Into the Heart of Darkness

This book is incredible. I do not find it particularly difficult to understand, which I'm very grateful for. Marlow's memories are compelling and terrifically descriptive. They are now entering the "heart" of the darkness and even Marlow is feeling the effects of it. My favorite passage from this part of the text begins on page 35...

"We were cut off from the comprehension of our surroundings; we glided past like phantoms, wondering and secretly appalled, as sane men would be before an enthusiastic outbreak in a madhouse. We could not understand because we were too far and could not remember because we were travelling in the night of first ages, of those ages that are gone, leaving hardly a sign-and no memories."

This illustrates how intense the darkness is becoming. The crew can no longer associate with reality because they are too far removed from it. They are going back in time, to a place that no one else remembers because it leaves no survivors. The danger is building now, in an exponential fashion. They are afraid-but not afraid-because to an extent their ability to feel emotion has been stripped away. No one knows how to handle the darkness, and so they steam ahead on their journey, unable to fathom what will come up next.