Heart of Darkness Question Number 2

Marlow begins his tale of a journey to the heart of darkness with an account of London to demonstrate his feelings of uneasiness and uncertainty by comparing his voyage to the Romans traveling to a gloomy and mysterious place like London. The English traveling to Africa had no idea what to expect; to them, Africa is a wild and dangerous place. The repetition of dark words such as "brooding gloom" paints an ominous picture in the reader's mind. Similarly, the Romans felt that London was also a primitive place which was why they used London as a place of exile.