Heart Of Darkness Essay Research Paper Did

Heart Of Darkness Essay, Research Paper

.Did he live his life again in every detail of desire, temptation, and surrender during that supreme moment of complete knowledge. He cried in a whisper at some image, at some vision-he cried out twice, a cry that was no more than a breath: The horror! The horror!.What horror is Kurtz recounting as his final words. Truths lie inside the inner soul of all human beings, it is just a matter of when and where they will come out. Kurtz choose to let his be known as his passing words. An epiphany, a passing glimpse, the realization of what he has created and destroyed, willingly, or blindly going about hacking through the jungle blindfolded, searching for something of extrinsic importance. The narrator of Heart of Darkness never lets the reader know what Kurtz was speaking about. I believe Conrad wanted his audience to judge for themselves the importance of Kurtz.s words. Finding literal, as well as deeper meanings, in the novel becomes very apparent when basing the context of Kurtz.s words from a thematic standpoint. His word.s can be broken down on three levels: the first, dealing with the obvious literally sense of horror representing all the dead Africans, who died at the hands of the Kurtz in his lusty quest for ivory; the second, delves into an important theme relating to the book, which is human savagery, Kurtz must have realized he had become what he hated most; Lastly, on a abstract level, his finally word.s would have represented the society of European Imperialism that had molded Kurtz and formed him into a by-product of the mixture, which culminated together to create colonial, imperialistic attitudes.

It is shear terror to imagine the magnitude of the scale on which atrocities of death, murder, and genocide had taken place against the Africans. Death is a very silent, dirty scene. Nobody has ever been able to recount their tale of death, for no doorway has been found that any person can use to return. Kurtz.s inner station was, responsible for gathering more ivory than all the other stations combined. This task, viewed on its own merits, is a tremendous accomplishment, showing Kurtz.s fortitude in achieving his goal. When the reader sees what methods are used to gather the ivory, the true nature of .the real cost. becomes apparent. The Africans were used as slaves, Kurtz.s own tribal followers, who obeyed each and every command he gave them, no matter how ridiculous. If the task given by Kurtz was to die, the Africans died; if the task was to wage war against other tribal groups, so as to enlarge ivory hunting grounds, the Africans killed; if the task was to fend off approaching Europeans, the Africans followed this and every other order with draconian obedience. The savagery, when imagining those millions of Africans murdered all for the sake of ivory tusks, is too disheartening for the uninitiated person. Some person, with the beast already inside their soul, could approach this task with no qualms about any methods used against fellow humans. Kurtz had this characteristic. He had gotten off the boat and into the jungle, fully. He was no longer apart of this world, but still in it. The nature of savagery had taken his whole being over; infact, any embodiment of European civilization had continued to fall overboard the farther down the river he journeyed. The intricate woven fabric, with each tiny fiber being a thread of knowledge, experience, and lessons learned make up the blanket of our personality. Kurtz had chosen to take a very sharp pair of scissors and cut away all that warmth this personality blanket provides. By discarding the very nature of his being this left him hollow, a creature with a threaded existence, tattered and worn, he came apart at the seams. He could no longer feel the same emotion, or emphasize with his fellow man. Therefore, the senseless violence he perpetuated, did not bother him, why would it. He was the African.s God, able to do as he pleased, he, and he alone, decided who shall live and who shall die. A variable monster, with his sole purpose of existence being nothing more than fulfilling his lusty savage desire. Kurtz was now primitive man, with all the trappings of an unthinking beast. Although, with all the savagery that Kurtz displayed, he still had a little decency left in him. The horror! The horror! is a reflection of this belief. I can imagine a man at the throws of death, seeing his life flash before his eyes, all the madness, insanity, and grotesque horror had now come thundering down, like a bolt of lightning, jolting his conscience into a harsh reality. It was too late, and he knew that. It is actually quite sad, only at the end did Kurtz realize his quest for glory, power, and lusty fulfillment of savagery was all for not. The absolute destitute had consumed him entirely.

What does it mean to be savage. Is this some sort of jungle myth. Does this only happen in the deepest reaches of the African jungle. Can this happen to an ordinary man in the modern world. All these questions, I think were answered in Heart of Darkness. The true nature of humanity is disguised in a fa.ade of colourful clothing and pomp societal values. What with laws and court systems, it is no wonder modern day man shows any signs of his ancient ancestors. Why should he. There is no need anymore for .barbaric. forms of behaviour, the type associated today with a less cultured society. With a butcher, an