Heart of Darkness: The Evil Nature Within All of Us
... predominantly exist within a person. Through the events that occur in Heart of Darkness, Marlow encounters many people that make him believe that the world is full of darkness and that men are inhumane. At the beginning of the novel, Marlow tells a story about Europe and imperialism. From this story, it becomes obvious that he is highly critical of imperialism. For example, Marlow states that imperialism degrades Europeans by removing them from the civilized European society and puts them into a situation that tempts men to return to their primitive nature (6-10). Through this, Conrad suggests that evil lurks within the hearts of men it becomes obvious when they are removed from civilization. Marlow experiences the truly inhumane side of man in Africa when he realizes that people would eat the youth in times of starvation and when the black man is beaten savagely. Marlow describes the way humans act to one another as dark and signifies his view on the nature of man. He specifically mentions Kurtz as a malevolent person who is fully consumed by an evil heart and one who did not choose to suppress the darkness from within. It becomes obvious that once Kurtz is in Africa, a once universal, civilized man becomes something else. Kurtz becomes one who is fueled by greed, power and selfish savagery. He decides not to suppress the evil and allows it to overcome him and exude through his actions. “…those heads drying on the stakes under Mr. Kurtz’s windows. After all, that was only a savage sight, while I seemed at one bound to have been transported into some lightless region of subtle horrors…” (98). Marlow finds out that Kurtz is a thief and a murderer. The drying of black heads on the stakes was just one of the many murders committed by the ruthless Kurtz. Beyond Kurtz, the only other person that Marlow believes is worse than him, which is the manager. Marlow sees the manager as a wretched beast. The manager felt that Marlow should be hanged and killed because Marlow disagreed on several topics and the only thing the manager was concerned about was ivory. Due mainly to the actions and statements of both Kurtz and the manager, Marlow concludes that the nature of man is cruel for there is no respect for others. Even though Marlow describes others as giving into the temptations of primitive nature and being consumed by a heart of darkness, he too cannot deny the fact that man’s original nature is evil. “Being hungry, you know, and kept on my feet too, I was getting savage” (36). “No! It is his extremity that I seem to have lived through. True, he(Kurtz) had made that last stride, he had stepped over the edge, while I had been permitted to draw back my hesitating foot. And perhaps in this is the whole difference; perhaps al...