Vestis Virim Facet (HOD part 2)

In this next section of reading, there is an interesting contrast between darkness and color, as well as darkness and lightness (big surprise here). When Marlow is in the office of the Belgian firm for the applications, the map of Africa catches Marlow's eye. The interesting part about this map of the dark continent is that it is marked up with colorful thumbtacks (to denote controlled areas). Therefore, it is such that in the darkness of the company treating entire areas of land as though they were nothing but property, they are creating a facade of color and applying a sense of innocence to the entire situation. Furthermore, the office itself was a place of darkness. The clerk that motions for Marlow to come is apparently a sickly older gentleman in whom the light of youth has faded. The decripit state of the knitters as well as the clerk casts a shadow of darkness across the entire situation. On a related note, the concept of physical appearance is applied to the entire light versus dark debate. The European standard of appearance is seen as light, correct, and good. In contrast, however, the native dress of the Africans was seen as in the dark.