-Konrad Korzeniowski was born in Poland and had always wanted to travel to Africa (blank map)
-At 32 years old, he sailed for the Congo believing that Leopold's mission in Africa was truly "noble"
-Korzeniowski became Joseph Conrad
-He was horrified by the greed and brutality of the white men in the Congo and his view on human nature was profoundly affected, leading him to write Heart of Darkness after 8 years of brooding
-Hochschild describes Charlie Marlow as "Conrad's alter ego"
-Hocschild also reveals that Mr. Kurtz's enigmatic character is based off of real people:
1. Georges Antoine Klein--a French agent for an ivory-gathering firm who died on shipboard just like Kurtz did in the story
2. Major Edmund Barttelot--put in charge of the rear column on the Emin Pasha expedition and went crazy and started to bite/hurt/kill people, until he himself was ultimately murdered
3. Arthur Hodister, a Belgian infamous for his harem of African women and gathering of ivory
-But, Hochschild says that Kurtz resembles 4. Captain Leon Rom the most.
-Leon Rom was the captain of the Force Publique, Leopold's private army and police force in the Congo
-the collection of African heads surrounding Kurtz's house is true to life when it comes to Rom
-What's more-- Conrad and Rom actually met in the Congo in the year 1890!
