Black Heart
In the novel Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad, the seaman Marlow tells a big lie to Kurtz's Intended. To Marlow "[there] is a taint of death, a flavour of mortality in lies - which is exactly what I hate and detest in the world - what I want to forget". He hates and detests those who lie but lowers himself to doing it himself at the end of the novel. There are many reasons why he does this. Unlike the lies the Manager and the Brickmaker might tell to further their own selfish agendas, Marlow's one lie serves to protect Kurtz and his Intended as well as to prevent the jungle's darkness and evil from complicating the situation one last time. Marlow lies because he knows that the truth would cause more pain and complication than it is worth. He is ready to put this experience behind him and to move on with his life and he makes it easier for himself and the Intended by telling a lie. At the end of the Heart of Darkness, Marlow betrays his morals by telling a huge lie to Kurtz's Intended in order to protect the Intended from the painful truth, to prevent the darkness of the jungle from having a prolonged effect, and to continue his own loyalty to Kurtz and protect Kurtz's reputation that Marlow feels
If he would have told the truth to the Intended it would have caused further complications. She insists that she knew him the best and that Kurtz needed her. One of the reasons that Marlow goes to see the Intended in the first place is to finally gain a sense of closure from the experience. She also tells that she "believed in him more that any one on earth - more than his own mother, more than - himself. He reasons, "Hadn't he said he wanted only justice? But I couldn't. He would rather violate his own morals that tarnish Kurtz's reputation. Even though Marlow despises lying, he feels that telling a small lie is better than allowing the complications and realizations that the truth would bring. When she asks what his final words were, Marlow responds by saying Kurtz spoke her name. However, he is forced to lie when he slips up and tells the Intended that "I heard his very last words". By becoming his caretaker during his last days, Marlow develops a sense of responsibility when it comes to Kurtz. By not knowing the savage Kurtz became, she may be able to move on and complete her mourning. He uses the Intended's ignorance to bypass the truth because she has a positive view of Kurtz's life. Marlow refuses to let the darkness and the evil of the jungle keep a prolonged hold over his life.
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Acceptance Essays
