Egocentrism, the Source of Darkness
Rooting their argument in Sir John Dalberg-Acton’s assertion “absolute power corrupts absolutely,” many critics assume that Joseph Conrad’s novella Heart of Darkness is a natural display of the corruption of power: Europeans, with their excessive power over African natives, will inevitably become corrupt and suffer. However, interpretations such as the aforementioned one are largely naive. First, power is not a chant that causes corruption magically and spontaneously. Second, Joseph Conrad, a meticulous author, would not waste his carefully crafted signals, such as a limited number of named characters, for reasons as trivial as aforementioned. In fact, the consideration of Conrad as a meticulous author and his hints …show more content…
Through actions of three and only three named characters, Fresleven, Kurtz, and Marlow, Conrad reveals that the extreme egocentrism as the source of darkness and demise and actively cautions his readers
Rooting their argument in Sir John Dalberg-Acton’s assertion “absolute power corrupts absolutely,” many critics assume that Joseph Conrad’s novella Heart of Darkness is a natural display of the corruption of power: Europeans, with their excessive power over African natives, will inevitably become corrupt and suffer. However, interpretations such as the aforementioned one are largely naive. First, power is not a chant that causes corruption magically and spontaneously. Second, Joseph Conrad, a meticulous author, would not waste his carefully crafted signals, such as a limited number of named characters, for reasons as trivial as aforementioned. In fact, the consideration of Conrad as a meticulous author and his hints …show more content…
Through actions of three and only three named characters, Fresleven, Kurtz, and Marlow, Conrad reveals that the extreme egocentrism as the source of darkness and demise and actively cautions his readers