I am happily opening the literary analysis series that I have wanted to start for a long time with “Heart of Darkness”. We will find a piece of ourselves in this novel where we witness the reflection of the tragedy of modern man…
The 20th century’s developments and changes, in technology, religion, or industrial, caused the collapse of existing standards and mechanisms without providing a reasonable option, which also caused disruption, tumultuous and futile impact upon modern man. Focusing upon fragmentations, dilemmas, and complexities of an individual’s psychology and consciousness, Conrad identifies the tragedy of his modern hero with his inner struggles. The tragedy of modern man is society as a whole, the reign of the darkness of consciousness, the indescribable suffering, alienation, and powerlessness of man in the world. It is an exploration into the possibility of individual liberty, but the boundaries and consequences of this liberty remain unknown.
Joseph Conrad immerses in ink into man’s universal and time-consuming destiny: dilemma. Through the character of Kurtz, Conrad presents the modern reader with an example of how the dark and bright sides in a person can change places under the influence of conditions, and how a person who is initially motivated by the idea of good can turn into a monster and shattered his mind with the exploitation ambition brought by greed. After several years in the jungle, Kurtz’s dilemma, which is the reason for his psychological downfall, drives him to such a high degree of solitude that delusions make him gone mad. Kurtz’s brutal outward behaviors appearing only to demonstrate his mental isolation. There were no constraints placed upon Kurtz from above, nor from a legal system, or by his consciousness. He began to believe in the wild that he could be authorized to do whatever he wanted, and this liberty made him insane. His words, “my ivory… my intended… my river… my station,” prove his everlasting ambition, greed, hubris, and eventually moral and bodily corruption. Kurtz’s evil spiritual degradation seems to be the product of both external and internal factors, such as the alienation and loneliness enforced by the wilderness, imperialist European forces, and his conscience. As Marlow, “All Europe contributed to the making of Kurtz.” In the beginning, Kurtz appeared very well in trade, and he was well known for his great intellect, loyal to his mission, a very important one, a highly respected and admired noble, and universal genius. Nevertheless, his withdrawal from law or order leads him to expose his passion for brutality, ambition, greed for ivory and to commit an endless amount of evil in the land of darkness. And his brutality seemed to be the most effective tool he could use to govern his domain.
To Marlow, Kurtz has become a specific type of malicious agent, so to say, a modern-day Faust image who has sold his soul in exchange for prohibited power: “I have seen the devil of violence, and the devil of greed, and the devil of hot desire, but by all the stars! These were strong, lusty, red-eyed devils, that swayed and drove men”. He had lost his consciousness enough to use the heads of native people, who refused to fall under his dictatorship, as an ornament. Kurtz takes on the position of God, exterminating all the impoverished and enslaved natives to gain profit from ivory that is used to adorn the houses of those wealthy and prosperous Europeans. Kurtz is indeed a divided man, split between his ‘European’ aspirations and his ‘African’ passions.
Marlow, as a man of European ideology, is unable to overcome his racial biases and acts as a colonialist in the beginning. Even he describes the native such inhuman statements: “They were not enemies, they were not criminals, they were nothing earthly now, -nothing but black shadows of disease and starvation”. However, the more Marlow explores the continent, the further he understands the solidarity and brutality of man’s nature. Furthermore, Kurtz’s death is portrayed as Marlow’s redemption. After Kurtz’s passing, Marlow returns to Europe as a reformed individual, conscious of society’s and its systems’ corrupting effects on the human psyche. Marlow serves the feeling that he is attempting to find a justification and reason for Kurtz’s terrible attitude. Taking all of this into account, Marlow believes it is quite natural to go insane and losing sight of oneself because “no fool ever made a bargain for his soul with the devil: the fool is too much of a fool, or the devil is too much of a devil.” In fact, Marlow attempts to explain how Kurtz is obsessed with the dilemma of his heart and his impulses enticed by the profits of the wild. For catharsis to occur, the tragic hero must realize his mistake and be disillusioned. Namely, there must be a revelation or disillusionment of reality about the hero that he had not seen yet.
Heart of Darkness ends compatible with the classical tragedy principles: redemption. Kurtz’s last words and agony ‘The horror! The horror!’ serves as a summary of his tragedy. Kurtz’s idea of horror emphasizes the loss of modern man’s integration with nature, the imposition of social constraints and institutions on people and their subconscious. Although it is tragic to witness Kurtz die with a filthy conscience, it is also reassuring to see a spark of humanity in his core. Especially when Marlow sees Kurtz quarreling with himself, he becomes the one who besides admiration sympathizes with him and makes the reader feel pity and fear with his thoughts. At that moment, he was convinced that the wilderness’s lure had led to Kurtz’s cruelty and the degradation of his soul. We genuinely feel pity for Kurtz, since he was a victim of European imperialism and the ambitions of exploitation and subjugation to which he had dedicated himself. Kurtz reflects all mankind in the face of his moral values and the terrifying facets to which he has committed his whole life to the Company. Marlow acknowledges that seeking one’s inner self doesn’t obey one’s values, yet is able of judging one’s self and finding the truth. Marlow says that Kurtz’s final words are “a moral victory paid for by innumerable defeats.”
In conclusion, Heart of Darkness clearly depicts a modern man’s tragedy. It is Conrad’s more in-depth exploration of the soul, a depiction of modern human morality and physiological degradation.
Thanks for reading…
