Joseph Conrads Heart of Darkness
In Joseph Conrad's novel, "Heart of Darkness," we can easily see how theenvironment can have a negative impact on an individual's mental health.By examining the character of Kurtz, we can see how easily this occurs. We are told by Marlow that Kurtz is "gifted" (Conrad 1902 p. 294) andwhen Kurtz arrived in the jungle, his "sympathies were in the right place"(p. 295). However, after years of living in an elevated state above thenatives, he began to lose his respect for life as well as his sanity. Thenatives worshipped him and he had the "power to charm and frightenrudimentary souls into an aggravated wi
This inflated self opinion was the beginning ofhis insanity. In addition, he would "disappear for weeks; forgethimself amongst the people" (p. This illustrates how he began to actually believe he was as great as thenatives thought he was. His life andmental stability fell victim to the "powers of darkness" (p. Kurtz was driven by desireand that desire lead him to a life of solitude for many years. In fact, Kurtzthreatened to shoot his dearest friend if he did not give Kurtz his ivory.
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