Heart Of Darkness Journey

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“The changes take place inside you know” (Conrad 13.) advises the doctor in Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness. Conrad hints of a mental journey that will change Marlow as his physical journey takes him through 3 stations connected together by the Congo River. “Within this conception Marlow’s journey only incidentally involves movement through physical space; in essence it represents a “journey into self”.”(Levenson 153.) As Marlow’s journey down the river takes him deeper into the Congo, it also takes him deeper into the darkness of the mind. When examining the three stations, connections can be made to Sigmund Freud’s model of the mind. Connections can be made between the Outer Station and the Superego, which represents standards of morality …show more content…

The Inner Station is connected to the Id¬, which is defined as “the one of the three divisions of the psyche in psychoanalytic theory that is completely unconscious and is the source of psychic energy derived from instinctual needs and drives.” (Merriam-Webster). It is immediately apparent to Marlow through the heads on the fence posts that the Inner Station is a place completely without order. Marlow says, “The mind of man is capable of anything—because everything is in it, all the past as well as all the future.” (Conrad 44.) For Kurtz, the Id has completely taken over due to the fact that he has been removed from society and he has succumbed to his own desire for ivory and worship. As Kurtz is removed from the Inner station and is headed towards the Central Station he cries, “The horror! The horror!” (Conrad 86.) This further shows that the Inner Station represents the Id as Kurtz moving toward the Central Station causes his Ego to start rebalancing his mind making him aware of his wrongdoings. The last stop in Marlow’s journey deeper into the Congo, the Inner Station, reflects the deepest level in the mind, the Id. As Marlow is this deep into the heart of darkness he experiences his own mental decent to savagery but does not completely commit himself to his primitive desires like Kurtz had. Unlike Kurtz he lives through the urges of the id and returns from his journey an enlightened

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