“The conquest of the earth, which mostly means the taking it away from those who have a different complexion or slightly flatter noses than ourselves, is not a pretty thing when you look into it too much” (The Norton Anthology, 21). The Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad is about Marlow, the protagonist, and his journey through the heart of Africa, up the Congo River, searching for rich and wealthy European businessman Kurtz. Conrad, through the character Marlow, exposes his experiences and nightmares during his journey up the Congo River, as he witnessed the brutal torments and merciless murders of the natives. This time period of the 1900s brought forth improved technologies, weapons and global connections, this sociohistorical era gave rise …show more content…
Just as Marlow represent Conrad, Kurtz represents George Antoine Klein. Kurtz was initially portrayed as a highly successful and wealthy trader. According to Bodek, “As Marlow delves deeper into the continent, it is things European that weigh most heavily on his soul. . . the closer that Marlow gets to Kurtz, the more menacing become the stories of the man’s accomplishments” (Bodek, 26). When Marlow reaches Kurtz’s abode, he is completely appalled with the scenario. The symbolism of power is evident as Marlow notices the skulls of men who disobeyed Conrad are ornamented as the peripheral of his house. Kurtz is the personification of the inner evil of humans- greed and aggressive power. Conrad alludes to the idea of greed for power and wealth permeates European colonialism. Kurtz’s corrupted mind allows him to bluntly attack natives by stating, “…must necessarily appear to them [savages] in the nature of super-natural beings- we approach them with the might as of a deity… Exterminate all the brutes!” (The Norton Anthology, 56). According to Conrad, Kurtz symbolizes the extreme levels of brutality of European rule to the point where the distinction between reality and delusion is foggy. Through the use of symbolism and personifying the characteristics of greed and insanity, Conrad expands the dimensions of his argument and qualifies his claim about this brutality of
In Heart of Darkness, all of Joseph Conrad’s characters seem to have morally ambiguous tendencies. The most prominently morally ambiguous character is Kurtz, whose distance from society changes his principles, and leads him to lose all sense of decorum. Conrad takes a cynical tone when describing Marlow's journey. Marlow's voyage through the Congo gives him insight to the horrific, dehumanizing acts that his company and Kurtz conduct. Conrad creates a parallel with the tone of his writing and the misanthropic feelings that the main character experiences. Furthermore, Conrad creates a frame story between Kurtz and Marlow, adding to the symbolism and contrast between contextual themes of light and dark, moral and immoral, and civilization and wilderness. After being sent on a horrific journey into the Congo of Africa, as an agent for the Company to collect ivory, Marlow finds the infamous and mysterious Kurtz. Kurtz, who has totally withdrawn from society, and has withdrawn
Kurtz was the chief of the Inner Station, where he was in charge of a very important ivory-trading post. Marlow learns that because of Kurtz’s ability to obtain more ivory than anybody else, he is of “greatest importance to the Company” and is to become a “somebody in the Administration” (Conrad 143). However, a critical aspect is the way in which he went about his business, as it was ruthless and selfish, characteristics that go hand-in-hand with European colonization.
...o, while the novella’s archetypal structure glorifies Marlow’s domination of Kurtz. These two analyses taken together provide a much fuller and more comprehensive interpretation of the work. Conrad presents the idea that there is some darkness within each person. The darkness is is inherited and instinctual, but because it is natural does not make it right. He celebrates – and thereby almost advises – the turn from instinct. By telling Marlow’s tale, Joseph Conrad stresses to his audience the importance of self-knowledge and the unnecessity of instinct in civilization.
Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness shows the disparity between the European ideal of civilization and the reality of it, displayed by the domination, torture, exploitation and dehumanization of the African people. Conrad often emphasizes the idea of what is civilized versus what is primitive or savage. While reading the novel, the reader can picture how savage the Europeans seem. They are cruel and devious towards the very people they are supposed to be helping.
from civilization and reality. The strongest device and example of this phenomenon is the transformation of Mr. Kurtz, the director of the Inner Station. In this essay, I will explain and analyze Kurtz’s “de-humanity';, and how effective it is in achieving Conrad’s goal. This “deconstruction'; of Kurtz culminates with his utterance of the phrase, “The horror! The horror!';, as he lay dying. Yet, first we must explain what Kurtz was before he stepped over the edge.
Kurtz once was considered an honorable man, but living in the Congo separated from his own culture he changed greatly. In the jungle he discovers his evil side, secluded from the rest of his own society he becomes corrupted by power. "My Ivory. My people, my ivory, my station, my river," everything was under Kurtz's reign. While at Kurtz's camp Marlow encounters the broken roof on Kurtz's house, the "black hole," this is a sign of the uncivilized. The black hole represents the unknown and unconquered, and therefore represents the uncivilized. Also, Marlow notices the "black heads" on Kurt...
