How Does Mr. Kurtz Symbolize The Evil In Heart Of Darkness

Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness is one of the most famous stories of European imperialism in Africa and the horrors that came with it. The novella shows the dehumanization of the Africans by the Europeans and how the Europeans are going insane in the Congo The main character, Marlow, is searching for the elusive Mr. Kurtz. While traveling in the Congo, most of the people he meets compliment Mr. Kurtz one way or another. There are many people jealous of the success because Mr. Kurtz is known for being able to acquire as much ivory as everyone else working of the company combined. As Marlow travels up The Congo River, he becomes closer to Mr. Kurtz in more than way. Once Marlow reaches Mr. Kurtz, he realizes he was expecting something different than what he found. Mr. Kurtz was greedy and treated the natives terribly. He was using the natives to acquire his ivory for him. Mr. Kurtz was also mentally insane and had become completely irrational, almost killing a man for a minute amount of ivory. Throughout the entire book, Conrad states that Marlow had been getting closer to the darkness. Only when Marlow meets Mr. Kurtz, he realizes that the darkness is not the inland of the Congo. The novella written by Joseph Conrad demonstrates that the darkness that is present throughout the book and title symbolizes the evil and darkness within …show more content…
It’s saying the humans on this earth do not care for each other and each other’s cultures. Humans concern themselves with themselves and only themselves. They believe their culture is better than everyone else’s and that they have the right to go and disturb someone’s way of living and make their life a living hell. People will then exploit the oppressed and take items that are rightfully theirs and turn into greedy people who are barely human because they have no sympathy for others. The real darkness in the world is the evil in man’s