The Importance Of Words In Joseph Conrad's Heart Of Darkness

The seemingly simple story about one man’s journey into unchartered territory in Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness has proven itself to be one of the most important novels written in the twentieth century. However, the importance of Conrad’s story has changed throughout the years. There have been a plethora of interpretations and readings of Heart of Darkness since it was first published, and it seems that audiences of Conrad’s novel will never be able to come to one, concrete interpretation and explanation of the story. The character Kurtz’s final words, “The horror, the horror” have always been an important topic of discussion, and although audiences will never be able to tap into Conrad’s mind in order to learn what Kurtz’s final words were meant to represent, critics have nonetheless been able to come up with their own conclusions. Although critics like Chinua Achebe disregard the importance of Kurtz’s famous last words, there is significance in evaluating the delusional yet profoundly human reaction Kurtz has in realizing that he is about to succumb to death. The dramatic repetition and exclamation of Kurtz’s final words before dying represent an awakening of the mind; Kurtz not only realizes that he is going to die, but in the process he also recognizes his own mortality and the fact that death is inevitable

Whether or not people are praising or hazing the words written by Conrad, the ongoing conversation of this particular text shows that the topics within the novel are important and relevant even to this day. The symbolism located within the text has kept interpretations open to audiences for many generations, creating years of intellectual discussions and