He collects more ivory than any other agent because he uses absolute brute force in collecting it and never hides his real intentions behind the kind of philosophy espoused by Marlow's aunt in Part 1. The Company, however, does not want to appear "loose from the earth" like their number-one agent, which is why its representatives the Manager and the spectacled man who accosts Marlow in Brussels about Kurtz's papers want to ensure that Europeans never learn the truth about him.
Marlow, while not admiring Kurtz's "methods," does appreciate how Kurtz was able to journey into that part of himself that he and the rest of us suppress. According to Marlow, Kurtz was a noteworthy man because "he had made that last stride, he had stepped over the edge, while I had been permitted to draw back my hesitating foot.
For this alone, Marlow feels the need to safeguard Kurtz's reputation, because no one who had not made such a journey into himself could ever possibly understand Kurtz's. What Kurtz himself thinks of his own actions and "kicking the earth to pieces" is much more difficult to pinpoint; his final words — "The horror! The horror! Marlow has some characteristics that are similar to those of the speaker in T. This begs us to question how accurate is his representation of Kurtz is?
Just how frightening is the interior of the Congo? Can we assume that Marlow is being truthful to us as he is not above lying to make a point as with the Intended? And would it matter if he weren't? These are several questions that a reader …show more content… In Heart of Darkness, the use of irony deepens the effect of melancholy and sadness which is found in the fundamental atmosphere of the story.
Irony improves the sorrow which we, experience when we read about the unexpected transformation which comes over Kurtz. Show More. Read More. The Count Of Monte Cristo Betrayal Analysis Words 3 Pages From ruining lives to creating new ones, it inarguably takes away what little innocence still remains in men. The Tell Tale Heart Poem Analysis Words 5 Pages In both stories, the main characters have to deal with some sort of an affect on them after the fact of the cause.
The way Marlow obsesses about Kurtz, we almost expect Kurtz to file a restraining order on the guy. Or, we would if Kurtz weren't already half-dead by the time Marlow meets him. But it wasn't always like that. When Marlow first hears about Kurtz, he's not "very interested in him" 1. But when he hears the story about Kurtz turning back to the jungle, his ears prick up: he "[sees] Kurtz for the first time" 2.
And then, just a few paragraphs later, Marlow is actually excited to see the guy, saying that, for him, the journey has become entirely about meeting Kurtz. The boat, he says, "crawled towards Kurtz—exclusively" 2.
What was it about that story of Kurtz returning to the jungle that tickled Marlow's fancy? True, we've already seen that he's kind of obsessed with the jungle and its people. But at the same time he's drawn in by this primitive wilderness, he's terrified by it. What, they haven't made that one yet? Kurtz has done what Marlow can only dream of: refuse to return to the luxury and comfort of Europe and choose instead to pursue fortune and glory.
But Marlow's roller coaster of love doesn't doesn't end there. Once he actually meets the guy, he starts to resent him. Apparently, all that cultish adoration that the harlequin and the native Africans have for Kurtz turns Marlow's stomach: "He's no idol of mine" 3.
And then he seems to decide that Kurtz is actually just childish—a helpless and selfish man who has ignorant dreams of becoming rich and powerful. Note that when Marlow drags him back to the tent after Kurtz tries to escape, he's "not much heavier than a child" 3.
Why the backpedaling? Well, we think that Marlow wants to differentiate himself from the brainwashed men around him—just like we claimed to hate Arcade Fire back in even though we secretly thought that Funeral was a great record. He also seems angry that he's effectively at Marlow's mercy, deep in the African interior. Or—to give Marlow some credit—maybe he really does believe that Kurtz is dangerous. And then, at the end, Marlow seems to come back around to admiration.
After Kurtz dies while gasping out the words "The horror! The horror! Marlow only spends a few days with Kurtz, but he still says that he "knew [Kurtz] as well as it's possible for one man to know another" 3. Talk about a whirlwind romance. So, by the end of the story, does Marlow respect Kurtz? Admire him? Fear him? He returns more ivory than all the other stations put together, and does so through the use of absolute force.
Marlow remarks that "All Europe contributed to the making of Kurtz," and Kurtz's very existence proves this to be true: Like the Europeans involved in enterprises such as the Company, he epitomizes the greed and lust running wild that Marlow observes in the Congo. However, unlike the Company, Kurtz is not interested in his image or how he is perceived by "noxious fools" such as the Manager.
While Brussels is a "whited sepulcher" of hypocrisy, Kurtz is completely open about his lusts.
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