“The Universal Geniuses”: Journeys of Marlow and Kurtz as Journey of the Buddha to Enlightenment

Heart of Darkness, post-colonial novella by Joseph Conrad, can be interpreted in many ways. Some may read it as colonial fiction, portraying the dark side of colonialism and how the European exploit the African. Some may read it as Modernist fiction. Marlow’s exotic adventure to Africa is his journey to meet his real self, which is his subconscious. The “Heart” of “Darkness” is unknown to most of us, yet Marlow manages to see the mystery of man’s spiritual life. However, Marlow and Kurtz’ discovering selves can be interpreted in Buddhist context as well.
The description of Marlow is mentioned three times throughout the book: twice at the beginning and once at the end. At the opening of the story, Marlow is described that “He sat cross-legged right aft, leaning against the mizzen-mast. He had sunken cheeks, a yellow complexion, a straight back, an ascetic aspect, and, with his arm dropped, the palm of hands outwards, resemble an idol” (page 2). The characteristic of Marlow in the description is similar to Buddha in many ways. Firstly, “an ascetic aspect” of Marlow is one of the most important principles of Buddhist practice. The Buddhist believes that self-discipline can help people get less distracted from worldly pleasure, the biggest obstacle for enlightenment. His self-discipline will prepare the reader for Marlow’s rejection of worldly pleasure later. Secondly, his posture represents the Buddha at the moment of enlightenment. Although Conrad does not specify the name of an idol, the reader can definitely relate his posture to Buddha statue. The most common iconic image of Buddha is “Bhumi-Sparsha Mudra” or “The Earth-Witness Mudra”, a posture of Buddha defeating Mara in the night before his enlightenment. Lastly, the mizzen...

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...f Marlow and Kurtz is the same way Buddhists like us think of Buddha. We all know that Buddha is special in some way, but we do not really know how extraordinary he is. Sometimes we question about Buddha that how he feels about the world or can he really get rid of all emotion after the enlightenment. This is because that we learn about his experiences from the books or hearing to his story. We have not experienced it by ourselves. Therefore, how the Buddhists perceive the enlightenment of Buddha is the same way European and African people see Kurtz and Marlow.

In conclusion, journeys of Marlow and Kurtz can be interpreted as journey of Buddha. Even though they are not perfect beings, at last they achieve some forms of enlightenment. And Marlow’s story that is told by him, sitting in the gesture of Buddha, can be the sermon that brings lights to all of us.