The theme of “Darkness” recurs throughout the story. Give two examples of dark imagery in this first section.

From the beginning, Marlow casts doubt over the moral values of the European colonizers. Of the city of London, Marlow casts a dark shadow:

"A haze rested on the low shores that ran out to sea in vanishing flatness. The air was dark above Gravesend, and farther back still seemed condensed into a mournful gloom, brooding motionless over the biggest, and the greatest, town on earth." (Chapter 1)

Here is a quote about the great city of London. Here Marlow casts it as a dark hell full of flames,

"Flames glided in the river, small green flames, red flames, white flames, pursuing, overtaking, joining, crossing each other – then separating slowly or hastily. The traffic of the great city went on in the deepening night upon the sleepless river." (Chapter 1)