2011 Reprint of 1902 Edition. Originally published in 1902 in the volume "Youth: A Narrative, and Two Other Stories, " by Blackwood, London. "Heart of Darkness" is a novella that revolves around its main character, Charles Marlow, who also narrates most of the story. He is an Englishman who takes a foreign assignment from a Belgian trading company as a river-boat captain in Africa. "Heart of Darkness" exposes the dark side of Belgian colonization while exploring the three levels of darkness that the protagonist, Marlow, encounters: the darkness of the Congo wilderness, the darkness of the Belgians' cruel treatment of the African natives, and the unfathomable darkness within every human being for committing heinous acts of evil. It is considered part of the Canon of Western literature.