There slow desent into madness

A side character manipulates everyone into helping him for selfish reasons. The Heart of Darkness is a novel written by Joseph Conrade. It is a frame narrative with colonization and racism being a big topic. A Lot of this story is about a character making a lot of people follow him even though he has done much wrong. This article will show the misfortune of following Kurtz.

Villagers thought very highly of Kurtz:“he said he was a first-class agent; and seeing my disappointment at this information, he added slowly, laying down his pen, 'He is a very remarkable person'” (Conrad 11). Marlow wanted to learn more about Kurtz from the people who followed him. After talking to the villagers he had been told that Kurtzs was this “remarkable person”. This shows how amazing he is and just how much he is looked up to. That admiration is later proven to be misguided. Kurtz built up a lot of power: “'Kurtz got the tribe to follow him, did he?'” (Conrad 23). Kurtz had gotten so many people blindly following him even after some of the things he did. He had even gotten help from those villagers. Conrad wrote, “tribe” explaining he got a lot of people to follow him. He had gotten a lot of different people with different opinions to follow one man who had already done so much wrong to so many.

Kurtz had gotten so much power no one cared or they were too scared to do anything: “To speak plainly, he raided the country,' I said. He nodded. 'Not alone, surely!' He muttered something about the villages round that lake. 'Kurtz got the tribe to follow him, did he?'” (Conrad 32). Maybe the people that followed Kurts were either blinded by fear to reach out, or maybe no one cared. Either people helped him hurt lots of people. “Not alone” shows that people knew it was Kurts and knew he had much power making him a person people want to be on the good side of.

People may have talked highly about Kurts but few could talk about what he has done wrong: “‘The manager came out. He did me the honour to take me under the arm and lead me aside. 'He is very low, very low,' he said. He considered it necessary to sigh, but neglected to be consistently sorrowful. 'We have done all we could for him—haven't we?” (Conrad 36). The manager was one of those people who saw Kurtz for what he was. Still not doing anything about it but he wasn't scared to tell people about the real Kurtz. The manager described Kurtz as “low” showing Marlow that he is not as good as others had told him. The manager has more to say about Kurtz: “But there is no disguising the fact, Mr. Kurtz has done more harm than good to the Company” (Conrad 36). A person who followed Kurtz talking so lowly of him must show to the reader there is more to the story. While Kurtz may have done good, the things he had done wrong have drastically overlooked the good actions. The manager describes the things Kurtz has done as being “more harm than good”. The reader has learned a few things about Kurtz knowing he's a bad guy, questioning why the manager still follows Kurtz. Even after Marlow had heard some of the things Kurtz did he thought he was a good man: “' Nevertheless I think Mr. Kurtz is a remarkable man,' I said with emphasis. He started, dropped on me a heavy glance, said very quietly, 'he was,' and turned his back on me” (Conrad 36). Marlow had not known Kurtz for long, thinking he was a great person. The manager agreed but knew they were wrong. The manager knew “he was” a good man, but somewhere along the line, Kurtz gained power and lost his humanity. It almost sounds like the manager follows Kurtz hoping the old him will come bad because they used to be friends.

Marlow learns that Kurtz wanted to meet him not caring about the things he has heard: “'Now I will never see him,' or 'Now I will never shake him by the hand,' but, 'Now I will never hear him.' The man presented himself as a voice. Not of course that I did not connect him with some sort of action. Hadn't I been told in all the tones of jealousy and admiration that he had collected, bartered, swindled, or stolen more ivory than all the other agents together” (Conrad 26). Without ever talking to or meeting Kurtz, Marlow has heard how others view him and wants to meet him for himself. Marlow had very little information on Kurtz and was still excited to meet this mysterious man. Marlow was told that Kurtz had done bad “stolen”; he was told he had stolen ivory, but still wanted to meet him. Everyone talked so highly of him. Why would you not want to meet him? Marlows overlooked his better judgement because of all the great things he had heard of Kurtz. Marlow did not know much of Kurtz but saw highly of him: “'Well!' said I at last, 'speak out. As it happens, I am Mr. Kurtz's friend—in a way'” (Conrad 37). Without much knowledge of Kurtz, Marlow had considered each other as friends. “Friend” Marlow had told people that they were friends even though they had barely even spoken. Friends usually mean that you know one another or you have spoken and repeated to the other person. So when two people barely talk most would not consider them as friends. Admitting to being friends with a man like Kurtz may put you in a bad light to other people seeing what Kurtz has done. Marlow had become such a good friend of Kurts his death was one of despair: “‘I was on the point of crying at her, 'Don't you hear them?' The dusk was repeating them in a persistent whisper all around us, in a whisper that seemed to swell menacingly like the first whisper of a rising wind. 'The horror! The horror!'” (Conrad 45). Marlow knew very little of Kurtz, so to have been this hurt over his death shows the power Kurtz had in manipulating people to follow him. Marlow had followed Kurtz with such admiration his death destroyed him. “‘The horror! The horror!’” Marlow just heard Kurtz's last words over and over horrifying him. Marlow had followed Kutz to the point of insanity.

Kurtz has manipulated many people, and everyone ends up following him. When you hear the villagers talking about Kurtz, they make him sound like a great leader. If you find the few people who will honestly talk about Kurtz, you can hear how people really feel. Marlow tries to trust himself about the sketchiness of Kurtz but later fails, falling into the same manipulation as the others have. After reading this article, one should see that manipulation is detrimental.