Heart of Darkness Reading Guide Part I 1. Narrative Structure. In Heart of Darkness, we encounter a frame narrative, as some of you may know from works like Frankenstein. That is, the initial narrative frame-story, told by a first narrator (never named) establishes the situation for and frames the telling of a second embedded (and the main) story, told by a second and main narrator, Marlow. Who are the two narrators of the novel? Describe the situation and characters on board the Nellie. How does Marlow differ from the other men, his audience, on board the Nellie? What does the first unnamed narrator and the frame-story contribute to Heart of Darkness? 2. Parallels & Foreshadowing. The unnamed first-person narrator prepares the way for Marlow's initial meditation evok[ing] the great spirit of the past upon the lower reaches of the Thames river. Marlow begins his story suddenly: 'And [England] also... has been one of the dark places of the earth' when the Romans first came here nineteen hundred years ago--the other day In describing the Roman conquest of England, Marlow suggests parallels to the main story of Heart of Darkness: what seems to be foreshadowed? How does Marlow define conquerors and what kind of idea might redeem such conquest? 3. More Foreshadowing. Consider Marlow's account of what drew him out to Africa. What is suggested by his likening the Congo River to a snake and himself to a foolish, charmed bird? Note the case of Fresleven, the river captain whom Marlow is to replace; Marlow's comparison of the city of his employers to a whited sepulchre the ominous atmosphere of the Company's office with the two women knitting black wool and guarding the door of Darkness; the doctor [ alienist = early psychologist] who measures Marlow's head because he has a scientific interest in measuring the mental changes of individuals who venture out to Africa in the Company's employ. What type of experience, what type of journey, do these signs seem to predict? 4. Europeans in Africa. Describe Marlow's first impressions of the European presence in Africa, captured in his observations regarding the French steamer firing into the coast and regarding the Company's lower station. Contrast the Europeans' naming of the Africans as enemies to Marlow's view of the Africans. 5. Marlow s Devils. Consider Marlow's description of the devils he has seen. What are the different types of devils he describes? Why is he so appalled by the flabby, pretending, weak-eyed devil of a rapacious and pitiless folly that he sees in most Europeans in Africa? What does he mean? 6. Europeans in the Congo. Consider the Europeans that Marlow meets at the Company's stations: (a) the Company's chief accountant (why does Marlow respect him?), (b) the manager (why is such a man in command?), (c) the faithless pilgrims (why does Marlow call them that?), (d) the manager's spy (what kind of devil is this papier-mache Mephistopheles?); (e) the sordid buccaneers of the Eldorado Exploring Expedition, (how does Marlow assess these men and their motives for coming to and remaining in Africa?) 7. African Wilderness as Setting & Character. How does Marlow describe the setting: the Congo jungle the wilderness? 8. Marlow & Kurtz. Long before he meets Kurtz, Marlow hears from others that Kurtz is extraordinary, remarkable. On what evidence do these claims seem to be based?
Heart of Darkness Reading Guide Part II 1. Marlow & Kurtz. Marlow, unobserved, overhears a conversation about Kurtz between the manager and his nephew, and states,...i seemed to see Kurtz for the first time, turning his [Kurtz's] back on headquarters and home, setting his face towards the depths of the wilderness... Marlow wonders at Kurtz's motive in turning back to the Inner Station instead of returning home as he had intended. A bit later Marlow begins to supply an answer: Everything belonged to him--but that was a trifle. The thing was to know what he belonged to, how many powers of darkness claimed him for their own. What do you think had called Kurtz back to his Inner Station in the heart of darkness? 