“Heart of Darkness” was written by Joseph Conrad. It can be seen as a good work that offers a critical interpretation of European imperial curriculum. The major theme of this work is the comparison between the good and the evil of human nature. This essay will focus on what the character Marlow discovered about the European presence in Africa, about the potential of human nature, as well as about his own inner being on this journey. What Marlow discovered about the European presence in Africa was the trading marketplaces. He thinks that the presence of Europe was not natural nor correct and regarded it as a “FARCE”, as he stated “-- trading places-- with names like Gran' Bassam Little Popo, names that seemed to belong to some sordid farce acted in front of a …show more content…
-- hidden out of sight somewhere”. (Chapter 1, 17). He thinks that there are some unknown enemies that may do some harm to them. In addition, as for the human nature, I think that Marlow can be viewed as an early version of Kurtz. Marlow discovered that everyone may have some terrible actions or behaviors and he thought that the potential human nature was depraved or degenerated. In the very beginning, Marlow was in London and held the idea that the world was dark, as he stated in Chapter 1 that “has been one of the dark places of the earth (Chapter 1, 18). He grew up in London and living in London for years really influenced the ways that he perceived Congo. London was the capital of Britain and one of the best cities in the world. However, Marlow thought that this city was very dark. In addition, as we know, Kurtz was considered to be the most honorable man, however, before his death, the only words that he said were “The Horror! The Horror!” (Chapter 3, 33). His journey eventually guides him to humanity’s dark side. He was aware of that idea
without having to bear the weight of truth on his shoulders. There was great meaning in the actual final words uttered by Kurtz. Kurtz had seen the true heart of man, and he knew of the evil. In his final words 3the horror, the horror2(68), Marlow comes to understand. and to accept Kurtz1s view of life.
The moment in which Marlow experiences his epiphany is right after the helmsman gets killed by natives, which are associated with Kurtz. The thing that Marlow realizes is the savagery of man and the corruption of the ivory trade. The actual change takes place when Marlow sees the helmsman die. Marlow sees the death take place and is shocked. "The side of his head hit the wheel twice, and the end of what appeared a long cane clattered round and knocked over a little campstool. ... my feet felt so very warm and wet that I had to look down. ... It was the shaft of a spear that...had caught him in the side just below the ribs. I had to make and effort to free my eyes from his gaze and attend to the steering. ... I declare it looked as though he would presently put to us some question in an understandable language; but he died without uttering a sound, without moving a limb, without twitching a muscle. ... 'He is dead,' murmured the fellow, immensely impressed. 'No doubt about it,' said I." When this happened, Marlow realized the savagery of man, horror of death, and the corruption of the ivory trade. He realizes that in the ivory trade, that the ivory is more valuable than human life and that traders will do almost anything to get it. Marlow also realizes man's savagery in the event that man puts greater value on riches than on human life. This is the epiphany of Marlow in "The Heart of Darkness."
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.
· Marlow eavesdrops on a conversation between the manager and uncle. He learns that the manager resents Kurtz.
Marlow, the main character in Heart of Darkness, often recognizes the Europeans' dehumanization of the Africans. As Marlow approaches the company offices at the Outer Station he sees "a scene of inhabited devastation" (Conrad 24). He catches sight of a chain gang of half starved, animal-like Africans. Trying to rationalize the situation, Marlow tells himself that these Africans are criminals, and somehow deserve their ...
In Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, Marlow can be seen as the hero of the story despite his alternating morals and the fact that Marlow ultimately does nothing to improve the situation in Africa. Throughout the whole narrative Marlow finds himself thrust into many shocking situations yet chooses the path of an observant bystander, giving his own opinion at the time, but no lasting action or motivation is conceived. On top of this fact Marlow’s morals are anything but set in stone; they waver innumerable times over the course of the plot. Yet Marlow is more often than not seen as the prominent hero of the plot. How is this possible? This is because readers aren’t looking for perfection in a character, but depth, and Marlow achieves this level of depth through his epiphanies and the changes that take place in his perception of the world. These revelations in turn challenge the reader to reevaluate themselves.
Marlow’s thoughts are so consumed by Kurtz, that he is built up to be much more of a man than he truly is. In turn, Marlow is setting himself up for a let down. He says at one point, “I seemed to see Kurtz for the first time...the lone white man turning his back suddenly on the headquarters, on relief, on thoughts of home...towards his empty and desolate station”(P.32). When Marlow reaches Kurtz’s station, he begins to become disillusioned. He begins to hear about, and even see, the acts that Kurtz is committing, and becomes afraid of him. He sees in Kurtz, what he could become, and wants nothing to do with it. He does not want people to know he has any type of relationship with him, and says in response to the Russian, “I suppose that it had not occurred to him that Mr. Kurtz was no idol of mine.” (P.59). It is at this point that he begins to discover the darkness in his heart.
