Heart Of Darkness

9 Pages 2199 Words

s inner station was, responsible for gathering more ivory than all the other stations combined. This task, viewed on its own merits, is a tremendous accomplishment, showing Kurtz’s fortitude in achieving his goal. When the reader sees what methods are used to gather the ivory, the true nature of “the real cost” becomes apparent. The Africans were used as slaves, Kurtz’s own tribal followers, who obeyed each and every command he gave them, no matter how ridiculous. If the task given by Kurtz was to die, the Africans died; if the task was to wage war against other tribal groups, so as to enlarge ivory hunting grounds, the Africans killed; if the task was to fend off approaching Europeans, the Africans followed this and every other order with draconian obedience. The savagery, when imagining those millions of Africans murdered all for the sake of ivory tusks, is too disheartening for the uninitiated person. Some person, with the beast already inside their soul, could approach this task with no qualms about any methods used against fellow humans. Kurtz had this characteristic. He had gotten off the boat and into the jungle, fully. He was no longer apart of this world, but still in it. The nature of savagery had taken his whole being over; infact, any embodiment of European civilization had continued to fall overboard the farther down the river he journeyed. The intricate woven fabric, with each tiny fiber being a thread of knowledge, experience, and lessons learned make up the blanket of our personality. Kurtz had chosen to take a very sharp pair of scissors and cut away all that warmth this personality blanket provides. By discarding the very nature of his being this left him hollow, a creature with a threaded existence, tattered and worn, he came apart at the seams. He could no longer feel the same emotion, or emphasize with his fellow man. Therefore, the senseless violence he perpetuated, did not bother him, why would it? H...