2. Marlow & Kurtz. As Marlow progresses on his journey upriver, he grows increasingly excited at the prospect of meeting Kurtz; and when he thinks Kurtz might die before Marlow gets to him, Marlow confesses extreme disappointment : he had looked forward to a talk with Kurtz why? What do you think is the source of Marlow's fascination with Kurtz? Why does Marlow feel that to miss Kurtz would be to miss my destiny in life? 3. African Wilderness as Setting & Character. Marlow observes: Going up the river was like travelling back to the earliest beginnings of the world, a past remembered in the shape of an unrestful and noisy dream, amid this strange African silence, a stillness without peace --the stillness of an implacable force brooding over an inscrutable intention. It looked at you with a vengeful aspect. They crawled toward Kurtz and penetrated deeper and deeper into the heart of darkness (note this title allusion). We were wanderers on a prehistoric earth an atavistic journey into the human past We could have fancied ourselves the first of men taking possession of an accursed inheritance, to be subdued at the cost of profound anguish and of excessive toil. What is this accursed inheritance that Marlow envisions? Kurtz has travelled up this river before Marlow what has happened to Kurtz? 4. Attitude toward Africans. Describe Marlow's attitude toward black Africans. In particular, consider the attitudes expressed around p110. Why does he say that the worst of it is suspecting their not being inhuman? Why is the thought of remote kinship judged Ugly by Marlow? What is their terrible frankness truth stripped of its cloak of time? What does Marlow mean when he says: The mind of man is capable of anything--because everything is in it, all the past as well as all the future? What does it take to prove that one is as much of a man as these [Africans] on shore? 5. Self-Awareness. Marlow admits that there is an appeal to me in this fiendish row [the wild and passionate uproar of the Africans onshore]...very well; I hear;...but I have a voice, too, and for good or evil mine is the speech that cannot be silenced. A bit later Marlow argues with himself about whether or no I would talk openly with Kurtz, but doubts seriously whether it would matter: my speech or my silence...would be a mere futility, for The essentials of this affair lay deep under the surface, beyond my reach, and beyond my power of meddling. Still, Marlow wants to talk to Kurtz and he must tell his [Marlow's own? Kurtz's] story of Heart of Darkness. Consider the theme of voice(s) : Marlow makes what he calls the strange discovery that Kurtz presented himself as a voice. The Russian says, 'You don't talk with that man--you listen to him. Consider Kurtz's pamphlet for the International Society for the Suppression of Savage Customs Kurtz's 17-pages of eloquence and its luminous and terrifying postcription: Exterminate the brutes! as examples of what Kurtz has to say. 6. Motif. There is a dominant motif of perception that becomes particularly clear in this section (no pun intended). For example, the section starts with Marlow believing that he could see Kurtz [clearly] for the first time. The attack on the boat is filled with references to sight and blindness and Kurtz is even referred to as a shade [pun intended this time]. Why is this motif so central to this section? How does it influence the reader s opinion of Marlow? of Kurtz?
Heart of Darkness Reading Guide Part III 1. The Russian. What is the function of the Russian in the novel? What motivates him? What is his relationship to Kurtz? Why does Marlow consider the Russian bewildering and an insoluable problem? What do we and Marlow learn about Kurtz from the Russian? What was Kurtz doing in the heart of darkness? 2. Kurtz. When Kurtz finally appears in the story, does he confirm the advance accounts that we have had of him? Marlow describes Kurtz repeatedly as a voice again; what is the significance of this description? What other terms used to describe Kurtz seem to you particularly important? 3. Marlow & Kurtz. What is the source of Marlow's feeling of kinship with Kurtz? What leads him to call himself Mr Kurtz's friend in a way, to confess that I did not betray Mr. Kurtz it was ordered I should never betray him, to take into his keeping Kurtz's personal papers and his fiancée s photograph, and to remain loyal to Kurtz to the end? 4. Marlow & Kurtz. When Marlow finds Kurtz after he disappeared from the ship, it is the moment, when the foundations of our intimacy were being laid. Marlow tries to break the spell the heavy, mute spell of the wilderness that seemed to draw [Kurtz] to its pitiless breast and understands what had driven him out to the edge of the forest...towards...the throb of drums, the drone of weird incantations;...beguiled his unlawful soul...beyond the bounds of permitted aspiration. What is driving Marlow into this terrible intimacy with Kurtz? Here, in the heart of darkness, Marlow proclaims: Soul! If anybody had ever struggled with a soul, I am the man. Kurtz's soul, Being along in the wilderness,...had looked into itself, and by heavens! I tell you, it had gone mad. I had for my sins, I suppose to go through the ordeal of looking into it myself. Interpret this moment of crisis for Kurtz and for Marlow. 