moralhod Moral Ambiguity in Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness

"Restraint! I would have just as soon expected restraint from a hyena prowling amongst the corpses of a battle," comments Marlow as he questions why the hungry cannibals aboard his steamer hadn't gone for the white crew members (Conrad 43). "The glimpse of the steamboat . . . filled those savages with unrestrained grief," Marlow explains after recalling the cries of the natives seeing the steamer amidst a brief fog lift (Conrad 44). "Poor fool! He had no restraint, no restraint . . .a tree swayed by the wind," speaks Marlow of a slain helmsman amidst an attack by tribal savages (Conrad 52). "Mr. Kurtz lacked restraint in the gratification of his various lusts," says Marlow a few moments after he tells of his first glimpse of

The analysis itself is clear and concise and the author uses good evidence, both from the novella and the literature of his field. This is not for the literary scholar, but like Beveridge (2009) it is intended for practitioners in other fields. This does not mean that anyone

    "I trust I shall be forgiven the discovery that all moral philosophy hitherto was boring and belonged among the soporifics" (Nietzsche 561).  Maybe so, but the issue of moral philosophy has been discussed though out time and provides a significant element in Conrad's story Heart of Darkness.  In general, the timeless discussion traces back to the first philosophical writings of Plato and transcends from general religious grounds to general applications and codes of behavior espoused by Kant and Mills.  These individuals and lines of thought try to establish a 'good' code of behavior based on something: a benevolent god, extensible codes similar to The Golden Rule, or even relativistic

The helmsman died because he could not restrain himself when the natives attacked: “Poor fool! If he had only left that shutter alone, he had no restraint, no restraint- just like Kurtz” (46). Marlow notices the lack of restraint the helmsman had. If he restrained himself he could have been alive. Conrad wanted to show how restraint can be influenced by civilization. The helmsman became too close to civilization, which causes a lack of restraint.

Christopher Marlowe’s great downfall was his desire to please others and his people pleasing charisma will lead with down a dangerous road than will lead to his death. Marlowe’s death was an extremely mystifying one what is surrounded by controversy and questions. The death of Christopher Marlowe and the events that happen thereafter was fully documented (“Christopher Marlowe”). Acquiesce to the communique Marlowe attended a meeting at a female named Mrs.Eleanor Bull and this home was used as a meeting house where food was supplied. The communique states that Marlowe spent his full time there walking in the gardens of the home with three other gentlemen. The day went very smoothly up until the end of the day, when they started arguing about

A flock of sheep wanders as the all-seeing shepherd meanders nearby. He watches them closely as they consume their daily vittles provided by nature, making sure not even one sheep goes astray, or that any predator comes to disrupt the supposed bliss. The shepherd's love for his flock is that of presumed perfection. He maintains the assumption that as long as he guards the flock and provides ample grazing land, the flock will provide him with copious amounts of wool: that their relationship will be all right. Unfortunately, this simply may not be true; his flock can produce the wool or it may suffer from an unexpected disease or any other ailment and their presumed relationship will fail. As Christopher Marlowe so elegantly presented in “The

Within Joseph Conrad’s novella, Heart of Darkness, the reader can learn the differing attitudes towards morality. The character Kurtz, is a man who is rarely actually seen throughout the novella, as Marlow learns bits and pieces of his great influence. The reader initially infers that Kurtz is a man of great promise and has an innocence of ambition. However, Kurtz’ true intentions are revealed later, as he simply disregards all morality and is ruthless in order to get what he wants. He lacks balance, and has became demented as a result of his power.

Marlow begins his adventure with the purity of hope in mind to find his way through the jungle with no questions asked. The caption before him died to murder

    Literature is never interpreted in exactly the same way by two different readers. A prime example of a work of literature that is very ambiguous is Joseph Conrad's, "Heart of Darkness". The Ambiguities that exist in this book are Marlow's relationship to colonialism, Marlow's changing feelings toward Kurtz, and Marlow's lie to the Intended at the end of the story.

Both Kingsolver and Conrad use similar story construction and point of view in these texts. The truly pivotal characters in each text, rather than the narrators, are the mostly unspoken antagonists of the story. In Heart of Darkness, the story is centered on Kurtz and his actions involving the Congo. The true focus of the novella lies not with Marlow, but rather Conrad uses Marlow as a medium in order to examine Kurtz. In the novella, Marlow is an outside observer. The story follows Marlow’s ever-changing perception of Kurtz in order to characterize the unseen character. When Marlow first learns of Kurtz, he is told that he is “a remarkable person…a prodigy” (Conrad 69), but as the story progresses, both Marlow and the reader delve into Kurtz’s true character and discover a tyrant of imperialism.

 At first Marlow was speechless to finally have met this seemingly "idol." Yet, after having spent time with Kurtz and getting to know his character, Marlow finds out for himself that Kurtz really was not the person that the stories had described him to be. Heart of Darkness is an accurate example of how stories can be a negative impact upon an individual. An accumulation of false information can be deceiving, as well as, misgiving- and in Marlow's case, disappointing.

The two major themes of Heart of Darkness are the conflict between “reality” and “darkness,” and the idea of restraint and whether or not it is necessary. Conrad’s passage describing the restraint of the hungry cannibals exemplifies both themes:  It describes how reality shapes human behavior, and contrasts the characters of Kurtz and Marlow.  “Reality,” as it is used here, is defined as “that which is civilized.”

Through viewing scenes where Marlowe is beaten up and tied up by Mars' men, we come to realize the strength of Marlowe's integrity and will. Although he is put through much physical pain as well as the mental pain of witnessing horrific acts, he bites the bullet and commits himself completely to the tasks placed before him. Once again, he does not do his task for the small amounts of money, but he does it because he feels it is what he must do.

    Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness is full of oppositions.  The most obvious is the juxtaposition of darkness and light, which are both present from the very beginning, in imagery and in metaphor.  The novella is a puzzling mixture of anti-imperialism and racism, civilization and savagery, idealism and nihilism.  How can they be reconciled?  The final scene, in which Marlow confronts Kurtz's Intended, might be expected to provide resolution.  However, it seems, instead, merely to focus the dilemmas in the book, rather than solving them.

Marlow’s attempt at recreating his subjective past is met with unease on the part of the narrator and like a litmus paper he brings out the intellectual and emotional effect the author is seeking. When the effect has been so affirmed, the author proceeds to manipulate it. When, for example, we see Marlow’s desperation for having missed the chance to speak to Kurtz as absurd, Conrad makes the listeners sigh with the same reaction. Marlow reacts heatedly- “Why do you react in this beastly way, somebody? Absurd? … This is the worst of trying to tell… Here you all are, each moored with two good addresses, like a hulk with two anchors, a butcher round one corner, a policeman round another.” Pp 53 This chastisement by Conrad gets displaced from Marlow’s companions to the reader. Marlow is trying to prevent us from judging Kurtz and by doing so highlights his importance in the tale’s critical discourse.