Kurtz vs. Jack: Savagery in Conrad and Golding Compared

Introduction: Two Novels, Two Descents into Savagery

There are both similarities and differences between the protagonists of Lord of the Flies (Golding) and Heart of Darkness (Conrad). In each case, we see a supposedly "civilized" individual — or group of individuals — degenerating into savagery. Other characters are drawn in and profoundly influenced by these protagonists as well. This paper discusses both novels and what can be observed from comparing works written from essentially different world perspectives: one was published in 1902 and the other in 1954, and both are set in wholly different environments and situations. As a simple illustration of how much had changed between the two eras, there were no airplanes in Conrad's time, whereas an airplane crash sets the entire scenario for Golding's characters. This paper focuses on the character of Kurtz from Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad, comparing him to Jack, a character in William Golding's famed novel Lord of the Flies.

Heart of Darkness: Conrad's Vision of Human Nature

Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad was first published in 1902. The novel examines the core of civilization — going beyond surface appearances — to reveal and explore the complexity, fallacies, and "darkness" of the presumed innate nature of mankind. This is portrayed through Marlow's quest in search of Kurtz, as he travels from Europe to Africa (Zhao).

The novel reflects a point of view that was being somewhat popularized at the time by the controversial work of Sigmund Freud: that all individuals carry darkness within them. This idea is later echoed in existentialism — the attitude that existence is ultimately futile and that human beings are essentially capable of evil. Conrad strives to illustrate that the light of civilization normally suppresses this darkness, yet given the slightest opportunity, the heart of man tends to revert to its savage nature. It is worth noting that the novel does not directly depict women as agents in this struggle (Subhi).

Conrad's novel is considered one of the finest literary works of the twentieth century. Heart of Darkness is widely understood to symbolize a journey into the dark regions of the human soul, and may also represent the breakdown of an individual's spiritual essence. The book's central proposition — that the real nature of this world is darkness — drives the entire narrative. Conrad seeks to illustrate how this inner darkness can potentially destroy humanity, just as it destroyed Kurtz. Marlow's narration shows how Kurtz, despite having ventured into Africa with idealism in his heart, deteriorates both spiritually and physically by the novel's end. Indeed, though Kurtz appears to be the most capable and successful individual Marlow encounters on his journey, he in reality lived a tragic life (Zhao).

Kurtz: Civilization's Ideal Corrupted

Conrad opens Heart of Darkness with a cruise on the River Thames. His descriptions are lyrical and evocative, building vivid mental images: "the sea and the sky were welded together without a joint, and in the luminous space the tanned sails of the barges drifting up with the tide seemed to stand still in red clusters of canvas sharply peaked" (Conrad, 1). A group of men have gone for an evening's sail — the Director, the Accountant, and Marlow, the narrator — and it is Marlow who begins the tale of Africa and Kurtz. His account describes his arrival in Africa and a strange visit to a doctor, who warns him: "In the tropics one must before everything keep calm" (Conrad, 11). Conrad's verbal images carry a persistent sense of unease, as when he describes an elderly woman knitting in the doctor's waiting room as "guarding the door of Darkness" (Conrad, 10).

Conrad's tale is both cautionary and deeply pessimistic. From a modern perspective, it is difficult reading in terms of the abuse endured by native Africans and the high-handed colonial arrogance embodied by Kurtz. Conrad's worldview itself is relentlessly gloomy. After visiting his aunt, for example, the narrator Marlow remarks: "It's queer how out of touch with truth women are. They live in a world of their own, and there had never been anything like it, and never can be. It is too beautiful altogether" (Conrad, 12).

One of the rewards of reading classic authors is that they often describe people and events so vividly that a reader is transported into the world of the narrative. This was a particular gift of writers such as J.R.R. Tolkien, who wove wild-flowers, trees, and landscape into his adventures to draw readers in. Conrad possesses a similar capacity for painting with words, though his interpretive lens is consistently tinged with darkness — as seen in his dismissal of his aunt as "out of touch with truth" (Conrad, 12).

Conrad's description of the African coastline further illustrates his essential negativity, investing the story with a pessimistic ominousness: "Watching a coast as it slips by the ship is like thinking about an enigma…always mute with an air of whispering, 'Come and find out.' This one was almost featureless, as if still in the making, with an aspect of monotonous grimness" (Conrad, 13).

Marlow travels upriver through many adventures before finally meeting Kurtz, about whom everyone speaks with great intensity. The language Conrad uses to describe the Africans reflects the colonial attitudes of the era — attitudes that are distasteful to modern readers, yet that also illuminate how profoundly different the assumptions of Conrad's 1902 world were from our own. Conrad himself is believed to have undertaken a similar journey upriver in Africa, and much of the narrative appears to draw on personal memory.

Heart of Darkness is a short novel — almost a novella, running approximately 79 pages — which makes it a rather striking stylistic choice that Conrad spends well over half the book having characters talk about Kurtz rather than presenting Kurtz directly. Even past the book's midpoint, Marlow has not yet actually met him. The dramatic encounter finally occurs with Kurtz lying on a litter, gravely ill, yet somehow summoning the force to command the dispersal of a dangerous crowd. When Marlow first sees Kurtz, he describes the moment with striking imagery: "It was as though an animated image of death carved out of old ivory had been shaking its hand with menaces at a motionless crowd of men made of dark and glittering bronze" (Conrad, 58).

Kurtz, the central character in Conrad's novel, is a fictional figure who ostensibly represents the ideal specimen of a civilized young man. In reality, he is driven by greed and the pursuit of personal power and wealth. He surrenders to his inner barbaric nature under the influence of the Congo's harsh and isolating environment (Nassab). Urged on by two dark temptations — the accumulation of wealth through ivory, and the realization of a dormant kinship with those he regards as savages — Kurtz becomes a victim of their combined influence. He begins to use, or rather abuse, authority as the means to achieving his ambitions (Zhao). As scholars of Conrad's work have noted, Kurtz functions as a symbol of how colonial power structures could simultaneously elevate and corrupt even the most apparently capable individuals.