator has a favorable opinion of women. In the “big picture” of this great story, women play a very important role in Heart of Darkness. The intended, like all aspects of the story, has deep metaphorical meaning. In context of the story, she represents civility and industrialization. Another woman, the Native Woman, is also very important to the story. Also in love with Kurtz, this woman represents nature and simplicity. These two juxtaposed women are noble, graceful, and respectable characters that symbolize the opposite poles in Kurtz’s life. They are metaphors for the struggle and theme of Heart of Darkness. The struggle represented throughout Conrad’s time period--the struggle of industry versus simplicity.After reading Conrad’s, Heart of Darkness, one may develop the opinion that Joseph Conrad was sexist. All the main characters are male and none of the women in the story are taken very seriously. The women are viewed as mere symbols and not real characters. There are no quoted in the entire story where a woman says something intelligent, meaningful, or important. Conrad only used the women in the story as symbols for his thematic metaphors. The women represented large facets of society or nature, but were not given much personality on individualism. By the end of the story, the reader knows a tremendous amount of information about Marlow and Kurtz, and Conrad’s novel could be called a case study for either of them. No new information is known about the psyche or inter-workings of the women of Heart of Darkne...
