Similarities Between Frankenstein And Heart Of Darkness

Although Frankenstein by Mary Shelley and Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad are different on the surface, they are very comparable when looked at more closely. They are both observations of the complexity of the human darkness that resides in everyone. They touch on injustice, negligence, egocentricity, isolation and the blurry lines of morality. These stories share similar themes, characters, and points of view.

Both stories are first person narratives recounted from the perspective of outsiders who have had these experiences while traveling to foreign lands. In Heart of Darkness, there are two narrators. There is an unnamed passenger on a ship listening to the story being told by Marlow, and Marlow himself. This allows the narrative to alternate between Marlow’s story from the past and present day surroundings of the ship, which is traveling on the Thames River, from the perspective of the unnamed passenger. Since the Thames River is an important part of Marlow’s story, the passenger’s descriptions gives more perspective and clarity to Marlow’s story. It also gives the unnamed narrator a chance to comment on Marlow and gives more context to Marlow’s character. In Frankenstein, there are three perspectives throughout the story- Walton, who is the outsider, and Victor and the monster who

separately tell their stories to Walton. Walton is the traveler who met Frankenstein and listened to his

The way these narratives are presented as first person stories being told to other characters, gives context and allows the reader to understand the story from a broader perspective.

Two comparable characters are Kurtz in Heart of Darkness and Victor Frankenstein in Frankenstein.

The most obvious similarity is that they are both geniuses with selfish ambitions that ultimately lead to their downfalls. The evil within both Kurtz and Frankenstein stems from greed and a desire for power. Although this desire leads both characters to act immorally, there is an understanding in both stories that people are not simply evil or good. There is a combination of both within everyone, therefore neither character can simply be labelled as an innately evil villain. Frankenstein’s immorality originated from his lust for glory and admiration. His egotistical

behaviors

Kurtz’ darkness does not reveal itself until he moves to uncivilized Africa. Marlow calls Kurtz “hollow” multiple times suggesting that Kurtz does not have much substance. He is therefore a blank canvas that reflects the environment in which he is surrounded by at the time. While in civilized Europe, he is refined and maintains his morality. When he moves to Africa, he is surrounded by savages and the unethical, corrupt ivory trade. This is when he loses all of his principles and becomes exploitative and barbaric. This is also demonstrated with the different views the people in Kurtz’ life have about him. For example, he is thought of by his fiancé as a very altruistic and humane person, which is disconnected from who he is by the time Marlow meets him.

BOTH SOUGHT GODLIKE STATUS, FRANKENSTEIN THROUGH CREATION AND KURTZ THROUGH CONTROLLING THE NATIVES. Frankenstein became obsessed with “penetrating the secrets of nature”

One important difference between Kurtz and Frankenstein is the guilt they feel about their immoral actions. Frankenstein carries extreme guilt about the harm he has caused by creating the monster, showing that he maintains some morality throughout the story. Kurtz, on the other hand, abandons all morals while living in the uncivilized area in Africa and shows no signs of remorse for his actions until the very end. By the end of the stories, both Victor and Kurtz come to realize the gravity of their evil actions. Moments before his death, Kurtz sees a vision and proclaims “The horror, the horror!”, finally recognizing the monstrosity of his actions.He is only able to recognize the evilness in his actions once he returns to civilization, once again showing how easily influenced he is by his environment. Frankenstein also has a realization before his death. He realizes that his mistake was not only creating the monster, but treating the monster the way he did. He abandoned the monster and left him alone and uneducated in the world, which were a crime in themselves. The downfall of these characters is symbolized by their mutual deaths in the end of the stories. As their inner darkness grew as the stories progressed, they each became more ill, mentally and physically. Frankenstein dies from exhaustion from trying to kill the monster, and Kurtz from the illness he contracted in Africa. l

It is more blatantly obvious in uncivilized areas, where there are no moral boundaries set up by society, but it is also prominent in civilized societies, seen in