st assets to the African surroundings which represent death and suffering. As Marlow is travelling through the African Congo, he is going through a journey in his soul. As the darkness appears in the jungle it appears within Charlie’s heart. Marlow is on the quest to find Kurtz at the inner station. One may interpret this in such a manner, that Kurtz does not even exist as a real character but merely as a representation of Marlow’s evil and darkness. Once at the inner station and confronted with Kurtz, Marlow kills him, therefore killing the darkness in his heart and being able to escape the grasp of the river. In another light, Kurtz can be viewed as another aspect of Marlow. Kurtz traveled down the same path in life as Marlow now is. Once confronted with the darkness in his soul, Kurtz was overwhelmed and consumed by it. Marlow, by seeing Kurtz’s fate, and realizing that that could be him, chose not to travel as far down that river as Kurtz. Because of Kurtz’s warning Marlow was able to escape being engulfed by his darkness. If Kurtz and Marlow are one then the differences in where they are according to the darkness should be taken into consideration. Marlow is merely on the journey towards his darkness while Kurtz is being suffocated by his own. It was the greed for the ivory which drove Kurtz to this stage of insanity. Once Kurtz isolated himself from the civilized world he developed characteristics similar to that of a cult leader. He was able to manipulate minds of certain native tribal members to follow him and his ways. He gave himself god-like qualities such as divine wisdom and inner strength while in reality his inner self was in complete turmoil. The love and the hate within his soul were in a struggle to conquer the heart. As one critic said, ”To call Kurtz an egoist is surely one of the great understatements of our time” (Johnson 70). As the relationship between Kurtz and Marlow develops they gain a certain respect for each other in that they understand each other. They are like one. When Marlow sees Kurtz’s death he knows that if he went into his darkness any farther he too would meet his death. Kurtz’s last words were “The horror! The horror!” (Conrad 138). At this point the reader is able to make the assumption that the hate won over the love in Kurtz’s heart. The natives, which appear in three different stages of the novel have a role which is second to only Kurtz and Marlow. The natives embody the sum and substance of darkness within the Congo. The natives serve not only as characters but also as symbols which transform as Marlow gets closer to Kurtz. This transformation takes place in three different stages; the natives at the company, the cannibals who serve as guides on the quest to Kurtz, and those who are the protectors of Kurtz and are completely lost in their obsession for Kurtz. Each of these groups represent not only the darkness of the uncivilized world of the Congo but they also are symbolic of Marlow’s maturing process as he gets closer to Kurtz and closer to the darkness in his heart. The first groups of natives are located at the company station which is on the outside of the dense jungle. As Marlow is forced to stay here for a few months with the steamer is being repaired, he sees many uncivilized things. These natives are slaves whose lives amount to nothing except for hard work in extreme conditions. Marlow is disgusted by the way that they are treated. This is the first time in his life that he is exposed to the evilness of civilization. These natives are naïve and prone to death like Marlow is at the beginning of his journey. Once the steamer is repaired, a group of cannibals is sent with Marlow to guide him to the inner station. These savages are slightly more advanced then the previous. The one thing which amazes Marlow is their will power. They are able to sustain tremendous amounts of time without food while not killing anyone to eat onboard the boat. A white m

Some topics in this essay:
Kurtz Marlow, Heart Darkness, Knights Yes, European Kurtz, Joseph Conrad, Marlow Kurtz, Congo River, Carl Bennett, Diane Telegan, African Congo, inner station, heart darkness, reader able, light darkness, kurtz marlow, marlow kurtz, black wool, reader introduced, evil darkness, light dark, knitting black wool, marlow begins journey, reader able visualize, images light dark, congo beginning novel,