Humans are naturally sinful; they turn to a sinful life when rules and guidelines are removed out of their lives. In Heart of Darkness, by Joseph Conrad, Conrad illustrates the idea of a sinful life without rules with the characters Kurtz and Marlow. The book carries a symbolic meaning into the darkest places of the human soul. The core of the book is that darkness and savagery are the true nature of our world. In the book, we can see that Kurtz was a high-minded citizen with ideals, but when he was put into a situation where there is no one watching, he turned to savagery. The fascination of the abomination is one of the major ways that we can see humans act with savagery, once they are pulled into a sinful life they cannot be pulled out. …show more content…
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. Kurtz’s desire to get more ivory caused him to become cruel and he saw his potential by using more cruelty. Figuring this out Kurtz continued to rule and dominate the natives. With the ivory, Kurtz gained wealth and fame. He got his power from the jungle and doing so led him into becoming more of a savage than he would have noticed himself becoming. This connects to the theme of the fascination of the abomination and the fight against it. Everyone has their own desires and by bringing them to the jungle, one’s desires escalate meaning they are more willing to do what they have to, to get what they want. Even having such a simple desire as attention as we can see is what Kurtz wants, caused him to become rogue and a savage, "Kurtz wanted an audience…Kurtz got the tribe to follow him…they adored him" (134-135). Kurtz craved …show more content…
He had beliefs that were normal, but the jungle caused them to become brutal and caused him to turn to an unmoral life. He believed that everything belonged to him and he would sacrifice anything to achieve his goals, even if it meant his life. Marlow narrated that Kurtz said, “’My Intended, my ivory, my station, my river, my-’ everything belonged to him” (126). Kurtz believed that everything belonged to him because he thought of himself as a god and by being a god he wanted everything. In order to get everything, he desired he was ready to give up his civilized mind to the jungle and turn himself into a savage. Furthermore, Kurtz has no desire to return to civilization because if he were to go back, he would have to lose everything he has worked for and all that he has done would have been for nothing. However, by bringing his own desires, he is allowing the jungle to take over them and take possession of his beliefs. Adding to that Marlow says “your power of devotion, not to yourself, but to an obscure, back-breaking business” (127). By connecting the two, we can see that your belief should not revolve around yourself at all because your personal motives are exactly what the jungle can and will exploit. Allowing the jungle to enter one’s life, they are allowing it to see their deepest secrets and it is exposing them. By exposing someone, the jungle escalates their desires and forces them to
He talks about purpose, and how tragedy effects the audience. In the book, Heart Of Darkness, Joseph Conrad writes about a character, Marlow, who is on a journey through Africa to find a man named Kurtz. Kurtz is a man who not many people have met or seen but he is spoken very highly of. To be a tragic hero, Aristotle says that it should be clear that the person is an important character and held to a high standard but not perfect. The character must be relatable. Marlow heard things about Kurtz that made it sound like people adored him. On page thirty, "Mr. Kurtz was a 'universal genius.'" One encounter that Marlow had with a Russian trader who was close to Kurtz described Kurtz in a sense of awe. " 'We talked of everything,' he said, quite transported at the recollection. 'I forgot there was such a thing as sleep. The night did not seem to last an hour. Everything! Everything!... Of love, too.' 'Ah he talked to you of love!'" (Conrad, 54) Before meeting Kurtz, the things Marlow heard of him, made Kurtz sound like a great man. Furthermore, Aristotle says that the hero's downfall is self-inflicted. The character makes some mistake that effects them in the long run, but the consequence is sometimes far-fetched. Kurtz was obsessed with ivory which drove him to do evil things. He would even kill people to get ivory. His obsession made him insane. "You should of heard him say, 'My ivory.'
Joseph Conrad's novel Heart of Darkness uses character development and character analysis to really tell the story of European colonization. Within Conrad's characters one can find both racist and colonialist views, and it is the opinion, and the interpretation of the reader which decides what Conrad is really trying to say in his work.
