# Marlow — Heart of Darkness character guide

> Marlow in Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad.

**Role:** major

**Also known as:** Charlie Marlow, dear Charlie

**First appearance:** 0000-i

## Snapshot

A seasoned sailor who takes a steamboat up an African river and finds the silence of the wilderness watching him like a vengeful force.

## Who they are

Marlow is the teller of this tale, a seaman who has learned to read the surface of things — hidden banks, sunken snags, the thump of a scraped keel — while suspecting that the inner truth stays hidden. He is grateful to the cannibals who push his tinpot boat and unnerved by white men who seem held captive by a spell. His habit of guessing at the channel, mostly by inspiration, makes him the ideal guide into a world where the reality fades and only the stillness remains.

## In the story

### [I](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/heart_of_darkness_se/chapters/i)

Narrator and protagonist, observing the station's absurdity and hearing of Kurtz for the first time.

### [II](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/heart_of_darkness_se/chapters/ii)

Narrates the journey, struggles with the steamboat, reflects on the wilderness and the natives.

### [Chapter III](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/heart_of_darkness_se/chapters/iii)

Narrator who pursues and confronts Kurtz, then pilots the steamboat downriver.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/heart_of_darkness_se/characters/marlow
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/heart_of_darkness_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/heart_of_darkness_se/characters