Comparing Truth In Dante's Inferno And Heart Of Darkness

Although Inferno and Heart of Darkness were written hundreds of years apart they both share a common motif that shines a light upon modern day life. In Heart of Darkness and Inferno, Dante and Conrad both use imagery, personification, and symbolism to develop the motif of the misinterpretation of truth and the deception of the weak through the characters of Kurtz and Geryon.

In Heart of Darkness, Kurtz is a symbol of truth and brutality. Due to Kurtz’s love for truth and brutality, his actions that develope his reputation are driven by his perception of truth, the only way to live is through power and brutality. One example of Kurtz’s actions being dictated by his perception of truth is the ornamental heads Marlow finds when he reaches the inner station, we find that Kurtz has used his

brutal power by tricking the savages into believing he is a god and inhumanly punishing them if they did not give him the respect he believed he deserved. Kurtz continually hypnotizes person after person with his great power and “respectable” reputation he has established for himself and uses his perception of truth to gain power over the powerless of his world, the savages. Near the end of Kurtz’s journey, we see one incident that shows us the high value Kurtz has placed on his reputation. When Kurtz is found crawling from his fate, Marlow says to Kurtz “You will be lost” to shows him the reality of the consequences he would experience if he stayed at the inner station (Conrad 134). Marlow is telling him the unwanted truth, you, your power, and your reputation will be forgotten if you become overtaken by selfishness and stay at the inner station. Kurtz turning back and leaving the place he loved after hearing Marlow’s wise words illustrates how important maintaining his reputation and power meant to him. At the end of the book, when Marlow returns to Belgium, we are introduced to Kurtz’s intended. When Marlow discusses Kurtz with Kurtz’s intended she describes Kurtz as a great example, “Men looked up to him-his goodness shone in every act”(Conrad 148). The two completely different descriptions of Kurtz shows us how when one enters somewhere where their savagery is exposed and can run wild, they become a different person. During Kurtz’s time at the Congo, his savagery began to be exposed and he became more and more enwrapped within the heart of darkness. His actions slowly began to show more of his savagery and his perception of truth. Kurtz learned to let his inner darkness and savagery run wild and used the jungle to hide his true nature and preserve his mannerly reputation.
In the Inferno, Geryon is a symbol of deception and fraud.

Geryon uses his beauty to deceive and steal the trust of others and uses his strength to overpower them. In lines 10-12 of canto 17, Dante’s use of personification and Musa’s commentary about the personification establishes Geryon’s role of fraud. Musa supports Dante’s personification by referring to line 10, “the face of any honest man”, and saying that the Geryon uses his face and “deceives his victim long enough for his poisoned tail to strike” (Dante 1:227). This suggests that on the surface the Geryon appears to be a beautiful and authentic creature, but on the inside he is a deceiving serpent, waiting to catch his next victim. Geryon continually takes advantage of his beauty and honest face to gain power over the powerless of his world, the sinners. While Geryon does have a great magnitude of power he also a force working against him that is greater and more powerful than him, truth. Geryon’s action are dictated by truth because truth can disable his strength in an instance. Although Geryon’s physical strength is the greatest, strength is not always physical. Truth reveals Geryon’s true barbarity and

deceptiveness.
Kurtz and Geryon are interconnected by the motif of the misinterpretation of truth and the deception of the weak. Both Kurtz and Geryon use pleasing attributes to benefit themselves and deceive their enemies despite their true nature. Through their actions, their true nature and motives are exposed. Kurtz and Geryon are pictures of mankind throughout history showing how good things are often used for evil.