Heart of Darkness

10 Pages 2428 Words

uth, learning more about Kurtz as he goes along. Marlow finally meets Kurtz at the inner station and is disgusted with what he sees. He sees darkness through the placing of heads on poles; they are referred to as “the rebels.” The control Kurtz has over the Natives is unbelievable; he is their “God of Darkness.” Marlow looks at this man with pity and anger. Kurtz’ mind has become distorted and the savagery, which lay deep within his heart, has no light to hide it. He not only loses his mind but his soul, resulting in utter and complete darkness of the heart.
Marlow’s trip from Europe to the outer then the central station already tests his capacity to differentiate between good and evil. He witnesses many actions which question his moral judgement. He shows compassion towards much of what he sees yet knows that there is nothing he can do. Those who are unable to control their conscious side, run the risk of becoming mad, and Marlow struggles to control his. He is sometimes lead to see something that he does not trust to exist.
“…the bush began to howl.”
Marlow could be seeing things which, in reality, are not actually there. This could also be a call for help; Marlow must face the struggles that are taking place within him. His savage side is battling to break through yet Marlow is desperately trying to fight with this other side, the side he does not want to have to face. His conscious and unconscious are affecting his mind.
This is the theme of a journey into Marlow’s inner-self.
Even before leaving Brussels, he felt as though he was on a journey to the centre of the earth rather than to the centre of a continent, as he mentions at the beginning of the novel.
“Odd thing that I, who used to clean out for any part of the world at twenty-four hours notice, with less thought than most men give to the crossing of a street, had a moment – I won’t say of hesitation, but of startled pause, be...