Early in chapter one, the sun is described like fire. "Dull red without rays and without heat, as if about to go out suddenly, stricken to death by the touch of that gloom brooding over a crowd of men." This statement was made to describe the scene, and paint a larger picture of what to come. "Flames glided in the river, small green flames, red flames, white flames, pursuing, overtaking, joining, crossing each other - then separating slowly or hastily." This scene describes lights bouncing off of the river as flames. A dying man's eyes were described as a "white flicker... which died out slowly

." This implies that the man's eyes were like fire, burning brightly until close to death, then flickering and dying out.

Another use of fire is the revealing aspect that it has. The events that surround the burning of the shed reveal the apparent hopelessness of the area. "The effect of the torchlight on the face (of a woman carrying a torch) was sinister." When Marlow is observing a picture of a woman holding a torch in what is otherwise darkness, that torchlight reveals the contrast between light and dark, good and evil. When Kurtz's worshippers keep a vigil for Kurtz, they light a big fire. It showed that Kurtz had truly misused and misled these natives. "A light was burning within, but Mr. Kurtz was not there." This makes sense in a physical aspect, because candles were the major source of artificial light at the time. However, the candle also reveals the light and dark issue, implying that Kurt

Some common words found in the essay are:
Heart Darkness, Conrad Fire, deeper meanings, light dark, man's eyes, woman holding torch, conrad fire, contrast light dark, dying man's eyes, contrast light, eyes fire, holding torch, describe objects, throughout novel, woman holding,
Approximate Word count = 617
Approximate Pages = 2 (250 words per page double spaced)