One interpretation of Marlow's relationship to colonialism is that he does not support it. Conrad writes, "They were not enemies, they were not criminals, they were nothing earthly now,-nothing but black shadows of disease and starvation, lying confusedly in the greenish gloom" (p. 27-28). Marlow says this and is stressing that the so-called "savages", or Africans, are being treated and punished like they are criminals or enemies when in fact they never did anything. He observes the slow torture of these people and is disgusted with it. Marlow feels sympathy for the black people being slaved around by the Europeans but doesn't do anything to change it because that is the way things are. One can see the sympathy by the way that he gives a starving black man one of his biscuits. "To tear treasure out of the bowels of the land was their desire, with no moral purpose at the back of it than there is in burglars breaking into a safe" (p. 54). This statement by Marlow conveys that he doesn't believe that the Europeans have a right to be stripping Africa of its riches. He views the Jungles of Africa as almost it's own living, breathing monster.
Why is Marlow’s mission, or the ship’s voyage for that matter, a journey towards hell? Literally speaking, the journey is not towards hell but towards the jungles of Africa, where Kurtz was to be retrieved by Marlow. However, when one takes into account the setting, one can almost see that Marlow’s mission is not simple nor is it safe. With this fact, the journey towards the jungle becomes hell in two ways. Firstly, it is hell in the sense that the African jungle serves as a dark and foreboding setting. In the initial part of the story, Marlow likens Britain’s perception of Africa to that of what was probably ancient Rome’s impression of untamed Britain. Marlow describes a young Roman as to had “Land in a swamp, march through the woods, and in some inland post feel the savagery, the utter savagery, had closed round him – all that mysterious life of the wilderness that stirs in the forest, in the jungles, in the hearts of wild men.” Thus from this excerpt, readers can see that Marlow and his companions are seemingly banished into a place tha...
They were both exposed to the dark side of human nature and both eventually realized that the real heart of darkness is buried in the inside of every individual. Works Cited How Does Marlow (in Heart of Darkness) Try to Find Himself? Yahoo! -
That is one of Marlow's flaws, he does not support his convictions. Marlow also symbolizes the uncorrupted men that traveled to foreign lands to help the 'uncivilized' become cultured, but unlike the others Marlow does not become indoctrinated by an alternative motive. He is able to see through the materialistic ideals that had plagued the men before him. Marlow has the open-mindedness and sensitivity that was absent during Imperialism, but doesn't have the courage or power to stop the abuses that where ongoing. Marlow is proof that when confronted, a man's evil side can be both informative and perilous.
However, when Marlow finally reaches Kurtz, he encounters his very own reflection of his own immoral behavior. Such an experience serves as an enriching enlightening and defining experience for Marlow as he comes to see his own wickedness in the actions of another Kurtz, and is appalled by what he sees. When Kurtz pronounces on his deathbed, “The horror, the horror”—a confession to his own wicked actions as a barbarous ivory trader and slaughterer of Congolese natives—Marlow feels as if these words are additionally his own; the words represent acknowledgment of his own evil actions. In the Congo, Marlow is cut off from his native home of England—cut off from the structured, civilized life in which he was raised, which was full of social regulations and defined parameters of socially acceptable behaviors &
In a way, it was kill or be killed. His surroundings grew more aggressive and dangerous, and psychologically he adapted to it and learned new tactics to survive. Marlow's mental state had become corrupt, but he wasn't too far gone. In today's society, many people are struggling to survive, constantly on guard to protect themselves from the dangers that surround them. "I will throttle you for good" (Conrad 144).
At the beginning of the novel, Marlow is traveling the jungle and the many scenes of life can be seen. Africa has seems to be taken over by many travelers which makes one wonder what is there ulterior motive? Africa is a third world country, which makes it easy for someone to come in and talk on their soapbox. It is very easy to tell that these men are not the biggest fans of colored people, so it is plausible that they have come to instill a sense of imperialism. As Marlow passes through the waters of the Congo it is easily visible the trouble of the natives. “Black shapes crouched, lay, sat between the trees, leaning against the trunks, clinging to the earth half coming out, half effaced with the dim light, in all the attitudes of pain, abandonment, and despair.” (20) Show that the holding of these colonies has started. The soldiers have come in and taken the inhabitants and are destroying them and taking from them the one thing they deserve over everything, life. The imperialists seem to not care about the Africans and are just there for their land.
Marlow can be an amazingly selfish character. You have to wonder if that was his conscious attempt to stay sane or if it was truly how he interacted. While in the outer station Marlow observed a group of Africans chained together, he had no compassion for these men he simply watched them. After they passed, Marlow, thinking nothing of it, crept into the shade and was met by a group of starving Africans dying in the darkness of the trees. At this particular moment the reader is given a glimpse in to Marlow's compassionate side. One can tell that Marlow is disturbed or distracted by the scene. He even tries to help one of the Africans by giving them a portion of bread. As soon as Marlow stepped out of the shade the image was lost. He thought no more about it and simply continued up the hill. A reader would hope that a companionate character would stop and contemplate what could be done for these people, or at least what kind of society would allow this kind of treatment. Marlow doesn't think about the starving, or suffering people, which is his way of keeping his mind steady. By not thinking of these people Marlow doesn't have to question what he is doing in Africa or what he "should" do according to the popular standard. Marlow doest care about what he "should" do Marlow just wants to discover the empty places on the map on his own personal journey.