The last entry in Kurtz’s report written at the request of the International Society for the Suppression of Savage Customs contained a handwritten postscript: “Exterminate all the brutes!” which caught Charles Marlow’s attention immediately. The “brutes” that Kurtz has determined must be killed can be interpreted to mean all of the native “savages” that he was unable to civilize or perhaps the opposing tribes that he was raiding for the ivory. In chapter three we learn that Kurtz had taken to mounting the heads of rebels on fencepost which Charles Marlow states, “Those rebellious heads looked very subdued to me on their sticks” (00).
If Kurtz meant all of the native “savages” then that is even more ironic considering he devolved into one
If Kurtz meant all of the native “savages” then that is even more ironic considering he devolved into one