Heart Of Darkness

D.H. Lawrence once said, "Men! The only animal in the world to fear". The true terror of the world is man itself. This is especially true in the case of Heart of Darkness, as the entire novel is filled with the evil of humanity. There are many underlying symbols of darkness blinding man to the truth in Heat of Darkness. The setting in the novel tells its own story as well. Finally, the characters all go through a dramatic change through each of their respective journeys. In Heart of Darkness, symbolism, setting, and character development all support that man is blinded by darkness. There are many different symbols in Heart of Darkness that represent man being blinded by darkness. Almost the entirety of the story happens on the Congo river.

The slaves that are starving underneath the tree are described as ants. When Marlow is on the steamboat, he overhears two travelers talking about the jungle and what it hides. One of the travelers said, "I say, trust to this" (Conrad 29) Marlow then goes into more detail about the jungle, saying, "I saw him extend his short flipper of an arm for a gesture that took in the forest, the creek, the mud, the river - seemed to beckon with a dishonoring flourish before the sunlit face of the land a treacherous appeal to the lurking death, to the hidden evil, to the profound darkness of its heart" (Conrad 29). Marlow is describing the complete terror that is the unknown of the

When Marlow first sets off into the Congo, he is curious to see what the big idea is about surrounding Kurtz. However, when he learns more and more about this mysterious man, he slowly becomes more and more obsessed with a person he has not even met yet. He becomes so obsessed, he eventually becomes desensitized from all of the death and destruction happening around him. No example is more relevant to this then when Marlow sees the heads of the locals picked on spears in front of Kurtz's hut, and he states "I was not as shocked as you might think"(Conrad 52). Kurtz, on the other hand, looses his sanity due to lack of food and social contact, as Kurtz's right hand man, the Russian, puts it, " I've been doing my best to keep him alive, and that's enough. I've had no hand in all of this. I have no abilities. There hasn't been a drop of medicine or a mouthful of invalidated food in months" Kurt's eventually dies due to not being in his natural habitat, the