Heart Of Darkness Essay

Kurtz’s lack of restraint and hunger for ivory consumes not only his soul but drains all of his physical existence. Upon seeing him, Marlow states, “I could see the cage of his ribs all astir, the bones of his arm waving (126)”. Conrad focuses on the physical features of Kurtz to display the madness that has consumed him. However, though Kurtz’s body is deteriorating, Kurtz’s mind continues to thrive. Conrad shows this in Marlow’s shock of witnessing a flame of passion that remains in Kurtz’s eyes as he converses without signs of exhaustion (126). Conrad continues to describe Kurtz as a shadow composed of tranquility and satisfaction. Conrad’s incorporation of this detail signifies the evil and greed that consumes Kurtz and is reflected through his physique. However, the power of Kurtz’s presence is personified through the action of his words. As the strength in his voice captures Marlow’s attention, it merely reflects his influence upon his followers. The power reflected through his voice displayed his confidence as well as his position as a leader for the natives. Hi demeanor displays an air of arrogance that makes others feel less equal to him. Those who follow him fear him, but also continue to respect him.

Conrad’s intentional use of vague and ambiguous traits in the ending may have been used because we, as people, are also vague and ambiguous. Examples could be with good and evil, or civilized and savage. The ending isn’t supposed to detract from the rest of the novel. When Marlow goes to Kurtz’s

 Marlow's journey leads him in an urgent search for Kurtz, the one man who can provide him with the truth about himself. Like Marlow, Kurtz came to the Congo in hopes to bring "light" and civilization to a backwards society. He is a highly-educated, refined gentlemen; yet, in the end, the brutal nature of the Congo forces him to resort to the life of a murderer and pilferer. The name Kurtz itself has symbolic meaning. "The physical shortness in Kurtz implies a shortness of character and spirit" (Heart of Darkness: A systematic evaluation). Marlow and Kurtz both symbolize the two conditions of human nature. "Kurtz represents what man could become if left to his own intrinsic devices outside protective society. Marlow represents a pure untainted civilized soul who has not been drawn to savagery by a dark, alienated jungle." (Heart of Darkness: A systematic evaluation). When the two come face to face, each man sees a reflection of what he might have become in the other. In Kurtz, Marlow sees the potential

The final thing Kurtz had an affect on was the other characters development; specifically Marlow’s. Marlow spent his journey on the Congo listening to so many stories about Kurtz that he becomes obsessed with meeting him. At one point in the story, Marlow finds out there is a possibility that Kurtz is dead and he admits that, “For the moment that was the dominant thought. There was a sense of extreme disappointment, as though I had found out I had been striving after something altogether without a substance” (41). When Marlow finally meets Kurtz he is a little disappointed. He finds out that Kurtz actually isn’t as amazing as he expected. Marlow is thrown a back but doesn’t give up complete hope. When Kurtz dies, and says his final words, Marlow realizes that

Over time, Kurtz slowly lost his restraint due to being in an uncivilized habitat. Kurtz first wanted to make profit for the company and allowed himself to be controlled by ivory. The manager says: “Mr. Kurtz lacked restraint in the gratification of his various lusts, that there was something wanting in him- some small matter, which when the pressing need arose, could not be found under his magnificent eloquence” (53). Kurtz’s desires caused him to lose control and lessen his grip on reality. Marlow sees that Kurtz has no restraint left in him: “He struggled with himself, too. I saw it, I heard it. I saw the inconceivable mystery of a soul that knew no restraint, no faith, and no fear, yet struggling blindly with itself” (61). Kurtz gives up by the end of the book. He has no more left to give, and has allowed himself to succumb to the chaos that engulfs him. The disorder and confusion of Africa has corroded Kurtz and has caused him to lose restraint.

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When the Russian was talking to Marlow, he said, "’I offered to go back with him. And he would say yes-and then he would remain-go off on another ivory hunt-disappear for weeks-forget himself amongst these people-forget himself-you know’"(Conrad 56). Once Kurtz got into the wilderness, he spent a lot of time by himself. Even when the Russian offered to go with, Kurtz would still go off on his own to do his ivory hunting. Marlow even saw the isolation in Kurtz’s life. He said, "’There was nothing either above or below him-and I knew it. He had kicked himself loose of the earth. Confound the man! he had kicked the very earth to piece. He was alone’"(Conrad 65). Marlow knew that Kurtz was alone in his life since he lived in the wilderness. He knew that no one really knew who he really was, "’He was alone’"(Conrad 65).

