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In Heart of Darkness, why does Marlow seek to pilot a steamboat up the Congo River?

Marlow admits that he has always been fascinated by maps, especially "blank" unexplored areas of maps, and that the one "blank" space on the map that most intrigued him was Africa, especially the region around the Congo River. Marlow's fascination with this area can partly be explained as a boy's idealistic tendency to view adventures into the unknown as exciting. However, there are darker, more sinister elements also at work here. For instance, Marlow also suggests that the Congo River on the map resembled a snake, and that it exerted a dark, hypnotic power over him. Thus, we get the sense that exploration of the river is analogous to an exploration of something much darker, such as the evil in the heart of all humans. 


Knowing these facts, we can suggest two reasons for Marlow's desire to pilot the steamboat up the Congo River. The first is that Marlow is trying to fulfill a boyhood fascination with traveling in the area. The second is that a part of Marlow is fascinated by this dark and foreboding "empty space" and wants to explore its significance. Thus, Marlow not only wants to complete a physical journey, but he also wants to metaphorically journey into the dark space of human nature in order to (somewhat perversely) understand it better. 

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