Heart of darkness

” (Conrad 138) Marlow and Adam can be seen as two men that gave in to their temptations, however unlike Adam, Marlow was proud of becoming an outcast, and he had no regrets. The description of the jungle, “…an impenetrable forest. Resembling Adam’s curiosity of the forbidden apple from the tree of knowledge, the native’s lives fascinate Marlow, however his wonder is restricted, or “forbidden” by the company. Kurtz, who can be seen as Christ, “rescues” Marlow when he utters his last words, “The horror! The horror!” (Conrad 148). The air was warm, thick, heavy, sluggish. Once again, Conrad reflects this in Heart of Darkness through Marlow. ” This new broadening of his knowledge eventually leads to his salvation. Similarly, Marlow learns new things about himself, and others when he is banished from the company for giving in to the tempting darkness of the jungle and the natives. He comes to realize the cruelty and immorality of treating people as if they are meant to be shaped and formed into what society sees as “normal” or “proper. There was no joy in the brilliance of sunshine…”(Conrad 104) can be seen as having a “hellish” or Satanic quality that tempted Marlow away from the moral European culture he knew back in England. discovery of the natives, he describes his interest with the cannibals, “… I looked at them as you would on any human being with a curiosity of their impulse, motives, capacities, weaknesses…” (Conrad 112). Conrad is able to capture important concepts of temptation, knowledge, change, and salvation, which give the novel its significance in literature. After he was banished from the Garden for his act, he gained knowledge of new things in his life. When Marlow hears these words he learns that although he and Kurtz were secret sharers, and they still opposed each other at the same time, Marlow admired Kurtz for his last words and hoped that he would also have something to say when he died.