Abstract：The famous British novelist Conrad's masterpiece Heart of Darkness in twentieth century. In the story, Marlow went deep into hinterland of Africa to rescue Kurtz, which deeply and vividly portrays a legendary figure of the colony. The story goes up and down with a  vivid and delicate description. The story is narrated in the linear order of travel notes filled with suspense, mysteries and horrors.Therefore, since it was published in 1899, it has attracted readers all over the world. Many critics agree that this work reveals the colonialists under the banner of spreading civilization, but  actually it shows the true nature of the ruthless invaders through describing European colonists who enslaved, extorted, robbed, and their killing of African natives. But since the 1970s this novella has been strongly attacked by some post colonialist critics. They think Conrad preaches racism in Heart of Darkness, so it should be criticized and rejected. The most typical critic with this view is Chinua Achebe from Nigeria. He holds the idea: "Conrad witnessed and condemned the imperialist's exploitation, but actually do not see that racialism helped the exploitation of imperialism get stronger. And that Heart of Darkness is a novel which advocates the non-personality of the black race, so it can not be called a great artistic works." Nina Pelikan Straus has also launched an attack on this story, thinking that spreads gender discrimination. The paper aims discussing the thematic concerns of Heart of Darkness, arguing that Conrad greatly concerns about the instinct and existence of human beings and criticizes the absurdity of the industrialized society, in which the instinct of human beings is distorted and dehumanized. 

Key Words: Darkness; Racialism; Gender Discrimination; Colonialism, Human Nature; Evil 

CONTENTS

摘要

Abstract

Introduction- 1 -

1. Joseph Conrad- 1 -

2. Heart of Darkness- 1 -

3．The argument of this paper- 2 -

1. About racial discrimination- 3 -

1.1 Marlow’s preliminary understanding of colonialism- 3 -

1.2 Marlow’s sympathy and respect to African- 4 -

1.3 The racialism from colonists- 5 -

2. About gender discrimination- 9 -

2.1 Marlow’s attitude towards woman- 9 -

2.2The misunderstanding of woman’s right- 10 -

3. About the essence of human nature- 12 -

3.1 The difference between sin and evil- 12 -

3.2 The darkness of colonists and Africans- 13 -

3.3 The darkness in Marlow’s heart- 15 -

Conclusion- 17 -

References- 18 -

Acknowledgment- 19 -