Subject: Joseph Conrads-Heart Of Darkness

Subject: Joseph Conrad’s-Heart Of DarknessThe Evil of Man
In the novel Heart of Darkness, written by Joseph Conrad, Marlow
finds himself in a position where he is faced to accept the fact
that the man he has admired and looked up to is a madman. He
realizes that Kurtz?s methods are not only unethical, but also
inhumane. Marlow comes to realize that Kurtz is evil, and that he
himself is also evil, thus Marlow?s disillusion makes his
identification with Kurtz horrifying.
As Marlow travels up the river, he is constantly preoccupied with
Kurtz. Marlow says _I seemed to see Kurtz for the first
time…the lone white man turning his back suddenly on the
headquarters, on relief, on thoughts of home…towards his empty
and desolate station_(32). From the beginning of his trip, he is
compared to Kurtz by all of the people that he comes into contact
with, and a great deal of his thoughts are of Kurtz. He wonders
how he will measure up to the standards that the company set for
him, what Kurtz?s personality is like, and what Kurtz would think
of him. The more obsessed he becomes with Kurtz, the more he sets
himself up for the horrible reality of what his new idol was
truly made of.
Upon reaching Kurtz’s station, Marlow?s disillusion begins to set
in. He is greeted by an English-speaking Russian whom he takes
for a man who on the surface is deceant level-headed person, but
after short conversation it is apparent to Marlow that he is
talking with a disturbed individual, but that was not what
bothered Marlow. Hearing of and seeing the acts committed by
Kurtz made Marlow uneasy, and even afraid. It was at this point
that Marlow begins his denial of any affinity he feels with
Kurtz. He says in regard to the Russian ?I suppose that it had
not occurred to him that Mr. Kurtz was no idol of mine_(59).
Marlow sees all of the atrocities committed by Kurtz, and is
appalled, but when he looks deep with inside himself he sees what
he could easily become, and he desperately wants to suppress it.
Once Kurtz is on the boat, and headed with Marlow back to
civilization, things take a strange turn. Though Marlow and Kurtz
have little to talk about, they develop a distinct respect for
each other. As Kurtz dies, Marlow accepts this death easily and
remains loyal to his dying requests. It troubles Marlow a great
deal that there is so much of himself in the things Kurtz did.
There is a point where Marlow finds the evil that lurks in heart
of all men, and he simply accepts it. This is mostly clearly
demonstrated at the end of the story when he claims to be
thinking ?Don?t you understand I loved him-I loved him-I loved
him_(79). In this quote Marlow lets it all out. On the surface he
hated Kurtz?s actions, but he loved his power to fight the
standards of society and to live as a true man.
Marlow finds out that there is a savage beast in himself, and in
all men in his mind. There are a lot of problems that Marlow
faces and he maintains his composure. It Kurtz?s lack of
composure that Marlow privately admires. In this story Marlow is
forced to accept his disillusion with Krutz, and is terrified of
the identification that comes along with this acceptance. It is
only then when Marlow realizes the true nature of man.