Character Analysis Of Kurtz In Joseph Conrad's Heart Of Darkness

Not that Marlow is mere a machinery in Heart of Darkness. Nor is he just a mouthpiece of the author. Instead he is an autonomous character, having his own volition, his own point of view. He had the spirit of an adventurer. He feels interested in joining the job in an ivory company in order to gratify his thirst for the unknown.

When Charlie Marlow goes to the First Station, he observes a number of black workers tortured by some white masters. The sight pains him. He doesn't remain passive. He reacts to it sharply. But he knows that it is not possible for him to resist the white brutes. Hence he remains restrained. But this is not passivity. Again, when he meets Kurtz in Congo, he shows curiosity about the activities of Kurtz there. Despite the fact, “[a]ll Europe contributed to the making of Kurtz” (Conrad 83) Marlow gets to know that Kurtz is nothing short of a demon in his attitude towards the black natives. He holds him in contempt, though he doesn't become vocal. Besides, when he gets to the English woman betrothed to Kurtz, and hands over Kurtz's papers to her, he tells a lie, saying that Kurtz uttered her name when he was about

Of course, though not present in person, Kurtz is commented on various occasions by a number of men and women. Kurtz has his beloved, an English woman, to whom he is betrothed. Obviously, she has a favourable opinion about him. According to her, he is a pink of politeness, a sea of conscience. When Kurtz starts for Congo she thinks that his role in the Dark Continent will be one of a torch-bearer, an ambassador of civilization. We are also reported that at the time of his departure Kurtz uttered the slogan time and again about exterminating darkness. It is said that when he bade adieu to his beloved, he promised that he would bring about a radical change in the illiterate people of Congo and fill them with light