An Inescapable Darkness

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Recommended: Critical analysis on Dr Faustus

Mankind in his natural state serves as the topic for continuous debate among countless philosophers. Many theories follow that of Genesis in which humanity is naturally virtuous and only upon the return to the savage state will they escape the corruption and immorality of civilization. Conversely, mankind is also deemed by many as inherently wicked and sinful and only through the acquisition of self-knowledge do they become moral. These theories are explored in Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness and Christopher Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus as the characters of each story are placed into a state of overwhelmingly unrestricted freedom resembling that of the pre-civilized age. This vast sense of liberty proves to be a poisoned gift while supporting the latter of theories as Heart of Darkness’s Mr. Kurtz and Dr. Faustus each succumb to the immoral inclinations of human instinct. Mr. Kurtz parallels Dr. Faustus as they each travel into the unknown for the purpose of self-improvement and tragically, in the midst of a final revelation, fall victim to the wickedness of natural human instincts.

During his opening speech, Faustus contemplates the various types of scholarships, such as logic, medicine, law and religion with the purpose of identifying the most rewarding (Faustus 5-6). However, having already mastered logic and medicine and seeing law and religion as unsatisfying, Faustus rejects each discipline as inadequate. He thus arrives to the subject of magic. This unexplored discipline appears “heavenly” to Faustus with its ability to grant “a world of profit and delight, of power, of honour, and omnipotence” (Faustus 6). With his self-proclaimed barren life, Faustus craves advancement and is therefore charmed by the seemingly harmless an...

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.... Kurtz each venture into the darkness for the purpose of greatness, but are fatefully led off track by their innate wickedness and only at death’s door do they finally become enlightened. Mr. Kurtz, a man with pure intentions, becomes infatuated with his god-like status among the natives. Thus, Africa becomes the Mephastophilis in Heart of Darkness as it brings out the inherent evils in Kurtz and leads him directly into the inescapable grasp of hell. Similarly, Faustus, with seemingly harmless desires, becomes charmed by the prospect of supreme power. Greed and an insatiable craving for power trap him in an irreversible darkness. Finally, as witnesses to the final revelations of these tragic characters, we are left to question whether true morality is possible among mankind if we become enlightened only in the face of death.

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Faustus
Heart of Darkness

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