The Heart Of Darkness: Charaters
...ter that is important to the story is the Russian trader who has gone into the African interior as the trading representative of a Dutch company. The Russian trader is significant in this plot because he gives us much insight into the character of the mysterious Kurtz, an ivory trader that Marlow was both repelled and fascinated. The Russian offers yet another enigmatic picture of Kurtz by telling Marlow that Kurtz was a “remarkable man” and by crediting him for “enlarging his mind.” I believe what the Russian says of Kurtz is true of Marlow, too: he is a man to whom people listen to, not someone with whom they converse with. Therefore, the darkness in Kurtz may repel Marlow mostly because it reflects his own internal darkness. The Russian and Marlow may also have some similarities such as both of them looking for epiphany and enlightenment. The Russian man also seemed important part of the novella because he appeared to be the link between Marlow and Kurtz, and help Marlow to solve Kurtz’s mysterious identity, in which he was fascinated in throughout his whole journey. The ornaments outside of the Kurtz’s hut at the Inner Station were actually severed heads turned to face the station house. This incident is important to the story as a whole because it reveals that Kurtz lacks restraint in the gratification of his lusts. Marlow thinks that Kurtz is hollow and needs something to fill that. Kurtz seems to be power driven, and willing to do anything to get what he wants and not let anyone get into his way. I believe that the severed heads on his fence could also be one of his methods of warning people of what can happen to them if they turn against him. This part of the novllea also questions Kurtz sanity, why would a man have human skulls on his fence, especially facing towards him? The Russian apologetically explained to Marlow after he sees the heads that they are heads of rebels, but Marlow doubts that and thinks they are heads of those who oppose Kurtz. The final character that will be discussed is the African (native) woman, also known as Kurtz’s mistress. Kurtz’s mistress is another important character to the story as a whole because she functions as blank slates upon which the values and the wealth of their respective societies can be displayed. She is known as a beautiful women loaded with several elephant tusks’ work of ornam...