Heart of Darkness: Kurtz's Moral Corruption Explained

Introduction: Evil and the Human Soul

Evil has many faces and, contrary to popular belief, it is not always ugly. Evil functions at its best when no one believes it will infect them. Evil operates slowly, working with the human mind and its desires, tricking the individual into believing that nothing is wrong. Evil even deceives individuals through the unintended consequences of good intentions. Joseph Conrad's novel Heart of Darkness is a story that represents this kind of evil. Kurtz is a man who embodies evil in a way that is frightening precisely because he did not set out to be evil. Kurtz had a plan, and the plan went well, but he did not anticipate certain consequences — consequences that caught him off guard and led him into evil completely unaware.

Kurtz's transformation reveals the frailty of man in various situations. He stumbles when he thinks he can make a society better. He stumbles when attempting to manage that responsibility. He fails when it comes to behaving compassionately toward others and takes advantage of those who worship him. He allows greed to rule his desires and destroy his reasoning. Everything he touches turns not to gold but to disorder. The sad truth is that Kurtz is too far gone to see what has happened. Kurtz demonstrates how evil works best when it takes the soul over one small piece at a time. He would never have set out to acquire a heart of darkness, but he could not see the danger in the small compromises he was making. Heart of Darkness is a novel of despair but, more importantly, it is a stern warning to readers to avoid such a fate.

Marlow's Discovery of Kurtz's Corruption

Marlow's encounters with Kurtz reveal the frailty of the human soul, though it takes him some time to realize this. Marlow explains how Kurtz is a "gifted" (Conrad 294) man whose "sympathies were in the right place" (295). These sympathies took a turn for the worse, and after years of being placed on a pedestal by others — and by himself — Kurtz begins to lose his sense of what is real, appropriate, and reasonable. This psychological deterioration takes a toll on his mental state as well. The natives worshipped him, and we learn that he had the "power to charm or frighten rudimentary souls into an aggravated witch-dance in his honor" (296). Here we see how he begins to believe in his own greatness simply because that is the only message he receives from the natives. He is proof that if we hear something long enough, we will start to believe it, regardless of whether it is true.

Kurtz had no reason to doubt these people, and with no one else to question his or their sanity, it was easier to simply go along with the crowd. This was not the only force at play, however. Kurtz had a passion that could not be quelled, and that was what drove him to become the man he was. He literally sold his soul for the power he possessed in the region. While this is not something he consciously decides to do outright, he eventually surrenders the better part of his soul for ivory. The passion becomes an obsession, and he soon finds himself willing to do anything to possess it — even threatening to kill his own friend if he would not hand over his ivory. Kurtz declares that he will shoot the man unless he surrenders his ivory. The friend then states that he "cleared out of the country, because he could do so . . . And there was nothing on earth to prevent him from killing whom he jolly well pleased" (301). Here we see that Kurtz is literally ruling the land. There are no authorities to maintain order, and since Kurtz is the perceived god of the region, everything he says and does goes unquestioned.

The power he possessed was far too much for one man, but he was unable to recognize this because he was consumed by the immediate satisfaction it gave him. We can also see how Kurtz's self-adoration had consumed him through his collection of shrunken heads, which "only showed that Mr. Kurtz lacked restraint in the gratification of his various lusts" (303). Marlow had gone into the region to seek out what he thought would be a powerful and respectable man. He was impressed with what he had heard and wanted to meet the man behind the myth. What he discovered, instead, was how fragile the human psyche truly is. Kurtz revealed the ugly side of humanity that emerges from pride and the lust for power.

Restraint, Opposites, and the Novel's Core Themes

One of the primary themes in Heart of Darkness is evil, and the many forms in which it is manifested throughout the novel. The concept is complex in that it spans a wide range of effects. Ridley points out that the novel explores the evil for "white man and for black," which is the "lack of restraint; not apathy or passivity, and not temptation itself, but the succumbing thereto" (Ridley). Ridley also notes an important parallel between Kurtz and Marlow's helmsman: the two are alike in that they had "no restraint" (Ridley). Ridley maintains that Conrad was concerned with what his novel revealed through these different characters — that we discover who we really are "when the external controls are removed and you must live with evil and staggering temptation" (Ridley). Marlow discovers this truth firsthand.

Conrad writes, "Your strength comes in, the faith in your ability for the digging of unostentatious holes to bury the stuff in your power of devotion, not to yourself, but to an obscure, backbreaking business . . . you must fall back upon your own innate strength, upon your own capacity for faithfulness" (Conrad 294). Ridley maintains that "restraint, arising from just such faithfulness or from some deliberate belief, is of course lacking in Kurtz" (Ridley). This realization drives the plot of the novel, though it is slow to emerge.

