Heart of darkness: good vs evi

             In the Heart of Darkness, Conrad takes us on a journey into the soul of man. When the character Marlow travels into the jungle of Africa to find Kurtz, he realizes that he is in a place where the rules of society no longer constrain pure human nature, and the frighteningly raw truths about human beings can be observed first hand. Marlow finds that human nature is something unlimited and terrible by observing the effects of such freedom on Kurtz. Marlow finds that human nature is something unlimited and terrible by observing the effects of such freedom on Kurtz. Marlow discovers that human nature is a changeable thing, subject to the constraints placed on it by its environment, but also an entity containing the ability to be good or evil. The temptation of evil, existing the most in an environment devoid of rules, creates an eternal turmoil in the human soul as it struggles between conscience and its tendencies towards evil.
             This fight between good and evil, is represented also by the theme of civilization versus savagery. The book implies that civilizations are created by the setting of laws and codes that encourage men to achieve higher standards. It acts as a buffer to prevent men from reverting back to their darker tendencies
             Civilization, however, must be learned. London itself, in the book a symbol of enlightenment, was once "one of the darker places of the earth" before the Romans forced civilization upon them.
             While society seems to restrain these savage tendencies, it does not get rid of them. These primeval tendencies will always be like a black cloth lurking in the background.
             The tendency to revert to savagery is seen in Kurtz. When Marlow meets Kurtz, he finds a man that has totally thrown off the restraints of civilization and has de-evolved into a primitive state.
             Marlow and Kurtz are two opposite examples of the human condition. Kurtz represents what every man will become if left to his own intrinsic de...

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