Originally Kurtz had good intentions in journeying to the Congo. He honestly believed in using the ivory trade to better the social and economic aspects of the region, while simultaneously helping the natives to become civilized and part of the world which he thought was superior. Kurtz is only able to impress his own beliefs and ideals upon society and therefore help it however, by taking control of the people of the society. He establishes this control in the

Mr. Kurtz was the "chief of the inner station" (Conrad, pg. 28). He was "in charge of a trading post, a very important one, in the true ivory country." Kurtz sent in "as much ivory as all the others put together" (Conrad, pg. 22). The company described him as the "best agent, an exceptional man, of the greatest importance to the company" (Conrad, pg. 25). Kurtz went to the jungle for many reasons, but mostly to make money to return to Europe and marry his intended. Marlow "heard that her engagement with Kurtz had been disapproved by her people. He wasn't rich enough or something." He had given Marlow "some reason to infer that it was his impatience of comparative poverty that drove him out there" (Conrad, pg. 74). He had been driven into the jungle to procure money for the company and for himself and for his life with his intended. Greed is what kept him out there so long and clouded his mind regarding thoughts of nobility.

At the end of his journey he realized the reason that everyone who went on this expedition was trying to make their fortune and that is how Kurtz eventually died. His “appetite for more ivory had got the better” of him. No matter what the cost to himself and the people around him, he was going to be the best and get the most money. His selfishness eventually caused his death when the manager downstream would not send food because he hoarded all of the ivory all to himself. Marlow knew that Kurtz was very serious about his job when he saw “heads on the stakes” in front of his house. Which could have been a warning to other people who try to come get his ivory. But the interesting part was most of the heads are faced toward his house. Kurtz wanted attention and loved to have power. These heads could be there to adore him just like the natives when he was with them. Kurtz search for power and wealth left in its wake death and destruction, showing that humanities quest for wealth leads to destruction.

Kurtz dying words are a cryptic whisper: “The horror, the horror”. There could be more than one possibility of the “horror” Kurtz could have been talking about. I think that it symbolizes the darkness of Kurtz’s tyrant and savage-like qualities that he gained when he lived with the natives. When he

Kurtz only means justice for himself; he does not consider justice for the Congolese from whom he took ivory "at very great personal risk" or for the Company by whom he is employed.  However Kurtz meant it, Marlow, in repeating it, assuredly perceives the irony in the statement.  Kurtz wanted justice in his possessions, but the jungle took its own kind of justice, by destroying him.  Even more ironically, his death even renders irrelevant the human justice Kurtz desired.  This begs

Kurtz has become corrupt and his obsession with ivory seems to have overcome his morality. He has gained the loyalty of the natives, and has convinced them to be his followers by scaring them into it. He has no mercy for anyone. He puts the savages' heads on a stake if they rebel against him. When Marlow arrives at the camp and sees these severed heads on sticks he says, ."..that was only a savage sight, while I seemed at one bound to have been transported into some lightless region of subtle horrors, where pure, uncomplicated savagery was a positive relief, being

“The bitterest contradiction and the deadliest conflicts of the world are carried on in every individual breast capable of feeling and passion” (Raskin 116). It is possible that those with the best intentions can create some of the deadliest atrocities as passion can take control over one's emotions. This emotional instability can be seen in Heart of Darkness as Joseph Conrad illustrates how one’s “passion” of saving others slowly turns into madness that causes hundreds of fatalities. We wonder, what could cause a man, such as Kurtz, in Heart of Darkness, to enter another country with the best intentions, to become so violent and be the reason behind thousands of brutal and torturous killings without

Kurtz's whole orientation in the Congo was based on the quest for ever-increasing quantities of ivory. In this lay the weakness of Kurtz, for he wanted something, unlike his Russian companion. Kurtz's intelligence, his ideas, and his plans, were captive to his status as ivory gatherer. Kurtz's rejection of the validity of the 'unsound method' was not the problem. The problem with Kurtz, which Marlow does not realize, is not that Kurtz went native, but that he did not go native enough. In other words, Kurtz did not abandon the ivory-fetish. Kurtz's link with colonialism is therefore his undoing, even in the individual decay he undergoes.