The original CliffsNotes study guides offer expert commentary on major themes, plots, characters, literary devices, and historical background. The latest generation of titles in this series also feature glossaries and visual elements that complement the classic, familiar format. In CliffsNotes on The Heart of Darkness & The Secret Sharer, you come to understand how each of these stories deals with the "dark side" of the human character. Heart of Darkness is a journey up the Congo River to where an ivory agent, Kurtz, has succumbed to human weakness and evil, and has disintegrated into a grotesque creature. The Secret Sharer is an allegorical examination of a timid man who struggles to stifle the more physical and dangerous part of himself. Eventually, he resolves this duality and becomes more daring—and, therefore, more complete. This concise supplement to Joseph Conrad's The Heart of Darkness & The Secret Sharer helps you understand the overall structure of the novels, actions and motivations of the characters, and the social and cultural perspectives of the author. Features that help you study include Part-by-part summaries and commentaries Character maps that graphically illustrates the relationships among the characters Critical essays that provide expert insight on the novels' structure Review sections that test your knowledge Classic literature or modern-day treasure—you'll understand it all with expert information and insight from CliffsNotes study guides.

The original CliffsNotes study guides offer expert commentary on major themes, plots, characters, literary devices, and historical background. The latest generation of titles in this series also feature glossaries and visual elements that complement the classic, familiar format. In CliffsNotes on The Heart of Darkness & The Secret Sharer, you come to understand how each of these stories deals with the "dark side" of the human character. Heart of Darkness is a journey up the Congo River to where an ivory agent, Kurtz, has succumbed to human weakness and evil, and has disintegrated into a grotesque creature. The Secret Sharer is an allegorical examination of a timid man who struggles to stifle the more physical and dangerous part of himself. Eventually, he resolves this duality and becomes more daring — and, therefore, more complete. This concise supplement to Joseph Conrad's The Heart of Darkness & The Secret Sharer helps you understand the overall structure of the novels, actions and motivations of the characters, and the social and cultural perspectives of the author. Features that help you study include Part-by-part summaries and commentaries Character maps that graphically illustrates the relationships among the characters Critical essays that provide expert insight on the novels' structure Review sections that test your knowledge Classic literature or modern modern-day treasure — you'll understand it all with expert information and insight from CliffsNotes study guides.

Heart of darkness tells of a powerful European, Kurtz, who reverts to awful savagery on an isolated native trading post. The secret sharer describes the conflict of a young captain torn between his duty to his ship and his loyalty to a young officer.

»The Secret Sharer« is a short story by Joseph Conrad, originally published in 1910. JOSEPH CONRAD [1857–1924] was born in Ukraine to Polish parents, went to sea at the age of seventeen, and ended his career as a captain in the English merchant navy. His most famous work is the novella Heart of Darkness [1899], adapted into a film by Francis Ford Coppola in 1979 as Apocalypse Now.

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"An Outpost of Progress" is a short story written in July 1897 by Joseph Conrad, drawing on his own experience at Congo. It was published in the magazine Cosmopolis in 1897 and was later collected in Tales of Unrest in 1898. Often compared with Heart of Darkness, Conrad considered it his best tale, owing to its "scrupulousness of tone" and "severity of discipline".