The Heart of Darkness: the Ultimate Choice of Man

The spirit of Darkness The Ultimate Choice of Man A champion word holds the potential to have multiple connotations. Stringing these subjective words into a novel may have a catastrophic work on the readers. However, a storys superpower to comprise of several diverse interpretations provides deeper insight and depth. In Joseph Conrads novel, The Heart of Darkness, there atomic number 18 various viewpoints one may take throughout the main character Marlows journey.But Conrads artful use of dualistic symbolism is arguably the approximately crucial because it high unuseds the underlying theme, which stresses the dual nature of adult male and his picking to subordination his actions. During the entirety of the book, dualism is constantly utilized to contrast separate entities, such as wild and civilization. Some may argue the two be barely classifications of environ handsts further in actuality, they represent the effect that order or deprivation of support have on people . Civilizations consist of laws and rules to uphold homosexuals morals to ensure a working and efficient society.But as mentioned in the novel, Marlow says, And London likewisehas been one of the blasphemous ordain of the solid groundI was opinion of very old times, when the Ro mankindss first came hereOh yes they did it. Did it very well, too, no incertitude and without thinking much about it either, except afterwards to brag of what he had gone through in his time, perhaps. They were men enough to face the trace(67-69). London, a symbol of en unprovokedenment, is also once a dark place of the earth until Romans trace civilization upon the land. The city is an example stressing how civilization is a learned habit and is not an innate characteristic of humanity.To maintain a stable and harmonious community, it appears necessary to establish a code of moral philosophy to enforce stability on its people. But if defined in this sense, imperialism is clear a hypocritical at tempt to justify exploitations of the indigenous and primitive states of man and nature alike. The Company in The Heart of Darkness insists it will colonize the people, nevertheless this reasoning is extremely ironic because the damage that the hobo camp has on the white mans soul exceeds the physical pain of the total tail mens toil.Near the beginning of the trip, Marlow distinguishes the feeling of the jungle and says, In around inland post feel the savagery, the utter savagery, had close round him all told that mysterious life of the wilderness that stirs in the forest, in the jungles, in the patrol wagon of wild men He has to live in the midst of the incomprehensible, which is also de riddleable. And it has a fascination, too, that goes to work upon him(69). Even if the wilderness is constantly described as dark and savage, it holds a fascination upon train men.This is partly due to the incomprehensibility of the wilderness that imposes itself as an ominous, omnipotent force testing ones ability to hold onto sanity. Once people enter the wild, their primitive impulses are revealed since they are free to do as they desire without fear of consequence. The jungle is referred to as the heart of tail not because it unleashes the mephistophelian of civilized men, plainly because it mirrors the darkness already apparent in every being. As Marlow progresses deeper into the jungle, he says, The earth seemed unearthly.We are disposed to look upon the shackled form of a conquered monster, but there there you could look at a thing false and free. It was unearthly, and the men were No, they were not inhumanbut if you were man enough you would adopt to yourself that there was in you just the faintest trace of a response to the skanky frankness Principles wont do. Acquisitions, clothes, pretty rags rages that would fly off at the first good shake. No you want a deliberate flavour(108-109). Society may restrain savage tendencies, yet it domiciliatenot eliminate them.Primeval tendencies are always lurking, and the superficial morals of civilization are much more than unstable than it seems at first glance. The acquisitions and material possessions mentioned are considered to be rich requirements to live an accomplished and successful life. Greed fuels the expedition and it is what overcame Kurtz, who represents what man can become if left solely to his inner desires. On the other hand, Marlow is a civilized soul who is left mostly unscathed by the darkness. In the lawlessness of the wilderness, it is up to the individual to either abide to his morals or sacrifice his soul to the darkness.When men are confronted with the boundless opportunities for sin in the wilderness, they can choose to restrain their internal greed or to remit to their temptations. Conrad uses these two intangible contrasts to stress that man does indeed have a choice in his actions. Even the savage men who are natives of the jungle are primary examples of restraint in the novel. During the expedition, Marlow characterizes the natives and says, Yes I looked at the natives as you would on any human being with a curiosity of their impulses, motives, capacities, weaknesses, when brought to the test of an inexorable physical necessity.Restraint What possible restraint? (116). Desires and impulses of humanity can much fuel their ambitions. At