HoD Discussion

In Chapter 11, page 110 of Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad, the pile of wood with the pencil-scratched note on it which Marlow finds is puzzling to me. The three statements, "'Wood for you. Hurry up. Approach cautiously.'" point to the fact that Marlow and his crew were expected, or could the wood be for someone else? Or had it just been put out for a random traveler? Mostly my question is who left the wood pile and deserted hut, if it wasn't Kurtz as the signature was longer? We know that the note to "'Approach cautiously'" was a helpful hint because of the scene on page 118, so whomever had left the note must be amiable.

HoD Quotation Discussion

Pg. 70 "What redeems it [the conquest of the earth] is the idea only. An idea at the back of it; not a sentimental pretense but an idea; an unselfish belief in that idea--something you can set up, and bow down before, and offer a sacrifice to..." Heart of Darkness, Joseph Conrad

If you can believe that conquest of other lands can be redeemable, then our narrator seems to be saying, through use of religious terms such as "belief", "bow down before", and "sacrifice", that as long as religion is guiding you, then you can engage in conquest. He believes that the robbery, savagery, and unscrupulous gains which come of invading are detestable. However, that he says that there can be a 'redeeming value' to this practice is horrible...how can any of these aforementioned acts have any redeeming values? There can be only some very extreme situations in which conquest can be any good, such as to stop a genocide...not to spread a religion that will be imposed on unwilling subjects. The "sentimental pretense" lends itself to the Congo as some type of foreshadowing in the story (although people would have been hearing about the Congo conflict already), as Leopold was able to successfully use and discard Africans in his colony for financial gain under the guise of humanitarian efforts.