Heart of Darkness centers on Marlow, an introspective sailor, and his journey up the Congo River to meet Kurtz, a reportedly idealistic man of great abilities. Marlow takes a job with the Company piloting a steamship in the Belgian Congo. Marlow encounters widespread idiocy and absurd inefficiency in the Company's stations. The native inhabitants of the region have been impressed into service for the Company, and they suffer terribly from overwork and ill treatment at the hands of the Company's agents. When Marlow arrives at the Central Station, under the control of the general manager, an unwholesome, conspiratorial character, he finds that his stea