Inward Journey in Heart of Darkness
Heart of Darkness is a book about one man’s journey into the depths of the African Congo. He travels to a place where, "’the changes take place inside’"(Conrad 15). For a man named Kurtz, his journey went deeper into Africa then he could have ever expected. Kurtz’s journey into Africa ended up being a journey into the darkness within himself.
At the beginning of the journey, Kurtz was a good man who believed in bringing civilization to Africa. You see some of Kurtz’s good intentions in a lot of his writings. When Marlow was reading them, he said, "’…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 supernatural beings-we approach them with the might as of deity,’ and so on, and so on. ‘By the simple exercise of our will we can exert a power for good practically unbounded,’ etc. etc"(Conrad 50). In his writings, Kurtz believed in using the power of Europe for good. He believed in coming to the Africans as a God, not as a conqueror. You also see his good intentions in a picture that he painted. Marlow saw it and said, "’Then I noticed a small sketch in oils, on a panel, representing a woman draped and blindfolded carrying a lighted torch. The background was somber-almost black’"(Conrad 27). The picture gives you an idea about how Kurtz felt before he left
for the interior. In the picture, the darkness is Africa and the woman represents Europe.
The light that she is holding represents knowledge, or the civilization that Europe is trying to bring to Africa. Kurtz believed that he was bringing light to Africa and he expressed that in his picture.
Even though Kurtz we...
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...se. But his soul was mad. Being alone in the wilderness, it had
looked within itself and by Heavens I tell you, it had gone mad. (Conrad 65)
Marlow clearly states here that by being in the wilderness, Kurtz was alone and isolated. Through this isolation, Kurtz had found himself. To Marlow he was mad, but he was still clear about himself. To Kurtz, he might have been mad, but he had finally found out who he really was.
Throughout the book, Kurtz struggled to find his true self. In the beginning he believed in bringing civilization for the greater good, but by doing this, he was forced to realize the corruption within himself. Through the loneliness and isolation of Africa, Kurtz’s journey ended up being a journey into the darkness within himself.
Works Cited
Conrad, Joseph. Heart of Darkness. W.W. Norton & Company: New York. 1988.
Kurtz is known as the best agent of the Belgium Company, he is mysterious, a man of many talents, and he exerts a powerful influence to the people in his life. When he goes to Africa he realizes he must have intentions of leading the natives and dominating the civilization
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Kurtz was not always the power hungry man portrayed in Conrad’s book. According to his Intended, Kurtz was an admired man who had a “generous heart” and a “noble mind” (Conrad, 70). However, after his expedition into Africa, he became a changed man; an “insoluble problem” (Conrad, 50). The new Kurtz “[kicks] the very earth to pieces” (Conrad, 61). “Let us say – nerves, [go] wrong, and [causes] him to preside at certain midnight dances ending with unspeakable rites” (Conrad, 45). He has dropped all sense and morality and continues to live on according to his various lusts.
Heart of Darkness is a novel based on European imperialism in the late nineteenth-early twentieth century. During the turn of the century in 1900, the more significant countries in Europe (i.e. England, France, Germany, et al.) had gotten to a point where expansion within Europe was no longer foreseeable, so for financial, political, and egotistical reasons, these countries looked south to their neighbor Africa, the "black continent." "God-forsaken wilderness." Marlow says of Africa. (Page 73) Trade routes were established and the home countries found reliable executive willing to travel and develop relations in the country. In Conrad's novel, Kurtz was this man. He started out with a noble goal, i.e. to modernize Africa, but suffered the effects of a deadly disease, greed. "It was reckless without hardihood, greedy without audacity, and cruel without courage." Said Marlow (of what Kurtz and the ivory company had done to Africa.) (Page 102.)
When reading each page, a sort of investigation begins in trying to figure out how Kurtz became insane. However, that investigation was not fully closed because in the end no one knew what had happened to him. In a way his character presented the idea that perhaps the darkness, his darkness was his own and was all along in him waiting to come out. Because there were other men living and working in the Congo who had not become insane as he did, such as the Russian trader or the ivory company’s accountant.
Kurtz, a character to whom all of the rising action is dedicated in Heart of Darkness, has reason to have despair in the novella because of all he had done to the natives and because of his deceptive lifestyle. Kurtz stole from the natives often. He would find their hidden ivory and take it for the company. Kurtz stole not only their ivory, but also their worship and admiration. Kurtz was carried around on an improvised stretcher by the natives like a king, and when streams of natives surrounded the station, the Russian trader remarks that, “If he [Kurtz] does not say the right thing to them we are all done for” (III, p. 166). The Russian had apparently been at the mercy of a native tribe in a similar situation before, and has confidence in Kurtz
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.
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Heart of Darkness describes an outward journey to the heart of Africa that parallels an inward journey to the heart and depths of man's being. Two spiritual voyages are made by Kurtz and Marlow.
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There is a relationship between food and exercise and people do not understand that. Everyone needs food in order for their body to work properly and do their daily activities, especially exercising. Without good nutrition, one will not be able to exercise effectively. To exercise effectively, one need the right caloric intake, energy, and nutrients in one’s body. The human body needs have carbohydrates, protein, fats, vitamins, minerals, and water to fuel it up, just like the car needs gas to run. Everyone should fuel their body with right foods so that they can maintain their energy levels. Bananas and lean white meats are examples of excellent sources of natural energy that can help the function properly and achieve fitness goals. Bananas are an excellent food to eat because they contain high potassium, makes the mind alert making the brain smarter, builds strong bones, and keeps the digestive system regulated. Lean white meat such as chicken and fish are good to eat because they make the tissues in the body healthy. Good nutrition is more important because if the body absorbs the nutrients it needs, one will be able to exercise very
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In conclusion, it is easy to understand how Kurtz came to his conclusions and how a person who is being viewed as “Godlike” might abuse that phenomenon in a questionable way. This is further supported by the fact that Marlow was swayed to believe that the Africans were savages as they attacked his ship. It wasn’t until later that he concluded the attack was prompted by the African’s fear that he would take Kurtz away.