Good Vs Evil in The Heart of Darkness

In the Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad, the main character, Marlow, ponders the question of what makes people good or evil? Is it their experiences that shape them or do their genes determine it?

Right before Marlow leaves for his journey, he has to be seen by a doctor. At the company's office, the doctor measures the circumference of his head expressing his remorse that he doesn't get to see people come back from the trip and explaining that when people go on this journey, they change; their brain changes - how they think. Then, Marlow embarks on his journey to Africa. After lengthy travel, Marlow reaches the company's office and experiences his first real exposure of Africa. As he is walking through the jungle with a local, he sees men shackled in chains and even people dying. This is obviously a shocking sight for Marlow but what was an even more significant observation by Marlow was that the white man he was with was not phased. The reader is then forced to examine how living in Africa affects the men who live there. They become desensitized and care little of human life. This isn't just isolated to one evil man either. As he continues his travels through Africa he encounters more natives, violence, and evil. One of the most notable characters influenced by the effects of the jungle is Kurtz. When Kurtz first traveled to the jungle, his goal was to bring humanity and civilization of the natives but by the end of his life, he wanted to exterminate them. It is evident that the jungle changes the people who experience it but to what extent?

Like Kurtz, many other travelers went to Africa with the goal to civilize the natives. In their eyes, they were helping humanity and acting as good samaritans. However, through Conrad's story, Marlow and the audience are forced to ponder whether the white men with guns or the natives with sticks are truly civilized people. One of the first things Marlow sees in the jungle before he even gets off the ship is white men aimlessly firing cannonballs onto a beach in an attempt to combat the native's supposed attacks. Also, one of the most obvious characteristics of a civilized man is their view on murder and death. Marlow has witnessed multiple occasions in which the white men were not bothered by death and had no problem with murder. On the other hand, the natives always seem to be the brunt of confit and violence while never instigating it. Throughout, Marlow recognizes the pattern that the Europeans have a sense of savageness and evil that the natives simply do not possess, calling the true nature of humans into question.

Marlow recognizes that both the experiences people face and how they are born to affect their character. And although some questions can be answered by the text, ss they read, the audience acquires more questions than answers. Critic Roland Barthes has said, “Literature is the question minus the answer” and Conrad validates this claim through his novel Heart of Darkness.