Of the three stories in this volume, it is "Heart of Darkness" that stands out to most people's minds. It is usually considered Conrad's greatest and most important work, collapsing the boundaries between the civilized and the so-called uncivilized, as represented in the figure of Kurtz. This realization is what dooms Kurtz and haunts the narrator, Marlow, until the end of his days--or at least the end of this book--for Marlow also appears in several other of Conrad's stories and novels. In terms of form, what is most interesting is that the psychological untangling of Kurtz occurs following his death, as Marlow muses upon and reveals his discussions with the man and also unveils his writing and descent into the void, the abyss.

Yet, for my interest, it is the other two stories that are most interesting. "The End of the Tether" and "Youth: A Narrative" both point more towards the melancholy and elegiac tones that Conrad would most often employ. Not the the total darkness that envelopes Marlow, Kurtz, and the reader in "Heart of Darkness." The two earlier stories seem more in line with what I believe to be Conrad's greatest work, Lord Jim, and to anticipate much of what will follow in other stories and novels.

"Youth" and "End of the Tether" perfectly bookend each other. "Youth" describes a young seaman gaining his first position of authority as second mate on a vessel bearing coal from London to Bangkok. The young sailor's delight at experiencing adventure and challenges is contrasted to the 60 year-old captain aboard. The old man has just gained his first command and it turns into a disaster for him but an enlightenment for the young Marlow, both the protagonist and narrator of this tale. It opens him to the exotic East, even as it leaves the old man, Captain Beard, broken and destroyed.

It is a case of the reverse in "End of the Tether," where the focus is on the aged Captain Whalley, trying to make just one last run as the captain of his vessel. Already isolated and penniless, the victim of misfortune and corruption, Whalley also nurses a fatal secret that leads to his destruction. All of the optimism and thirst for experience that carries Marlow along throughout the pages of "Youth" appear in "End of the Tether" as lost filaments of the past. Exhaustion dominates the atmosphere. Exhaustion with life. Even exhaustion with the sea. Only one motivation remains: duty. ( )