A journey into temptation can cause a major change in someone 's morality and sanity. Individuals who do not make it back from that temptation into the tame nature of society, are driven past sanity and into a “dark” mindset. However, not all of those that make it back from that temptation remain completely sane. Those individuals can be considered tainted with an underlying level of insanity, even though they made it back portraying a surface level of sanity. In Heart of Darkness, Joseph Conrad uses color imagery, symbolism, and dehumanization of the characters in order to display an underlying parallel between Marlow’s journey into the Congo and the level of sanity/humanity left in humanity after it is faced with temptation and darkness.
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On his way deeper into the Congo, Marlow comes across a painting of “a woman, draped and blindfolded, carrying a lighted torch” (Conrad 94), which was painted by Kurtz himself. Taking a closer look at the woman in the painting, it is possible to infer that she is Kurz’s interpretation of Lady Justice from Greek mythology. However, taking into account that she has a small amount of light on her and is mostly surrounded by darkness, it could be a parallel to how he feel inside the Congo, or even how the temptation and ambition morf men’s idea of justice. Furthermore, the blindfold over her eyes, serves to demonstrate, or more accurately, symbolize, how the Europeans slowly blind themselves to sanity, with temptation and darkness. There cannot be any justice in a place that is deprived of sanity, thus attempting to justify the “Europeans’ lack of restraint toward the indigenous population” (Kaplan 330). The “white lie” also plays a prominent role in the novel by showing how the Europeans fool themselves into believing that they are in the Congo with good intentions. Marlow’s aunt, for example, went so far as to glorify his journey into a way for him to “‘wean those ignorant millions from their horrid ways” (Conrad 77). That same …show more content…
The natives on board of the steamboat that takes Marlow into the Congo, are portrayed as cannibals. The company and Marlow, initially, is responsible for “reducing them to a less than human state” (Baldwin 188). However, these “cannibals” seem to be the only souls on the trip that are more sane than anyone else. These natives are the same ones that witness how Marlow goes into the darkness, on a voyage to bring Kurtz back to society, but fails and is tainted by that same darkness. Morewise, Kurtz 's Intended is dehumanized when she is depicted as having lost her sanity by creating her own version of reality. The reality being that Kutz lost himself so much in the Congo, that he obtained an African mistress. Unfortunately, after grieving his death, the Intended has convinced herself that she knew him very well and that he loved her. In addition, when Marlow lies to her about Kurtz’s last words being her name she happily exclaims “I knew it-I was sure” (Conrad 164), demonstrating how his death made a large impression on her
On his way deeper into the Congo, Marlow comes across a painting of “a woman, draped and blindfolded, carrying a lighted torch” (Conrad 94), which was painted by Kurtz himself. Taking a closer look at the woman in the painting, it is possible to infer that she is Kurz’s interpretation of Lady Justice from Greek mythology. However, taking into account that she has a small amount of light on her and is mostly surrounded by darkness, it could be a parallel to how he feel inside the Congo, or even how the temptation and ambition morf men’s idea of justice. Furthermore, the blindfold over her eyes, serves to demonstrate, or more accurately, symbolize, how the Europeans slowly blind themselves to sanity, with temptation and darkness. There cannot be any justice in a place that is deprived of sanity, thus attempting to justify the “Europeans’ lack of restraint toward the indigenous population” (Kaplan 330). The “white lie” also plays a prominent role in the novel by showing how the Europeans fool themselves into believing that they are in the Congo with good intentions. Marlow’s aunt, for example, went so far as to glorify his journey into a way for him to “‘wean those ignorant millions from their horrid ways” (Conrad 77). That same …show more content…
The natives on board of the steamboat that takes Marlow into the Congo, are portrayed as cannibals. The company and Marlow, initially, is responsible for “reducing them to a less than human state” (Baldwin 188). However, these “cannibals” seem to be the only souls on the trip that are more sane than anyone else. These natives are the same ones that witness how Marlow goes into the darkness, on a voyage to bring Kurtz back to society, but fails and is tainted by that same darkness. Morewise, Kurtz 's Intended is dehumanized when she is depicted as having lost her sanity by creating her own version of reality. The reality being that Kutz lost himself so much in the Congo, that he obtained an African mistress. Unfortunately, after grieving his death, the Intended has convinced herself that she knew him very well and that he loved her. In addition, when Marlow lies to her about Kurtz’s last words being her name she happily exclaims “I knew it-I was sure” (Conrad 164), demonstrating how his death made a large impression on her