Marlow realizes the truth before Kurtz does, and he becomes our reliable narrator, revealing opposites throughout the story. Conrad supports this realization with a "balance of opposites, a core of faith vs. hollowness, restraint vs. its lack, civilization vs. savagery, light vs. darkness" (Ridley). Ridley asserts that Conrad uses the opposing figures of Kurtz and Marlow, as well as Kurtz and his two women, to structure this moral contrast. The women may appear similar but they are not the same; Ridley argues that they are indeed opposites, one of whom is the "embodiment of primitive darkness" (Ridley).

Marlow is significant to the tale not simply because the story needs a teller, but because it needs to be told from a perspective capable of recognizing what has happened to this man. Gillon claims that Marlow can "understand the nature of Kurtz's fall because he has experienced the same temptation" (Gillon). He does not allow himself to succumb to that temptation as Kurtz does, but this does not mean he does not feel its pull. Gillon asserts, "He may feel alienated from his fellow men, both in the jungle and upon his return to the civilized world, but he has not cut himself off from the whole world, as Kurtz did" (Gillon). Marlow was not expecting the truth he discovered. Gillon also notes the irony in Marlow's pursuit of truth: it ultimately involves telling a lie. He cannot bring himself to hurt Kurtz's Intended with the ugly truth and admits that telling her would have been too dark. Yet he is a changed man. As he speaks with the woman, he states that Kurtz's end "was in every way worthy of his life" (Conrad 320). Marlow enters the darkness and is able to save himself from its grasp. Instead of ending up like Kurtz, he learns something valuable. Gillon claims this is a "heightened perception of life's complexity . . . The supreme lesson he has learned is to respect man's faith, any faith or sincere conviction. He harbors a secret he cannot divulge to other people. Man must forever remain shut within the shell of his own personality" (Gillon). Marlow understands what happened to Kurtz and articulates it perfectly when he recognizes the truth as the "strange commingling of desire and hate" (Conrad 315). He also realizes that he came dangerously close to committing the same mistake, but stepped back just in time.

Conclusion: The Frailty of the Human Spirit

Heart of Darkness reveals the delicate nature of man when he is allowed to indulge all of his passions and desires. The result is a monster that exhibits no control whatsoever. Kurtz does not set out to become the monster he faces at death, but that only demonstrates the terrible frailty of the human spirit. He found himself in a place that permitted him to indulge every whim and desire. Evil has a way of finding individuals in these situations, primarily because they believe themselves to be beyond justice. People commit all kinds of evil when they think no one is watching or no one will ever know. This is how evil takes hold of people and corrodes their morality.

Kurtz had it all in the desolate region. The natives worshipped him and he was free to do as he pleased. As we learn, this might sound like the good life, but it actually becomes a death sentence — because a man without morality is as good as dead and of worth to no one. Kurtz lives for many years in this kind of darkness without remorse or regret. In fact, he thrived on it, especially once he began to believe he was the kind of god that the natives took him to be. This is a perfect example of how evil corrupts. It does not arrive overnight; rather, evil moves in slowly, providing fleeting moments of pleasure. Kurtz wasted his life on all the wrong things. He lusted after what did not matter, believed he could improve a situation only to become its victim, and allowed his ego to take control. In the end, he faced a horror we can only imagine as he looked into his own dark heart.

Works Cited

Bowers, Terence. "Conrad's Heart of Darkness and Dante's Inferno." The Explicator. 2004. 62.2. GALE Resource Database.

Conrad, Joseph. Heart of Darkness. The Norton Anthology of Short Fiction. Cassill, R.V., Ed. 1981.

Ridley, Florence H. "The Ultimate Meaning of Heart of Darkness." Nineteenth-Century Fiction, Vol. 18, No. 1, June 1963. GALE Resource Database.

Jervis, John. Transgressing the Modern. Wiley-Blackwell. 1999.

Gillon, Adam. "The Appalling Face of a Glimpsed Truth: 'Heart of Darkness.'" Short Stories for Students. 1982. GALE Resource Database.

Kaplan, Carola M. "Colonizers, Cannibals, and the Horror of Good Intentions in Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness." Studies in Short Fiction. 1997. GALE Resource Database.

Hawkins, Hunt. "Conrad's Critique of Imperialism in Heart of Darkness." PMLA. 1979. JSTOR Resource Database.