Heart of Darkness
No summary, no dissecting out of a "subject", is adequate to express the intention and significance of Joseph Conrad's "Heart of Darkness". The theme is not schematic; it is embodied in the metaphors, in the structural pattern, and the step-by-step flow of the narration. However, Conrad does have one identifiable chief concern. As he himself stated in a letter to F. N. Doubleday on June 2, 1924: "I think that an author who tries to 'explain' is exposing himself to a very great risk-the risk of confessing himself a failure. For a work of art should speak for itself. Yet much could be said on the other side; for it is also clear that a work of art is not a logical demonstration carrying its intention on the face of it." "Heart of Darkness" has it significant public side, as a heated document on illogical and brutal exploitation. It may be read merely to shock, yet it is evidence of things seen and done. To attempt to understand the purpose of the story, it is important to first closely evaluate Marlow's character. One would think that Marlow is merely the obvious medium through which we examine the exploitation of the Congo natives and the degradation of Mr. Kurtz, the 'hollow man'. However, "Heart of Darkness" is above
Marlow's temptation is made real through his experience to Kurtz, a white man and sometime idealist who had fully reacted to the wilderness: a probable and fallen self. He is not just a puppet of sorts, but a complete character. Will this moralizing narrator also regress to savagery, go ashore for a howl and a dance, indulge unspeakable desires?I don't feel Marlow's function is merely to comment. But Marlow repeats frequently enough that he is recounting a spiritual voyage of self-discovery. But even this light is vague-as her black dress implies. Civilization is light and the forest dark; but dark and light are always changing and unclear. The voyage is both into the dense darkness of Africa and into the darkness of Marlow's thoughts. Ultimately, it becomes evident that his real journey has been to the center of the human soul. Light and dark have conventionally represented good and evil, and civilization has commonly been viewed as good, whereas savagery has normally been perceived as evil. Howling natives correspond to something inside himself; but in spite of everything, professing light he is loyal to Kurtz's darkness. On this literal surface it is difficult to take Marlow's plight very seriously. As Marlow enters the house of this lover of darkness mistaken for light, darkness enters with him and intensifies deeper as he talks. One could conclude this from Marlow's own words. As a narrator, he provides a precise and concretely realized point of view. The principle in Marlow's interview with Kurtz's Intended does not consist in Marlow's feelings toward her or in the discrepancy between her opinion of Kurtz, but rather in the acceptance of darkness by a messenger of light.
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Acceptance Essays
