This novel deals with the issue of the superior differences between those described as civilized and those described as savages.

The novel raised important questions about imperialism and racism. Nigerian novelist Chinua Achebe said about it: “Conrad presents an image of Africa as the ‘other,’ the opposite of Europe, and therefore the opposite of civilization.” He added: “What worries Conrad is not the difference between whites and Africans, but the allusion to their kinship and common ancestors.”

As for Edward Said, he believes that Conrad was both an imperialist and an anti-imperialist at the same time, but what distinguishes him from his contemporary colonial writers is that he “was aware of what he was doing, for reasons that go back in part to the colonialism that turned him, the Polish immigrant, into an employee of the imperialist system!”

The novel tells the story of Marlow's journey on the Congo River in the heart of Africa, and his story with the ivory trader Kurtz. Through this, it depicts colonial environments and the deep corruption they cause in human life. The novel was turned into a movie entitled "Apocalypse Now," directed by Francis Ford Coppola, and starring Marlon Brando. It has been translated into Arabic several times with different titles.