This title was necessary to enthrall the reader's mind to think about his purpose. & nbsp; The life in Packingtown resembles the jungle life because the weak and the old are rejected, while the strong and the young are wanted for awhile, which is the main idea in Social Darwinism. " Here was Durhams's, for instance, owned by a man who was trying to make as much money out of it as he could, and did not care in the least how he did it; and ranged in ranks and grades like an army.each one driving the man next below him and trying to squeeze out of him." (63). In the jungle, it is evident that the animals care little about other species when they kill. Their main motive is to capture food.
... middle of paper ... ... He did not turn into an animal, who only thinks of survival, but he shared his food with the people he loved. Therefore, one can conclude that one can see the theme of inhumanity through survival.
Kurtz is a power hungry man who achieved his power by getting into the ivory business and using shady techniques. He also befriended the natives in the jungle who basically become his slaves. Kurtz is so well known and put on such a pedestal, that no one would ever try to over rule him. Therefore, all of the characters “would not stir till Mr. Kurtz gave the word” (Conrad 52) for fear of becoming one of Kurtz’s hut decorations. But the main reason Kurtz affects the actio...
This shows his savagery when he lets hunting and killing animals get to him enough to the point where he creates his own tribe that is all about hunting.
Kurtz is introduced as a respectable and powerful man because he is known for his wisdom and his nobility. His mission in the Congo is to save the natives from their barbaric way of life and make it more similar to the European, through colonization. He believes that in order for his plan to work he must present himself as a confident god-like leader “…must necessarily appear to them [savages] in the nature of supernatural beings – we approach them with the might as of a deity.” 1 In order to control the situation, the natives must relate to them, and trust them. However, as Kurtz gains more power over the natives he gets blinded by it, instead of civilizing the natives by stripping away their primitive ways, he dehumanizes them, and himself too. Kurtz does not understand how the natives live, and does not try to, therefore making him seem ignorant, which is ironic to the character he is known to be. He trusts in colonization, where the natives should mimic the European culture. His renowned success in the company; consequently convinces others that his actions are moral, however it creates a shadow that prevents...
that Kurtz is a very evil person, but this does not stop him from wanting
Kurtz was an English man who traveled to the Congo in search of excitement, money and experience. To many people back home, he was known to be a loving intelligent young man. In Congo he was also known as being very intelligent, but also as being insane. The question is what happened to Kurtz how and why he let his self go insane. In a way you can say that he found the “heart” of his “darkness,” embraced it and could not escape it.
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.
The creature’s failure to blend in with society creates hatred in the creature’s heart for his creator. The only option for the creature is to seek revenge. This shows that the creature’s determination of destroying his creator was far greater than the creatures determination to fit in.
Because of his over bearing personality, the Africans begin to look to Kurtz as a sort of god, and he begins to work with the idea. Had this occurred in society, he would have been checked: “Kurtz, stop being so silly.” But! In the jungle no one is there to keep him within societal boundaries- and the immense power he has begins to take hold of him. Kurtz is folding further and further into himself. The perfect example of this is the pamphlet Kurtz wrote. It seems that, though his actions say differently, when he is in the act of writing- something he learned in the civilized world- he can still function. He can still perform the, what is considered a solely human, trait of consciously thinking about and considering his own actions. Even when he talks about the pamphlet- he knows he wrote something and that it was good and important. Finally however, he writes at the bottom, “exterminate the brutes,” and the old Kurtz is gone.
Kurtz is one of many men sent into the jungle to rape the land and its people of its natural resources. Many men have journeyed into the jungle also refereed as the heart of darkness never to return. Kurtz goes into the jungle and becomes obsessed with the people and the land. Though Kurtz has an obsession with ivory this is not the sole reason for him to overstay his welcome in the jungle.
The man we meet deep in the Congo isn't the same man. He isn't civilized or truly respectable anymore. At this point, he had gone mad. He had the heads of "rebels" (97) on posts around his house, staring at his home. "He [Kurtz] hated all this, and somehow he couldn't get away." (95) Kurtz had two opposing sensibilities. The one said that he should leave and return to civilization and his fiancée while escaping the sickness that seemed to pervade that jungle for all Europeans. The other sensibility was more basic. It was a growl for absolute power over the lives of the natives and also the material want for more ivory. He couldn't escape this hunger. Even at the end of his life when he has been carried onto the ship and is happy to leave, he tries to break away from this decision and return to the jungle.
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).