5. Kurtz. To what do Kurtz's final words, The horror! The horror! refer? It is because of Kurtz's last words, finally, that Marlow affirms, Kurtz was a remarkable man. Why does Marlow call these words an affirmation, a moral victory? and why does Marlow later lie to the Intended when she asks for Kurtz's final words? 6. The Lie. The final scene between Marlow and Kurtz's fiancée is charged throughout with verbal and dramatic irony: that is, when the speaker's implicit meanings differ from what he says, and/or the readers share with the author or character knowledge of which another character (i.e. the Intended) is ignorant. Identify some instances of such ironies in this final scene. 7. Foreshadowing. Revisit the opening section of Part I, from when the Romans first came here to What redeems it is the idea only...an unselfish belief in the idea something you can set up, and bow down before, and offer a sacrifice to... Consider the parallels foreshadowing what you now know happens to Kurtz, and to Marlow, in the heart of darkness. Reconsider also Marlow's allusion to a redeeming idea in relation to the Intended's mature capacity for fidelity, for belief, for suffering.the faith that was in her,...that great and saving illusion before which Marlow bows his head and which Marlow preserves by telling a lie. 8. Narrative Structure. The novel concludes by returning to the narrative frame, set aboard the Nellie: the tide is now turning; the unnamed narrator observes that the tranquil waterway [the Thames] seems now to lead into the heart of an immense darkness. Marlow is described as sitting apart...in the pose of a meditating Buddha : do you think Marlow has achieved some sort of enlightenment? Have you? Now that you, too, have experienced Marlow's story, revisit and reinterpret the unnamed narrator's description of where the meaning lies of one of Marlow's tales. What, for you, seem to be the meaning(s) of Heart of Darkness?
Heart of Darkness Discussion Questions Section I LONDON THE THAMES SETTING: 1. Who is the narrator? What kind of person is he? 2. Notice the description of the tide, river, and ships. What atmosphere does Conrad create by his description of the Thames scene? 3. Who are the friends of Marlow who are on board the Nellie with him? Record their occupations. What do their various occupations suggest about the subjects important to the novel? 4. Marlow is like the setting of the river the brooding nature that he describes. The narrator says that he sits like an idol. What is suggested by his sitting position and his state of mind? 5. What is Marlow s background and experience? How is he different from the others? 6. What does Marlow mean by his comments on the telling of a story? On the kernel and the misty halo? 7. As the ship sits at anchor on the Thames, Marlow is reminded of the past. The Thames is a waterway... to the utmost ends of the earth ; the river represents the spirit of the past. Why has the Thames been one of the dark places? What is the significance of the reference to the invasions of the Romans? 8. What are some of Marlow s ideas and values? 9. Look at the description of the map that Marlow studies as he contemplates his journey. Why is the river like a snake? 10. Why does Marlow want to go to the Congo? How does he get the appointment? 11. What is Marlow s attitude toward women? Look at the references to his aunt, for example. 12. Who is Fresleven? 13. What effect is created by Marlow s interruption by the first narrator? The narrative technique in the novel is like a series of Chinese boxes Conrad the author, an unnamed narrator who tells us about Marlow, Marlow who tells about his journey and about Kurtz, and the voice of Kurtz who is the innermost voice. What thematic and narrative purposes might be served by these layers of narrative voices? [ he paused He broke off.. inconclusive experiences He was silent for a while 3 times] BRUSSELS PREPARATION FOR THE JOURNEY: 14. Look at the description of the map that Marlow studies as he contemplates his journey. Why is the river like a snake? 15. In what way do the women help Marlow? 16. As you read, notice the ways in which women are presented in the narrative. Try to develop a concept of what you think Marlow s attitude toward women is. Notice that even though his aunt gets the job for him, he observes near the end of this section that she is like other women out of touch with truth. What does he mean? 17. What kind of place is Brussels? What mood is associated with this city? 18. Who is Fresleven? 19. Explain the comparison of Brussels to a whited sepulcher. 20. What is the doctor s quiet joke?
