Marlow says upriver travel was like going to 'the earliest beginnings of the world.' What does the comparison let the narration do?

'The reaches opened before us and closed behind,' Marlow says of the river. What effect does that image create?

When Marlow says, 'We penetrated deeper and deeper into the heart of darkness,' what does the repeated 'deeper' make the journey become?

Marlow's phrase 'The earth seemed unearthly' is a paradox. What does it suggest about the journey before Kurtz appears?

Marlow interrupts himself with 'The inner truth is hidden, luckily, luckily.' What does this interruption do?

After hearing the shore, Marlow says, 'No, they were not inhuman.' What does that reversal do to his telling?

In the fog, Marlow describes a white mist 'more blinding than the night.' What does the episode do to European mastery?

Marlow asks of the hungry crew, 'Restraint! What possible restraint?' What does his surprise reveal?

The helmsman dies at Marlow's feet, and Marlow says he had 'no restraint, no restraint, just like Kurtz.' Why is the comparison startling?

Marlow notices the arrows as 'sticks, little sticks' during the attack. What does the wording do?

Marlow says he missed the helmsman 'even while his body was still lying in the pilot-house.' What does that reaction complicate?

Kurtz's report ends with the postscriptum, 'Exterminate all the brutes!' What does Marlow make of the page as a whole?

Marlow says, 'All Europe contributed to the making of Kurtz.' What does that phrase establish?

As Kurtz is carried toward the steamer, Marlow describes an African woman on the shore as 'savage and superb, wild-eyed and magnificent.' What does her figure do in the scene?

Marlow hears Kurtz's possessions named as 'my Intended, my ivory, my station, my river.' What does the repeated 'my' establish?

The heads near Kurtz's hut show that he 'lacked restraint.' Why does this object matter in Marlow's account?

Kurtz's final cry is 'The horror! The horror!' How does Marlow treat it?

Marlow says Kurtz was 'hollow at the core.' What does the image establish about his character?

The Russian's patched clothes make him look like a 'harlequin.' What does this figure contribute?

The Russian says of Kurtz, 'You don't talk with that man, you listen to him.' What does he reveal?

When the Russian says Kurtz 'made me see things, things,' what limit of his testimony becomes clear?

The Russian admits, 'He could be very terrible.' What does this admission add to his role?

Back in Brussels, Marlow calls the city a 'sepulchral city.' What does that phrase do after the Congo scenes?

The Intended says, 'I believed in him more than any one on earth.' What pressure does this put on Marlow's narration?

Marlow tells the Intended, 'The last word he pronounced was your name.' What does the lie establish about him?