“ The conquest of the earth, which mostly means the taking it away from those who have a different complexion or slightly flatter noses than ourselves, is not a pretty thing when you look into it too much.” (Conrad 65) So stated Marlow as though this was his justification for ravaging the Congo in his search for ivory. Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness shows the disparity between the European ideal of civilization and the reality of it as is evidenced by the domination, torture, exploitation and dehumanization of the African population. Heart of Darkness is indicative of the evil and greed in humanity as personified by Kurtz and Marlow.
An example of savagery is seen in Kurt. This can be observed when Marlow meets him for the first time and sees that Kurtz has become uncivilized and has been drawn into savagery by a dark, alienated jungle. Kurtz represents what every man will become if they are left alone without a protective or civilized environment. Finally, one of the last scenes from the book shows that Kurtz’s fate is absolute; Marlow says that “The wilderness…has taken him, loved him, embraced him, got into his veins, consumed his flesh, and sealed his soul to its own. ”(Conrad, 28).
The novel Heart of Darkness is about Marlow, a sailor, who journeys up the Congo River to meet Kurtz. Marlow changes as a person going through many experiences and meeting new people. The heart of darkness represents evil and struggle found in different places, including imperialism, the Congo environment, and human nature. This story takes place during imperialism, where Europe began to take over the world from the 15th to 19th century. Europe being a superior race during imperialism was a dark thought, and Colonialism in Africa was one of the consequences this.
Kurtz represents the European colonizers and his behavior represents the drives of what he belonged to, which was just a normal and ambitious life. Kurtz wanted to lead the primitive people to the light of civilization. Instead, greed got to Kurtz, his hunger for ivory drove him to make enemies in the jungle and become savage. As Marlow says, “it had taken him, loved him, embraced him, got into his veins, consumed his flesh” (Conrad, 125). Marlow is referring to the jungle as “it”; the jungle has taken control of Kurtz.
This being that Kurtz has lost all of his human capital, all his reputation that he had earned in Europe which has been replaced with this empty evil that consumes him in Africa which he does not realize until his death. “I saw on that ivory face the expression of sombre pride, of ruthless power, of craven terror -- of an intense and hopeless despair. Did he live his life again in every detail of desire, temptation, and surrender during that supreme moment of complete knowledge? He cried in a whisper at some image, at some vision -- he cried out twice, a cry that was no more than a breath: “The horror! The horror!” (Conrad 69).
.... This shows that when Marlow gives the Intended Kurtz’s papers he establishes some of the burden he experienced with Kurtz in Africa by lying to her. Marlow’s strategy to justify himself is to render Kurtz justice by lying to the Intended, whose soul is pure as a crystal. At the beginning of the story Marlow says that lies have a taint of death, but at the end of the story he says the opposite concerning his lie.
By the time Marlow and Kurtz meet, Marlow is already well aware of the similarities they share. Both are imperialists, and while Marlow detests the treatment of the natives by his employers (Belgian colonists), he also makes apparent his abhorrence toward the Africans. On the other hand, Kurtz abandons the pretense of helping the natives achieve civilization, as displayed by the Europeans. Instead, he adopts their customs and becomes their leader in the never-ending quest for ivory. "He began with the argument that we whites, from the point of development we had arrived at, 'must necessarily appear to them [savages] in the nature of the supernatural beings- we approach them with the might as of a deity' (Longman, 2000, p. 2226). Marlow also admired Kurtz' resourcefulness and survival skills, especially his perseverence through jungle fever. "The wilderness had patted him on the head....it had taken him, loved him, embraced him, got into his veins, consumed his flesh, and sealed his soul to its own by the inconceivable ceremonies of some devilish initiation. He was its spoiled and pampered favorite." (Longman, 2000, p. 2225).
Conrad uses the character of Marlow to make use of his own thoughts and views about the people in the Congo. He feels pity for them as he sees them falling down carrying heavy packages and Kurtz commanding them like a batallion of troups. This sight angers Marlow and when he gets to Kurtz, it’s too late. Even he has been pulled in by the darkness. Conrad makes an effective distinction between Marlow and Kurtz.
Joseph Conrad's novel Heart of Darkness portrays an image of Africa that is dark and inhuman. Not only does he describe the actual, physical continent of Africa as "so hopeless and so dark, so impenetrable to human thought, so pitiless to human weakness" (Conrad 94), as though the continent could neither breed nor support any true human life, but he also manages to depict Africans as though they are not worthy of the respect commonly due to the white man. At one point the main character, Marlow, describes one of the paths he follows: "Can't say I saw any road or any upkeep, unless the body of a middle-aged negro, with a bullet-hole in the forehead, upon which I absolutely stumbled three miles farther on, may be considered as a permanent improvement" (48). Conrad's description of Africa and Africans served to misinform the Western world, and went uncontested for many years.