Heart Of Darkness (1796 words) Essay Example For Students

Heart Of Darkness (1796 words) Essay Heart Of DarknessEvery man or woman has buried within themselves a dark side, savage side. When a man is taken out of society and left to create his own norms, he rediscovers those instincts, which have laid dormant since the beginning of existence. Survival of the fittest, physically and intellectually, is the foundation of these instincts. Persons who dominate one or many through mental or physical powers develop a sense of superiority. This feeling, if fostered by the environment, and intensified to an extreme, produces a sense of having God-like powers. A man believing himself to be a or the God is seen as a wicked person or a monster. Since monsters can not be allowed to roam the civilized world, someone must be sent to destroy it. To find the monster, the person selected must take the same path as the monster. This path is a journey into ones own mind, soul, or true self. The person on this path will never see evil so clear and defined as in his/her own reflection. In taking th is path, the person runs the risk of becoming the very thing he is trying to destroy. In Joseph Conrads story Heart of Darkness, the protagonist represents the person selected to seek out and destroy the monster. Conrad uses many techniques to bring the reader into the darkness: archetype, symbolism, and foreshadowing. The theme of this classic tale is made through the words of the western philosopher Nietzsche; when fighting monsters the person fighting should be careful not to become one, and when looking into a void the person must be aware that the void also looks into him. The readers are first introduced to the protagonist, Marlow, as he is being commissioned by the Company to hunt down the monster, Kurtz, Marlow, a boat captain, almost nomadic in his need to travel, is also a man of simple morals, simple to the point of religion, the most prevalent commandment seen in his character is thou shall not lie. Marlow, after spending a little time in London, embarks on his journey. The purpose of this journey is to find Kurtz, a man who is also employed by the Company which is in the ivory business, and has its greedy hand spread over Africa like a malignant tumor (Gatten). Having lost control of Kurtz, the Company choose to relieve him of his post and had, before Marlow, already employed another man who eventually joined Kurtz to retrieve him. With hopes of a successful recovery, of both the monster and the ivory which he guards, Marlow makes the journey down the Congo, which is never named as such, into the heart of Africa the heart of darkness. Darkness, meaning literally, a country where the inhabitants are themselves dark. Darkness, meaning symbolically, the savage part of a mans soul. The readers, reaching the midpoint of the story, find Marlow encountering one delay after another. Months of delays force him to observe his environment and the mentality of the people who surround him, both foreign and domestic. Marlow realizes that Kurtz is entrenched within a society which has few rules. Of these few rules, which direct the savage African society surrounding him, Kurtz is the creator and enforcer of the majority. Unrestricted by society, human nature is left to itself in its purest form. Were the natural human instincts are left to grow and thrive on the minds of any one in the presence of the darkness. Kurtz, a far superior being mentally than the savages who surround him, suffers from a god-complex. With this mental disorder in full effect, he is left unopposed to claim his position as a god. On his journey to find Kurtz, Marlow realizes the same principles that Kurtz had realized on his. Human nature is inherently both good and evil, light and dark the, yin and yang. It is the societys perception of good and evil which lead to its definitions. Evil is universally accepted as being tempting; shown by the adage; Be a slave in heaven, or a ruler in hell. This temptation is most prevalent in environments lacking rules, environments like that in which Kurtz was ensconced, or the same environment that we all encounter every day. This struggle inevitably creates unrest within the soul of the those involved. Finally reaching Kurtzs station, after the delays and dealings with the savages and others also employed by the Company, Marlow finds his prey ,the monster, Kurtz, closely following the stereotypes of what a monster is expected to do. Kurtz was found to be participating in monstrous acts such as: having heads of rebels impaled upon sticks, as an admonition to others of his power. Without the constraints of society, Kurtz is able to seek out and fulfill his inner desires and go beyond any restraints that he may have had before. In Kurtz, Marlo w sees, the inconceivable mystery of a soul that knew no restraint, no faith, and no fear, yet struggling blindly with itself (113). T. S. Eliot said, we are continually reminded of the power and terror of Nature, and the isolation and feebleness of Man. Marlow also believes that the very wilderness speaks to Kurtz, telling him secrets; whispered to him things about himself which he did not know, things of which he had no conception till he took counsel with this great solitude and the whisper had proved irresistibly fascinating (98). A mans growth is through his experiences, and both Marlow and Kurtz grow, through their respective journeys, at a meteoric rate. 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