the same time, desires can bring ruin to a man because they may compel him to commit treacherous and evil deeds. However, they cannot be an excuse for man to brush aside his wrongdoings for they do not force him to make any actions. A persons actions must be judged accordingly, regardless of his or her intended motives or societal status. Ones lack of restraint is exemplified when Marlow says, The helmsman had no restraint, no restraint-just like Kurtz-a tree swayed by the wind(129).Before, the helmsman is a native of the Congo, but he becomes accustomed to the white mans ways after accompanying the sailors on their journey. The native men of the Congo are two physically and mentally stronger because they are not enticed by material temptations. Association with proud civilized men causes the helmsman to be careless, leading to his untimely death. Instead of upholding his authoritative ideals, the mans absence of self-control indicates his newfound weakness.Kurtz, a man of great power and wealth, is ironically the ultimate representation of a man blinded by temptation, which deteriorates his willpower and produces a weak and unstable mentality. In his final moments, Kurtz cries out, The horror The horror(154). These final words are Kurtzs recognition of the horrors he has committed by allowing temptation to overtake him. In Kurtzs situation, temptation triumphs and concludes in his death, basically suggesting that succumbing to ones temptations results in the ultimate punishment.Restraint and temptation are dualities implying that everyone possesses a good and evil nature, bu t the choice to uncover the restraint required to preserve humanity is ultimately left to the discretion of each person. Both wilderness and civilization along with temptation and restraint comparisons symbolize the good and bad within human nature, which is exemplified the most generally by portrayal of light and dark. Conrad twists the usual book of facts of light and its common interpretations because light often portrays ignorance and narrow-mindedness in the novel.The dark is ever present in the jungle hence the title The Heart of Darkness, but it is also strongly characterized by Kurtz. One of the descriptions of Kurtz says, The point in his being a gifted creature, and that all his gifts the one that stood out pre-eminently, that carried with it a sense of real presence, was his ability to talk, his wordsthe gift of expression, the bewildering, the illuminating, the most majestic and the most contemptible, the pulsating stream of light, or the deceitful flow from the heart of an dense darkness(124).During this specific moment, light is symbolized as a force utilise to enlighten, while darkness represents the impenetrable evil. Again, it is ironic that the two are juxtapose together because Conrad clearly states the light cannot pierce the dark, yet Kurtz is evidently a man who wields the power to speak law and wisdom. Although Kurtz is a man who embodies the darkness of the jungle, he affirms the catch that all humans have good and evil coexisting within them. Conrads abandonment of the traditional connotation of light is noted when Marlow says, I know that the sunlight can be make to lie too (151).Surprisingly, the light which is previously portrayed as truth has evolved into the complete opposite. Since his contradiction blurs the line mingled with good and evil, Marlow loses the confidence in his previous ability to judge between the two. As a result, both Marlow and the readers realize that nothing and no one can be all good or evil, and the re are no restrictions to which the concept applies to. mayhap the most controversial statement about light and dark is when Marlow notices a work of art and says, Then I noticed a scurvy sketch in oils, on a panel, representing a woman, draped and blind-folded, carrying a lighted torch.The background was somberalmost black. The movement of the woman was stately, and the effect of the torchlight on the face was sinister(94). The painting can have a multitude of meanings, ranging from the hypocrisy of imperialism, to the unwillingness of any individual to admit his or her wrongs. Many are quick to endorse the wrongs and flaws of others but refuse to put forward to their own, as portrayed by the blindfold of the woman.This is the reason why a major(ip)ity of people live in a false public of a black and a white perspective on the world, in which there are only two outcomes to a situation. If everyone could concede to an understanding that all entities have a balance between one anot her, light and dark would be totally different concepts than what they are today. The three major dualities all contribute to highlight Conrads fundamental theme, which asserts that all men are composed of both good and evil and have the choice to maintain an optimal balance.Marlow and Kurtz are not as different as they once appeared in the beginning of the book. Each character struggles with the temptation of the darkness, but only Kurtz is totally consumed. The two characters embody two common choices that choke in reality to either find a balance between good and evil or to be pushed into the extremity of one side. However, it is essential to acknowledge that one entity cannot exist without the other, and in the end, only the individual can control his or her fate.