ABSTRACT:Heart of Darkness is a classic novella by Joseph Conrad. It shows the fragility of morality against the background of the virgin forest in the 19th century Congo. The thesis manages to explore the essence of the novella by analyzing the principal characters in the novella, i.e. Marlow, Kurtz, Kurtz’s disciple—the nameless young man and Kurtz’s fiancée. Marlow is the narrator of the story and the witness of all the darkness. He presents to Conrad’s readers rich symbols, metaphors and paradoxes which are all very revealing in terms of exposing the darkness deep in humanity. Kurtz is the core character in Heart of Darkness，therefore the analysis on him bears particular importance. Kurtz as an elite form the advanced European civilization was placed into the ultra primeval circumstance. What happened to him intensely reflects how humanity would be distorted under extreme temptation. This character is the materialization of evil itself and how he behaved in Congo’s virgin forest reveals the most despicable as well as despairing part of humanity, both contributing to his key role in understanding the essence of the novella. Furthermore, Kurtz’s disciple and fiancée respectively reveal the darkness of humanity from different perspectives. They, together with Kurtz, form a comprehensive picture of the heart of darkness. Thus, through the vivid delineation of a serial of core characters as well as the primordial set, Joseph Conrad succeeds in revealing the darkness born deep in human heart which prevails in general humanity, beyond the limit of time, space and class. 

Key word: Joseph Conrad, Heart of Darkness, Humanity

中文摘要:《黑暗之心》是约瑟夫·康拉德的代表作之一。小说以19世纪刚果的原始丛林为背景，描绘了人在恶劣环境下道德防线的轻易崩溃。论文尝试通过对小说中主要人物的深入分析挖掘小说的本质内涵。论文中共对《黑暗之心》中的四个主要人物进行了分析，分别是马洛、库尔兹、库尔兹的信徒——一个无名的青年和库尔兹的未婚妻。马洛是整个故事的叙述者也是人性黑暗面的直接目击者。他向康拉德的读者呈现了丰富的象征、暗喻等等意象，深入地揭露了人性的黑暗。库尔兹是《黑暗之心》中的主人公，因此对他的分析具有非同一般的重要性。他作为一名被置于极端原始环境中的欧洲文明的精英，是人性在诱惑之下异变的集中体现。小说中库尔兹的人物形象是人性黑暗面的浓缩，他在原始环境中的所作所为突显出了人性卑劣的一面，是深入理解《黑暗之心》本质内容的关键所在。而库尔兹的信徒和未婚妻也各自从不同的角度揭露了人性的黑暗，他们与库尔兹一起构成了一幅人性黑暗面的立体图景。由此可以看出，康拉德在《黑暗之心》中借助原始自然环境的舞台褪去人类现代文明的华服,通过对小说中关键人物的细致刻画，深刻揭露出植根于人性深处超越时间、超越空间、超越阶级的人性黑暗面。

关键词：约瑟夫·康拉德，《黑暗之心》，人性