Heart of Darkness

The other day in English class, our teacher was discussing Heart of Darkness. He said that basically the entire point of the book is to understand the ambiguity (ironic) and all the juxtapositions. Basically HOW the book was written, and not what it is about. Right when he said that I knew I was in deep mud because I barely understood what it was about, and barely had any idea about how it was written (besides super difficultly and complicated enough so I don't know what's going on). I don't notice the majority of what he talks about the next day in class, and just confuse myself even more when I try to look for them when I read the next couple pages. I really hope Heart of Darkness isn't a pivotal book in my life, because I would be in trouble if it was. I'm really relying on the other books I've read for the AP test, because I don't understand what is happening.