Heart of Darkness: Joseph Conrad

More than a century after its publication Heart of Darkness remains an indisputably classic text and arguably Conrad's finest work. Taking place mostly in Africa, it tells the story of Europeans going to the Congo in search of goods to bring back, mostly ivory. They do this in the name of "Imperialism", but Conrad makes it very clear from the beginning that there is no civilization creation going on. Through corruption and exploitation of the blacks, the Europeans gain as much ivory as they can. However, it seems there is another process going on. The deep recesses of the jungle do something to a man, change him, and somehow demoralization begins.