Heart of Darkness: Human or Humane?
Upon reading Heart of Darkness we are immediately struck with the issue of the “nature of man”, and what it means to be human or humane. To be human means to have a mind, to be living, and function as a primate. To be humane on the other hand means to be tender, compassionate, affectionate, kindhearted, and empathetic. It is often assumed that to be human means to be humane, but as Marlow learned on his excursion through the dark jungle of the Congo, one has nothing to do with the other.
Marlow’s first taste of man’s true self as he saw it, began when he saw the six man chain gang, as was referred to in the book, six black men chained together obviously being treated as inferiors, almost as slaves. “I could see every rib, the joints of their limbs were like knots in a rope;each had an iron collar on his neck, and all were connected together with a chain whose bights swung between them, rhythmically clinking.” (Conrad, pg. 81)
Upon seeing this atrocious sight of men being treated as savages, Marlow compares the white men who are leading these chained up men, to devils, by remarking that he had seen devils, but never devils who drove other men like cattle. Men who were no different then themselves, except in the color of their skin.
As Marlow continues down the Congo, he begins to reflect upon the river, as the river of truth and reality, because as he transcends down it, his ability to find the truth in any situation grows. With every turn, he learns that mans inhumanity to his own kind is man’s greatest sin.
On page 106 Conrad talks about how Marlow felt when he was proceeding towards Kurtz’s station, and he explains that he{Marlow} can feel the past, among the overwhelming realities brought upon by the river, the trees, and the silence.
“There were moments when ones past came back to one, as it will sometimes when you have not a moment to spare to yourself;but it came in the shape of an unrestful and noisy dream,remembered with wonder amongst the overwhelming realities of the strange world of plants,and water, and silence....When you have to attend to things of that sort, to the mere incidents of the surface, the reality- the reality, I tell you-fades. The inner truth is hidden-luckily, luckily.-But it felt all the same. “ (Conrad, pg. 106)
This discovery of truth by Marlow was unexpected, but the discoveries that he was making about Kurtz, and the manager kept him going, yearning for more discoveries.
The truth struck Marlow once again, when he and the crew aboard the little steamer heard drums rolling in the blanket of jungle that encompassed them. They were unsure what these drums ment, for they could be out of kindness or hate. But as him and his crew ventured into the heart of darkness, Marlow was sent back into prehistory, where naked savages danced in fury, or in happiness. What Marlow described it as was a “black and incomprehensible frenzy.”
But as the natives continued on with their tumultuous noise, and dance, Marlow had no choice to admit that these men were humans just as he was. The truth of it was there right in front of him, undeniable.
“...But if you were man enough, you would admit to yourself that there was in you just the faintest trace of a response to the terrible frankness of that noise, a dim suspicion of there being a `meaning in it which you -you so remote from the night of first ages could comprehend. And why not? The mind of man is capable of anything-because everything is in it, all the past as well as all the future. “ (Conrad, pg. 109)
In the end Marlow realized that not only did human nature not include the ability to be humane, but the people being discriminated against (the black natives) were kindred with him, and all of man. The river gave Marlow the chance to experience the hatred and the truth of the world, by showing him the inhumane creatures (the white men), and introducing him to a world of people no different from his own (the black natives). Marlow finally found the heart of darkness, but was able to leave the Congo with a renewed light about him and everything he believed true.
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