21. How does Marlow feel before he leaves for the Congo? (mentally-- ; physically ) 22. Marlow builds a series of images to describe the Company Office. Many of these details have traditional symbolic meanings. Think about the meanings of the following, and if possible connect them to either the Bible or classical mythology: Ø whited sepulchre ( ) Ø narrow street ( ) Ø two women knitting ( ) Ø the deadly snake ( ) Ø the center of the map, of Africa, of the earth ( ) Ø the color black ( ) Ø the doctor who prophesies madness ( ) Ø the sun ( ) Ø the imposter character type ( ) Ø the archetypal journey (the entire book)
Heart of Darkness Discussion Questions Section II Part I THE JOURNEY TO THE INNER STATION: 1. What does Marlow learn when he overhears the manager and his uncle? What new image of Kurtz is suggested? Note the mixture of idealistic beliefs and rumors. 2. What are Marlow s difficulties as skipper on the trip upriver? 3. Study the descriptions of the river the hidden evil and the profound darkness of its heart. Find other descriptive phrases. LIFE ON THE RIVER 4. In what dual sense is Marlow penetrating deeper and deeper into the heart of darkness? 5. What do the circumstances of his journey contribute to his assertion that human beings need a deliberate belief? Do you agree with him? What is his belief in? 6. What are we to think of the natives depicted in Heart of Darkness? 7. What does Marlow learn from An Inquiry into Some Points of Seamanship? 8. Marlow again insists on the importance of his work, of being at work. Why? 9. Marlow says that the essentials of this affair lay deep under the surface. How does his subsequent description of the landscape capture that hiddenness? How does the fog affect Marlow s attitude toward his work? 10. Marlow is very complimentary of the cannibals on board his ship. Why? Think about the ways in which the Europeans Marlow has met have not shown restraint. 11. Who is the enchanted princess sleeping in a fabulous castle? Is the language of the description appropriate? Explain. 12. How do you interpret Marlow s remarks about the women? 13. Why do the natives attack? 14. Why does Marlow react as he does to the murder of his helmsman? Why does he throw away his shoes? 15. The pilgrims shoot into the jungle. Remember the warship shooting into the African coastline? What is Marlow suggesting is like about the two? 16. For what different reasons do the cannibal crewmen and the pilgrims object to Marlow s disposal of the dead helmsman? 17. What does Marlow think of his companions on the steamer? THE ARRIVAL 18. This is a very important section of the novel. What does Marlow say about belief and the loss of belief? 19. Consider the voices: the voice of Kurtz, of the first narrator, of the Intended. What is the voice of civilization? What is its value? What do these voices mean? 20. Marlow says that all of Europe is responsible for Kurtz. In what way is this true? 21. Kurtz is a man who is eloquent with words; he is also the man who declares, Exterminate all the brutes! Explain this irony of his character.
22. What is the nature of Kurtz s report to the International Society for the Suppression of Savage Customs? What is the contrast between the main body of the report and its postcript? 23. What do we learn about Kurtz s methods of securing ivory and of his relationship with the natives? Cite passages which indicate these things. 24. What is the bond Marlow feels for Kurtz? How is the theme of restraint important here? 25. What does Marlow admire about Kurtz? Disapprove of in Kurtz? 26. What do Marlow and Kurtz have in common? How are they different? 27. When Marlow looks at the Inner Station through his binoculars, what exactly does he see? 28. What is Kurtz s place like? What has been going on? 29. Who is the harlequin? Describe him. 30. What does he symbolize? What is his function in the novel? 31. What advice does he give Marlow? 32. What is the book that Marlow gives him? 33. What is the young Russian sailor s attitude toward Kurtz? What information does he give Marlow about Kurtz? 34. In what way do you think the harlequin s mind has been enlarged? 35. How much credibility do you attach to the remarks of the Russian harlequin? Explain. 36. How does Part II change the portrait we see of Kurtz? 37. To what does the title Heart of Darkness refer? 38. Discuss the symbolic significance of Marlow s journey up the river. 39. Discuss the imagery of light and dark in one of the scenes. 40. What protections does Marlow list from the temptations of savagery in the absence of civilization? 41. Discuss the theme of restraint in the novel. 42. How would you describe Conrad s style of writing? Do you find it effective? (Why/why not)
