Heart of Darkness

Text Guides

Character Analysis

The Company Accountant

It can be difficult to keep track of all the Company employees Marlow meets in the Congo, so I recommend making a mindmap or poster that shows where, and who, Marlow meets. This will help you locate different scenes or passages within the text, and stop you making simple and avoidable mistakes regarding the novella’s plot.
One thing to note about many of the characters Marlow meets in the Congo is that they lack personal names but are rather identified by their role in the imperial bureaucracy (eg. ‘the Accountant’, ‘The Brick-Maker’). This suggests that these characters are pure allegory, pure symbol – they represent the whole colonial enterprise, rather than individual men.

Unlock The Company Accountant

Sign up to unlock the rest of this guide — plus every other topic, video, flashcard set and eBook guide in your SnapRevise+ subscription.

Cancel anytime — instant access the moment you sign up.