In the novel, Heart of Darkness, by Joesph Conrad, Kurtz plays the fool throughout the novel. Kurtz was an eloquent, persuasive, and powerful man envied by numerous people throughout Africa. Everyone from the administration of his corrupt company to the innocent natives was in awe of him. Kurtz was the only thing that made sense to Marlow in a wilderness wrought with confusion. Kurtz represented the wilderness, the voice, and an imperialist who was a symbol of colonization. He once was a great man who later became trapped somewhere in the layers of the heart of darkness. Kurtz knew others disagreed with him, but he never listened to their criticisms. Like the Beatles song, "The Fool on the Hill" Kurtz just grinned and continued on his journey. Although in the beginning Kurtz was adored by many people towards the end of the novel people began to view him as vain, greedy, and inhumane.
The song addresses the issue of the fool being laughed and the fool never notices being mocked at. The manager and Uncle both dislike Kurtz primarily because they fear Kurtz and they're both jealous of Kurtz's power. The manager and Uncle both appear to have the same outlook on life and neither have morals. They both continuously laugh and mock at Kurtz's ideas. When the manager is in public he pretends to care bout Kurtz, but in reality the manager has no deep feelings for Kurtz. It is not shocking to learn of the corruption the manager encourages in the company. The manager and the Uncle both view Kurtz as a fool. Kurtz never listens to them and it appears he doesn't even notice their feelings of hatred towards him. .
Kurtz proceeded into the jungle for money for the company and for himself. Greed is what kept him out there for such a long period. Having spent so long in the jungle began to dehumanize him. Kurtz began to lose sight of the thin line between corruption and goodness. Greed began to take over Kurtz and it made him become cruel enough to threaten to kill one of his devoted companions, the Russian.