COAST OF AFRICA: Heart of Darkness Discussion Questions Section II Part II THE JOURNEY: THE FIRST STAGE 1. As Marlow journeys down the coast of Africa on the French steamer, he is struck by the appearance of the coastline, the brightness of the sun, the ridiculous shooting into the jungle of the warship, and the mixture of death and trade. What feelings about Africa, about Europeans, and about the job he is about to assume are aroused by these first encounters of his journey? 2. What scenes of the journey reveal to Marlow the heartless exploitation of the natives and the futility of the colonial system? 3. Look at a map of Africa. What river does Marlow journey upward? THE OUTER STATION: 4. Describe what Marlow sees at the First Station. What is signified by the abandoned machinery, the chaotic appearance, and the suffering of the slaves? 5. What is the devil of rapacious and pitiless folly? 6. In the grove of death Marlow sees a slave wearing a bit of white worsted about his neck. How does this detail connect to the theme of European invasion of Africa? 7. Why does Marlow regard work as important? 8. Describe the Chief Accountant. Why does Marlow notice him? What does he do? 9. What does the accountant represent? Do you admire or dislike him? Why? 10. What is Marlow s attitude toward the accountant and the work going on at the Outer Station? 11. Why do you think Conrad included the accountant in the novel? 12. Find the reference to Kurtz. What kind of person do you imagine him to be? 13. Marlow emphasizes the motif of paths as he describes the land journey to the Central Station. What is the symbolic significance? What does Marlow say about death? THE CENTRAL STATION: 14. Marlow finds his steamer at the bottom of the river and a manager who seems to take it for granted that nothing will be done efficiently. How does Marlow react? How does he adjust? What does he mean when he says there are no external checks 15. What are his reactions to the explanation given to him? How is the situation concerning the rivets typical of the colonial system as he sees it? 16. Who is the flabby devil who is running the show? 17. Why is Marlow so frustrated by what he sees in Africa and by the Europeans he meets? 18. What sort of character is the manager; how is he described? 19. What does he learn about Kurtz? 20. What does the overheard conversation between the manager and the brickmaker contribute to his knowledge of Kurtz? 21. What is Marlow s attitude toward the manager and toward the work of the Central Station?
22. Look at the description of the oil painting by Kurtz of the blindfolded woman. Remember this image; it will have important connections at other points in the novel. What is the meaning of Kurtz s painting? 23. What impression does the painting give of Kurtz the painter? 24. What impression does the painting give of the woman? 25. What do you make of the strange episode of the fire and the hold in the bottom of the watering pail? What does this event contribute to Marlow s and the reader s sense of European life in Africa? 26. What details do you learn about the character of the brickmaker? What is a papier-mâché Mephistopheles? Why does he call the brickmaker a papier-mâché Mephistopheles? 27. What is Marlow s lie? Why does he tell it? Is it justified? Explain. 28. As he assumes his task, Marlow says that work is a way of keeping hold on the redeeming facts of life. What do you think he means? Why is this attitude toward work important for him in Africa? 29. In the midst of the narrative, Marlow stops and speaks to his listeners: Do you see him? Do you see the story? Do you see anything? It seems to me I am trying to tell you a dream What effect is created? What is the significance of the repetition of the verb to see? Marlow seems to call special attention to the particular episode that is occurring, suggesting that it is important and especially difficult to understand. What do you think he wants us to see? 30. Why are rivets important to Marlow? Again, he talks about work: I don t like work but I like what is in the work the chance to find yourself. Your own reality As the novel progresses, think about whether or not this is true for the European invaders of Africa, for Marlow, for Kurtz. 31. Who is the dark figure in front of the manager s hut? Give evidence for you answer. 32. What does Marlow say about the Eldorado Exploring Expedition? What is the true nature of the expedition? 33. To what themes is the Eldorado Exploring Expedition connected? 34. What are the different stages of Marlow s journey and what does each stage represent?
