Heart Of Darkness
No other four word quote in literature has ever been so perplexing as the last words of Station Chief Kurtz. The horror, the horror. What was he speaking of?There is the obvious of course, the dread involved with losing one's sanity, the terror at what might happen when one's crimes come to light, despair over entire situations where one lies dying. Maybe this is what Conrad meant. That is the great thing about literature though. It is open to interpretation. By his words Kurtz expressed (in my opinion) an immense guilt. He had destroyed so much, so much blood had been shed in his name, or in the name of h
Tormented by demons within, these were the brutes Kurtz raved about, these were the ones whose thirst remained unslaked during the reign in blood Kurtz had enacted, Master of the darkness and a slave in its heart. Kurtz was as vulnerable as anyone, and he lay there dying. An ever-growing domino effect was forming, a sort of sieve shaped cause and effect, with Kurtz down at the anti-pinnicle. His men knew this, and grew to fear him. He had power and power on top of that, and nobody ordering him to pull the punches. As long as he remained untouched in the Congo, Kurtz was God. This is what was killing him, the fever was nothing compared to the agony of a crashing return to reality, that Kurtz must have experienced, this Godhood's end as Kurtz reverted back to mere mortal, indeed a moment of clarity. Fear is too often mistaken, substituted for respect and Kurtz turned this "respect" into worship. He had killed so many, and yet remained unable to kill what was within. ------------------------------------------------------------------------**Bibliography**. As They pulled away from the heart of darkness, the darkness was pulling out of Kurtz, tearing out from The Station Chief, like a rusty jagged spear of the indigenous tribes. Marlow was the finger who set the domino rally to action freeing and trapping Kurtz. Congo and Kurtz were one, like the Giant Antaeus and Mother Earth. The quote of absolute power corrupting absolutely applies, for as the longer Kurtz remained in the Congo, the more the Congo snaked into his soul, as he drifted farther from authority, until he emerged on the other side of humanity, as an authority.
Common topics in this essay:
Maybe Conrad,
Congo Congo,
Chief Kurtz,
Station Chief,
God Marlow,
Godhood's Kurtz,
,
Mother Earth,
willing willing,
congo kurtz,
Congo Kurtz,
station chief,
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Acceptance Essays
