Again, Fresleven is not a character that we hear about in much detail, but he is used by Conrad to foreshadow Marlow’s journey. One of the most significant indications that Marlow will undergo some kind of spiritual deterioration or transmutation in the novella is the early mention of Fresleven – one of the Company’s captions who is “killed in a scuffle with the natives” before Marlow arrives in the Congo. Initially a gentle man, Marlow suggests that Fresleven’s years “engaged in the noble cause” caused his sudden lapse into violence, attacking a native African chief after a dispute over some hens. Marlow himself suggests that will be “stepp[ing] into [Fresleven’s] shoes”. This indicates that Marlow’s physical voyage into the centre of Africa doubles as a journey into the centre of his own psyche; by stepping into Fresleven’s shoes, an unsuspecting Marlow is embarking on an expedition into the capacity for darkness within his own heart. Later, following the death of his Helmsman, Marlow flings his blood- covered shoes overboard – indicative of the his rejection of the role he inherited from Fresleven, as well as his disenchantment with the entire objectives of the Company itself.