THE INNER STATION Heart of Darkness Discussion Questions Section III 1. Why does this section change take place in the middle of an action? Is that what happens with Section II? Are these seemingly abrupt breaks appropriate in any way? What do you think Marlow intends to convey by this three-part division of his story? 3. What new interpretation of the harlequin is suggested by this opening section? 4. What are the knobs Marlow describes? 5. Look at Marlow s response to Kurtz. What other motifs in the novel can you connect to Marlow s emphasis on his lack of restraint; the fact of his eloquence when he is hollow at the core? 6. What does the manager say about Kurtz s methods? 7. What details make up the scene in which Kurtz is carried on a stretcher to the ship? 8. Describe the native woman. 9. Why do you think Kurtz tries to escape from the steamer back to his station? 10. How does Marlow persuade Kurtz to return to the ship? 11. What does Kurtz talk about on the voyage down the river? 12. What different references does Marlow make to Kurtz s voice and why? 13. Examine Marlow s feelings about Kurtz and the manager. What changes in attitude is Marlow experiencing? How does he feel about each of these men by the time they begin the journey back down the river and as that journey progresses? 14. How is Kurtz s life related to the flow of the river and the heart of darkness of the jungle? 15. What are the significance of Kurtz s last words? What do Kurtz s last words mean to him? To Marlow? To you? 16. What is the horror? Why does Marlow call his cry a moral victory? 17. What motifs that have been developed throughout the novel are recapitulated here? 18. What is Marlow s view of Kurtz at the end of this section? 19. What has Marlow learned from his journey? What darkness does he see in himself? BRUSSELS 20. After Marlow s return to Brussels, what three people ask him about Kurtz? What is the purpose of each? 21. Describe the Intended and her environment. 22. Contrast the Intended with the native woman on the docks. Are these negative or positive portrayals of women? 23. Recall the painting by Kurtz and the description of the native woman mourning his departure. What similarities do you see in colors and gestures? What differences are there? 24. How do the Intended and the native woman symbolize the oppositions of the novel? 25. What interpretation of the Intended s role in the novel is suggested by her appearance, the appearance of her surroundings, and by her statements? 26. Examine carefully each statement that is made by Marlow and by the Intended in their interview. What ironies do you see? 27. What lie does Marlow tell? Do you agree with his decision?
28. Why does Marlow like to the Intended when he has said how much he hates lying? Why not tell her the truth, or tell her that Kurtz had no last words, rather than affirming her sentimental and mundane ideas? 29. How is Marlow s decision to lie related to his earlier comments about women? 30. Consider the possibility that in a certain way, Marlow does not lie to the Intended. What is the connection between her name and the horror? 31. How has Marlow been changed by his journey to Africa? 32. Would the Director of Companies, or the Lawyer, or the Accountant, be affected by a term of service at the Inner Station the way Kurtz was? Explain. 33. How does the last paragraph relate to the beginning of the story? 34. Why is Marlow again described as a Buddha? 35. What is meant by the comment, We have lost the first of the ebb? Where does the novel end?
Heart of Darkness Discussion Questions Book as a Whole 1. What are the motives of the Europeans in the novel? Are these motives good? Are the Europeans sincere? Explain. 2. Does Marlow s attitude toward colonialism and imperialism change over the course of the novel? Explain. 3. What does Heart of Darkness suggest about society? Do you agree? Why or why not? 4. The Nigerian writer Chinua Achebe has claimed the Heart of Darkness is an offensive and deplorable book that set[s] Africa up as a foil to Europe, as a place of negations at once remote and vaguely familiar, in comparison with which Europe s own state of spiritual grace will be manifest. Achebe says that Conrad does not provide enough of an outside frame of reference to enable the book to be read as ironic or critical of imperialism. Based on the evidence in the text, argue for or against Achebe s assertion. 5. Discuss the symbolic importance of the Congo River in this narrative. Why does Marlow travel primarily by boat and seldom on land? 6. Conrad s narrative technique imitates the methods of an oral storyteller sudden jumps in time, pauses, hesitations, digressions, repetitions, and impressionism (often repeating a series of impressions before putting them together to decide what they mean). Provide and discuss examples of each element. 7. In a critical essay, C. P. Sarvan writes, The darkness which is often mentioned refers not only to the darkness within man, to the mysterious and unpredictable, but also to ignorance and illusions. Relate this concept to the novel and its recurring motif of darkness, citing specific examples to prove your point. 8. Some critics believe that in Heart of Darkness Conrad illustrates how the darkness of the landscape can lead to the darkness of social corruption. What does this statement mean? How can one s environment affect one s actions, feelings, and morals? Is this statement believable or not? Have you ever experienced a change in yourself that resulted from a change in your environment? What kind of change was it? 9. Heart of Darkness seems to blur the line between the so-called advanced society of Europe and the primitive society of Africa. What makes one culture civilized and another savage in the eyes of the world? Are these distinctions valid? Do you think that the culture you live in is advanced or civilized? Why? 10. The novel is filled with comparisons and contrasts that help develop the plot, theme, and characters in Conrad s novel. Discuss the following: Thames River & Congo River The Brickmaker & the Russian The Company Offices & the Intended s House Kurtz & Marlow White Imperialists & Black Natives The Intended & The Native Woman Flabby Devils & Red-Eyed devils Wilderness & Civilization Who Kurtz is vs. Who he appears to be Light & Darkness