"The truth within is hidden, fortunately fortunately" -Marlow, Heart of Darkness Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Joseph Conrad's famous short story, Heart of Darkness, is a work that has sparked great controversy and heated debate regarding its meaning. Since its publication over a hundred years ago, countless interpretations of the novella have arisen. Indeed, "his imagery has been described in detail, resonances have been invoked from Dante, Milton, the Bible, the Upanishads; his philosophical position is variously argued as Schopenhauerian, Nietzschean, nihilist, existentialist or Christian, his psychology, Freudian, Jungian" , Adlerian..." (Bloom, 57). real meaning, only ambiguity. Although this statement itself may seem ambiguous, as illustrated in the following paragraphs, through the setting of the story itself, Marlow's journey, Kurtz's journey, and its inconclusive ending, Conrad expresses this concept of meaninglessness and unattainable truth. from the beginning in an ambiguous way. While Marlow is the character who has experienced this physical and metaphorical journey to the "center of the earth", it is an unnamed narrator who tells Marlow's story. This unnamed narrator didn't actually go to the Congo with Marlow, so every line of his story is an attempt to remember the story Marlow told him. Therefore, the reader is not placed directly into the story or the actual experience, or even told by Marlow, the character who actually lived it. The reader is told about it by a character who simply heard about it from Marlow. Conrad has already distanced the reader from the story itself, away from the truth. Marlow's physical journey to the Congo is the realization of a childhood dream. He recounts his desire as a young man to travel and explore the globe, including the Congo River. He describes this area of ​​the map, saying: "It had become a dark place. But there was in it above all a river, a mighty and great river which you could see on the map, resembling an immense serpent uncoiled, with its head inward." . the sea, whose resting body curves far away over a vast country and its tail is lost in the depths of the earth". This concept of "darkness", which continually emerges throughout the novella, serves as a symbol of the unknown. It is to physically discover this "place of darkness" that Marlow decides to undertake a journey along the Congo River. Thus, through his journey Marlow is in search of truth and meaning white men against the African population and the horrible conditions suffered by many natives. One such description occurs when he witnesses the deaths of several native workers. He comments: “They were dying slowly, it was very clear. There were no enemies, they were no criminals, they were nothing earthly now, nothing but black shadows of disease and starvation that lay confused in the greenish darkness." Marlow recognizes and describes the terrible conditions of the native peoples, but does not Does he directly express his disapproval at any point. His descriptions, like the one above, evoke compassion from the reader for the African people, but this compassion is a reaction to the horrors he is describing, and not to the psychological difficulties Marlow experienced in the process. 'deal with the atrocities of the whites. What Marlow actually concludes about the brutality is not revealed Therefore, while his journey isfilled with descriptions of the natives' suffering, the reader is left with no sense of definitive truth regarding how Marlow feels about what he has witnessed. Marlow's journey also becomes a quest to find Kurtz. He describes his vision of Kurtz before meeting him, saying: "All of Europe contributed to the making of Kurtz." Therefore, for Marlow, Kurtz symbolizes Europe and civilization. Marlow expresses his awareness that the journey has become a quest for Kurtz when he describes the steamboat (or "filthy beetle," as he calls it) traveling up the Congo River. He says: "Where the pilgrims imagined it crawled I don't know. Somewhere they expected to get something, I bet! For me it crawled exclusively towards Kurtz". Marlow's journey through the Congo is ultimately a journey in search of Kurtz, who has become a symbol for Marlow. However, despite his strange attraction and loyalty to Kurtz, Marlow's feelings towards this man are never fully expressed. Although he reveals Kurtz to be a very gifted and influential man, he never directly expresses approval or disapproval of Kurtz's actions in the Congo. So Marlow's journey is not only inconclusive in that he never truly states how he feels about the atrocities he witnesses, but it is also ambiguous and devoid of truth in that he draws no real conclusions about this talented and brutal man, whose achievements they have arrived. through the suffering of others. The unnamed narrator actually reveals that this is what will happen before Marlow begins his story, saying, "we were destined, before the low tide began to flow, to hear of one of Marlow's inconclusive experiences." Kurtz is also on a journey in Heart of Darkness, although his journey is quickly coming to an end, as he dies soon after being introduced into the tale. Just as he does with Marlow, Conrad leaves Kurtz's beliefs and conclusions somewhat ambiguous. However, he becomes the only character who seems to find some truth in his journey. As he is dying, Kurtz experiences a significant moment of insight. It is the only point in the story where Conrad mentions the possibility of discovering the truth. Marlow describes the moment, saying: "I saw on that ivory face the expression of a grim pride, of a merciless power, of a vile terror, of an intense and hopeless desperation. He lived his life again in every detail of desire, temptation and…surrender during that supreme moment of complete knowledge?” . As he experiences this moment of "complete knowledge" and "glimpsed truth," Kurtz exclaims "The horror! The horror!" A completely ambiguous statement. It can be interpreted as an acknowledgment of the violent and barbaric human being he has become, but Conrad leaves this unclear. Although Kurtz is the only character to experience a moment of truth and clarity, Marlow comes to no conclusion about what truth Kurtz sees as he is dying. It's not clear, just like Marlow's insights. As discussed previously, the setting of the story distances the reader from the actual events that take place, and therefore distances the reader from the truth. Likewise, this idea of ​​ambiguity and absence of truth is reinforced by the end of the story. Heart of Darkness ends inconclusively: Marlow ends his story with the memory of a lie he once told. The fact that the last thing he tells is the exact opposite of the truth was an intentional decision made by Conrad to convey his overall message regarding the meaninglessness of things and the lack of absolute truth. Marlow says he told Kurtz's "intentions" that Kurtz's last words were his name because he felt too guilty for not saying, 1987.