God and Sin in Heart of Darkness
A long debated issue that has plagued human beings since the fall of man is what leads people to commit evil actions and whether evil is inherent in all people. In the literary work of Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness, Marlow grapples with those two similar issues. They way in which Charlie Marlow, the protagonist and skipper, goes about determining the answers are by observing his and other people's goals and motivations throughout his voyage of discovery and self-enlightenment in the Congo of Africa.
In the novel Heart of Darkness Joseph Conrad seems to be suggesting that the environment pushes people to their extremes, so they commit evil actions. I agree with this idea because in the Bible it says; "1 Corinthians 15:33, ...bad company corrupts good character." Anybody can look around and see that the world is evil. You may see people like politicians doing good for the community on the news, but you know that they are truly looking out for their own self-benefit, more money and publicity. Or even in the novel where it tells about Kurtz having the most successful ivory station in Africa, the way in which he achieved this is by raiding other tribes of their possessions. The Bible states that in "1 John 2:16, For the world offers only the lust for physical pleasure, the lust for everything we see, and pride in our possessions. These are not from the Father. They are from this evil world." There are several cases of people having mental breakdowns because of stress from the world's imperfectness. This mental collapse sometimes results in them attempting to, or actually murdering others, or even committing suicide. In "Jeremiah 17:9, The Heart is more deceitful that all else and is desperately sick; Who can understand it?" This verse gives proof that our hearts are sick from the evil in them, which corrupts good judgment and self-restraint. For another example the character Kurtz, the owner of the inner station, which is the most successful station, turned his back on his European roots. Kurtz became a god to the natives, and killed people who displeased him. Evidently, one has to admit, whether or not they believe in God, that the world is evil, corrupt, and man is prone to react abnormally to a difference of environment.
I believe that we inherited our capacity of evil from Adam "Romans 5:12, 17, When Adam sinned, sin entered the entire human race. Adam's sin brought death, so death spread to everyone, for everyone sinned." An example of this in general would be as Michael Roy Luce, my youth pastor, says; "a chicken is a chicken and a person is a person." Meaning, a chicken cannot do or be anything more than a chicken can be. The chicken can try to fly or pretend to fly but he will never truly fly. Just like a person can try to be, but cannot truly be perfect because he is not God, he is merely a human being. In the Heart of Darkness, Kurtz was not born a murder but he was born with the capacity to murder and to commit other sins. The only difference is that he hardens himself towards the guilt of murder, instead of lying or cheating, which would seem like the lesser evil to the world. Yet they are all equally detestable in God's eyes but we still try to justify our sins. The Bible talks about this very topic... "Romans 1:18-21, 25, 26; 18 But God shows his anger from heaven against all sinful, wicked people who push the truth away from themselves. 19 For the truth about God is known to them instinctively. God has put this knowledge in their hearts. 20 From the time the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky and all that God made. They can clearly see his invisible qualities - his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse whatsoever for not knowing God. 21 Yes, they knew God, but they wouldn't worship him as God or even give him thanks. And they began to think up foolish ideas of what God was like. The result was that their minds became dark and confused. 25 Instead of believing what they knew was the truth about God, they deliberately chose to believe lies. So they worshiped the things God made but not the Creator himself, who is to be praised forever. Amen. 26 That is why God abandoned them to their shameful desires."
I am concluding that since the fall of man, selfishness and environmental surroundings lead people to commit evil actions. In addition to that, evil is inherent in all people because everybody is born with the capability to sin, for instance the Bible says; "Psalms 58:3, These wicked people are born sinners; even from birth they have lied and gone their own way." Therefore as you can obviously see we live in an evil world. The only true standard of good and evil has to be something not of this world since it is evil. Because how can you make a scale to way one evil against another hoping to find the lesser evil? You cannot because everybody's perception of the extremity of a sin is different. Realizing all of that, without God there are no absolutes, just the insanity of mankind trying to be something they are not capable of being.
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