3 Heart of Darkness

1. Obsequiously:

Pages 115-116: "The wastes of his weary brain were haunted by shadowy images now - images of wealth and fame revolving obsequiously round his unextinguishable gift of noble and lofty expression."


2. The Russian tells Marlow of his time with Kurtz, including the hot and cold periods. While Kurtz was ill, the Russian nursed him back to health, but Kurtz would periodically go through stages where he was violent and angry, even threatening to shoot the Russian over a small amount of ivory. Marlow also notices the heads of "rebels" stuck on the top of fence posts around the station. The Russian remains firm on his stance that Kurtz is a great man who opened his mind to many things, however, and says that he should not be judged as a normal man. He then tells Marlow that Kurtz is extremely ill and needs to return to civilization as soon as possible. Kurtz is then brought to the ship on a stretcher, causing the natives to run from the forest in uproar. Kurtz speaks to them and they hesitatingly retreat. An intricately ornamented native woman watches the steamer pull away, and Marlow learns that the woman is Kurtz's mistress. The manager talks to Marlow, indicating his belief that Kurtz is mentally unstable, and Marlow defends Kurtz, isolating himself in the process. The Russian begs Marlow to uphold Kurtz's reputation and Marlow agrees, a promise that he has upheld until the time of the storytelling. One night Marlow wakes up and Kurtz is gone. Marlow goes searching for him and catches him crawling toward a native camp. He frantically stops Kurtz before he can yell. On the return trip, Marlow and Kurtz spend a large amount of time together due to their mutual banishment. The ship breaks down once, and the voyage is rough, causing both Marlow and Kurtz to doubt their safe return. Kurtz gives Marlow a stack of paper for "safekeeping" before dying one night, exclaiming, "The horror! The horror!" in the process. When Marlow arrives back in Brussels he is very ill. His aunt nurses him back to health, and one day a Company worker comes to take Kurtz's papers. Marlow only gives him a pamphlet, but later others come and Marlow gives them various papers. Finally, Marlow delivers the rest to Kurtz's "Intended," who is still in mourning and seems to be obsessed with the idea of her relationship with Kurtz. She asks Marlow what his last words were, and Marlow lies and tells her Kurtz uttered her name last.


3. This final section of the novel brought up a plethora of interesting points and concepts. First, the idea of Kurtz not being insane, but choosing one of two evils intrigued me greatly. Marlow maintains that Kurtz justly saw that there were two ways to live life as a white Imperialist: by pretending to be civilized, non-violent and good, or by admitting that nobody is truly civilized and embracing this idea. Kurtz chose the latter, leading to his severe disapproval from the other Company members. Marlow sees this, though, and finds it brilliant. Men are not meant to civilize one another, and it is utterly ridiculous to assume that because white Europeans were civilized by the Romans a mere 2,000 years ago, they are capable and have the right to civilize others. Another aspect of this section that I enjoyed thinking about was the way females were depicted. Kurtz's African mistress is treated as an object, yet she seems similar to white women. Her behavior toward Kurtz is typical of that of a white woman in a relationship, and her ornaments and lavish jewelry suggest a vanity often pictured in only "civilized" cultures. This brings up the question of whether Kurtz somehow passed this onto her, or whether all women, civilized and noncivilized, are more alike than given credit for. Also, Kurtz's "Intended" is an unusual character. She is portrayed as irrational in her obsession over Kurtz, going so far as to be in a state of mourning a year after his death. When Marlow enters her home she immediately latches onto the opportunity to talk to him, similarly to her beloved Kurtz. Also, she seems to enjoy validifying her relationship with Kurtz, looking to compete with Marlow in every way, trying to prove that "she knew him better than anyone." Marlow was not instigating an arguement; he did not try to say that he knew Kurtz better. However, everything is a competition for her, which I found strange. Kurtz's last words were fascinating as well. They were profound, yet entirely lacking meaning. "The horror! The horror!" could be applied to nearly anything in life, yet these eloquent words seem only fitting to a man as bold and in-touch with himself as Kurtz. He saw deeper into human nature than anyone else in the novel; undoubtedly deeper than most individuals ever see in reality, as well. What he saw surely scared him, but also enlightened him. Nobody, not even Marlow or Kurtz's "Intended," could ever grasp wholly what Kurtz was referring to in his final statement (although his "Intended" never learned his true last words).


4. My first question is what exactly Kurtz's final remarks referred to. Was he talking about humanity? His life? The "heart of darkness"? I know they were probably chosen so vaguely for a reason, but I'd really like to know.

My second question is whether Joseph Conrad, the author, was a bit of a sexist. The way he portrays women in the novel makes me question whether he respected them at all. He mentions at one point that they seem to exist in another world entirely. Was this in a sexist way, or did he just see them as incomparable to men?

My final question is regarding the night Kurtz tried to slip away to the tribal bonfire. What were his intentions? Was he going to join the natives and refuse to leave? Was he going to provoke an attack?