Human nature is ravenous. Heart of Darkness (1899), a novella written by Joseph Conrad, features a man with “sunken cheeks, and a yellow complexion” (2). His name is Charlie Marlow, and he travels into the heart of Africa, up the Congo river to an ivory trading station, deep within the heart of the impenetrable forest of Congo. Along the way, Marlow comes across many tumultuous experiences. Worshipping a mysterious authoritarian figure named Kurtz, Marlow feels a connection this man, Kurtz, and what the way he is represented. Kurtz’s last words, “The horror. The horror!” (130), indicate the costs of imperialism, which brings out the evil corruption of the selfish human heart. This covetous, primal nature is concealed within all, and is expressed
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Kurtz is more of a symbol than he is a physical man. He represents the greed, the savagery, and the gullibility of the human mind. This gullibility seeps from the way characters talk about Kurtz. The Harlequin talks worshipfully of Kurtz. He tells Marlow, “you don’t talk with that man-you listen to him” (98). This is true, for Kurtz is for the majority presented as a voice during Marlow’s travels. The Harlequin goes on to tell Marlow that Kurtz “made [the Harlequin] see things… things… Ah, it was worth waiting for!” (103). The Harlequin’s eagerness is similar to Marlow’s; he feels a desperate need to get to Kurtz. From hearing all the talk of the big man Kurtz, Marlow develops this power of Kurtz in his head and he keeps on wanting to hear Mr. Kurtz’s voice. "[Marlow] made the strange discovery that [he] had never imagined [Kurtz] as doing… but as discoursing,” he thinks. “I didn’t say to myself, ‘Now I will never see him,’ or ‘Now I will never shake him by the hand,’ but, ‘Now I will never hear him.’ The man presented himself as a voice…The point was in his being a gifted creature… his ability to talk, his words… the deceitful flow from the heart of an impenetrable darkness" (87). Kurtz’s voice is the instrument he uses to make people so ravenous and wanting for him. To Marlow, the whole existence of Kurtz is almost just a voice. When the two finally meet, Marlow instantly sees the effects of Kurtz’s infection from power and primitivity. “Save me!- save the ivory you …show more content…
As Marlow returns from his travels in the Congo, he arrives back in England, speaking with Mr. Kurtz wife. She says she loved him. As he ponders at the end, he realizes human nature is evil. Kurtz decided to enter this primal world of the Africans, and found that the Europeans were the real savages, destroying their land and much worse. This eventually kills
Kurtz is more of a symbol than he is a physical man. He represents the greed, the savagery, and the gullibility of the human mind. This gullibility seeps from the way characters talk about Kurtz. The Harlequin talks worshipfully of Kurtz. He tells Marlow, “you don’t talk with that man-you listen to him” (98). This is true, for Kurtz is for the majority presented as a voice during Marlow’s travels. The Harlequin goes on to tell Marlow that Kurtz “made [the Harlequin] see things… things… Ah, it was worth waiting for!” (103). The Harlequin’s eagerness is similar to Marlow’s; he feels a desperate need to get to Kurtz. From hearing all the talk of the big man Kurtz, Marlow develops this power of Kurtz in his head and he keeps on wanting to hear Mr. Kurtz’s voice. "[Marlow] made the strange discovery that [he] had never imagined [Kurtz] as doing… but as discoursing,” he thinks. “I didn’t say to myself, ‘Now I will never see him,’ or ‘Now I will never shake him by the hand,’ but, ‘Now I will never hear him.’ The man presented himself as a voice…The point was in his being a gifted creature… his ability to talk, his words… the deceitful flow from the heart of an impenetrable darkness" (87). Kurtz’s voice is the instrument he uses to make people so ravenous and wanting for him. To Marlow, the whole existence of Kurtz is almost just a voice. When the two finally meet, Marlow instantly sees the effects of Kurtz’s infection from power and primitivity. “Save me!- save the ivory you …show more content…
As Marlow returns from his travels in the Congo, he arrives back in England, speaking with Mr. Kurtz wife. She says she loved him. As he ponders at the end, he realizes human nature is evil. Kurtz decided to enter this primal world of the Africans, and found that the Europeans were the real savages, destroying their land and much worse. This eventually kills