Heart of Darkness remains one of the most widely read – and debated – novels about the European colonization of Africa. Inquisitive and ambitious sailor Charles Marlow journeys to Congo in the employ of an ivory trading company. As he travels along the Congo River in his steamboat, Marlow witnesses the brutal subjugation of the region’s indigenous people. Faced with the apathy and cruelty of his fellow Europeans – chief among them the enigmatic Mr Kurtz – Marlow must confront his own complicity in the violence that has been perpetrated in the region.