Heart of Darkness is a short novel written by Joseph Conrad in 1899 is one of the most powerful condemnations of imperialism in western literature. It helps us to see the consequences of imperialism through the concept of race and discrimination. Kurtz is one of the characters in the novel who is a bit controversial in his actions and personality. In this essay, I will argue the reasons for his cry in his death-bed.
Near to his end, Kurtz cry ‘’The horror! The horror!’’.They include horror in him, horror in unsatisfied ideals, horror in Africa, horror in colonial practices, and horror in the wilderness.
Because Kurtz was representative of enlighted Europe and civilization he came to Africa with a great responsibility of being the carrier of light yet later he became the face of greed and a maniacal tyrant. Once representing ''the highest form of human'', so to say, later he became the most unhuman hiding behind an elite form. It can be said that he and his actions are only a gear wheel in a greater brutal machine but his actions could not be justified by being a victim of a greater system. He became a brutal tyrant who torchers humans and animals to feed the industrial need of Europe. He knows that he betrayed his ideals and moral nature of mankind.
Considering this kind of life experience, a believer would believe that his last words indicate that he caught a glimpse from the other world that waits for him. It would not be a good one because a soul like him only would deserve a place like a hell and would cry at the horror that he sees. However, a logician would think that his dying words only represent the life experience that he has seen in his dying moments because many reported that they have seen their whole life pass by as they experienced a near-death experience. In other words, he cried at the horror that he created but ‘Not alone, surely!’ (page 114).
We know that horror in Africa is mainly the product of colonial exploitation. Yet, the audience reads another level of these cruel acts with actions of Kurtz. It is not just a matter of commerce anymore. It is about taking what is not yours. They had ‘no more moral purpose at the back of it than there is in burglars breaking into safe’ (page 61).
Men like Kurtz created screams of horror which will echo through hundreds of years. They had created secrets and replaced them with false realities. Even persona feels like he was ‘buried in a vast grave full of unspeakable secret’ (page 127). The reality, which caves in on audience when they read the story, fades in Africa. ‘The inner truth is hidden-luckily, luckily’ (page 68) for the sake of Kurtz’s mental health but we know that it does not fade enough and it reveals itself to Kurtz in the end.
Lastly, we could say that Kurtz was crying to the wilderness he had seen in Africa and himself that he has realized in his dying moments. He was crawling to the sound of the drum rolls. Marlow and the pilgrims would hear these roll of drums but they could not figure out ‘whether it meant war, peace, or prayer’ (page 71). The wilderness of Africa surrounded Marlow and pilgrims but not as much as surrounded Kurtz, perhaps he spent way more time than them or he was the one who learned a way to go with the flow.
In the novel many times we read how Kurtz is admired because he could compromise with the natives and moreover, we could interpret this compromise with the wilderness of Africa too. Kurtz went through a journey to ‘prehistoric earth, on an earth that wore the aspect of an unknown planet’, and this journey was filled with many horrors that could flashback in his death bed. It would not be easy to confront ancient and repressed urges and sensations which was covered up with an institution called civilization for any man.
In conclusion, Kurtz went on a journey that leads him into the darkest and deepest recesses of human nature. It transformed him in many different ways. He lost his morals and his ideals in this journey but this loss became a victory for European colonizers. Colonization is too big to label it on a single man but even on a smaller scale it is a horror to look at, and for sure was a horror to live at.
Near to his end, Kurtz cry ‘’The horror! The horror!’’.They include horror in him, horror in unsatisfied ideals, horror in Africa, horror in colonial practices, and horror in the wilderness.
Because Kurtz was representative of enlighted Europe and civilization he came to Africa with a great responsibility of being the carrier of light yet later he became the face of greed and a maniacal tyrant. Once representing ''the highest form of human'', so to say, later he became the most unhuman hiding behind an elite form. It can be said that he and his actions are only a gear wheel in a greater brutal machine but his actions could not be justified by being a victim of a greater system. He became a brutal tyrant who torchers humans and animals to feed the industrial need of Europe. He knows that he betrayed his ideals and moral nature of mankind.
Considering this kind of life experience, a believer would believe that his last words indicate that he caught a glimpse from the other world that waits for him. It would not be a good one because a soul like him only would deserve a place like a hell and would cry at the horror that he sees. However, a logician would think that his dying words only represent the life experience that he has seen in his dying moments because many reported that they have seen their whole life pass by as they experienced a near-death experience. In other words, he cried at the horror that he created but ‘Not alone, surely!’ (page 114).
We know that horror in Africa is mainly the product of colonial exploitation. Yet, the audience reads another level of these cruel acts with actions of Kurtz. It is not just a matter of commerce anymore. It is about taking what is not yours. They had ‘no more moral purpose at the back of it than there is in burglars breaking into safe’ (page 61).
Men like Kurtz created screams of horror which will echo through hundreds of years. They had created secrets and replaced them with false realities. Even persona feels like he was ‘buried in a vast grave full of unspeakable secret’ (page 127). The reality, which caves in on audience when they read the story, fades in Africa. ‘The inner truth is hidden-luckily, luckily’ (page 68) for the sake of Kurtz’s mental health but we know that it does not fade enough and it reveals itself to Kurtz in the end.
Lastly, we could say that Kurtz was crying to the wilderness he had seen in Africa and himself that he has realized in his dying moments. He was crawling to the sound of the drum rolls. Marlow and the pilgrims would hear these roll of drums but they could not figure out ‘whether it meant war, peace, or prayer’ (page 71). The wilderness of Africa surrounded Marlow and pilgrims but not as much as surrounded Kurtz, perhaps he spent way more time than them or he was the one who learned a way to go with the flow.
In the novel many times we read how Kurtz is admired because he could compromise with the natives and moreover, we could interpret this compromise with the wilderness of Africa too. Kurtz went through a journey to ‘prehistoric earth, on an earth that wore the aspect of an unknown planet’, and this journey was filled with many horrors that could flashback in his death bed. It would not be easy to confront ancient and repressed urges and sensations which was covered up with an institution called civilization for any man.
In conclusion, Kurtz went on a journey that leads him into the darkest and deepest recesses of human nature. It transformed him in many different ways. He lost his morals and his ideals in this journey but this loss became a victory for European colonizers. Colonization is too big to label it on a single man but even on a smaller scale it is a horror to look at, and for sure was a horror to live at.
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