Go back to the Conrad page for more texts and other resources.

Moral Truths in Heart of Darkness - Revised

Dicuss the importance of moral and human truths to the inferred reading of the text - and how they are complex and culturally specific.


 

Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad is essentially an exploration of the truths of our world. I say truths (plural) because unlike other values truth is culturally encoded, dynamic and dimensional - not a fixed idea. Indeed the truths in Heart of Darkness follow this pattern. From the dogmatic declaiming of British Imperialism through to the endless exploration of Kurtz - Heart of Darkness is a search for truth and understanding.


 


Heart of Darkness employs the use of an introspective and meditative narrator - Marlow. His character is one of an initially staunch belief in British Imperialism and culture. The text is his account of the events which revealed to him the true nature of humanity. We are introduced to London as "the greatest city on earth". Such a powerful statement about the self-righteousness of the English of the Victorian Era. They are informed of this idea through their culture, context and understanding. Indeed London was great, but the city was a "dreary grey" and it was not free of major problems like promiscuity and petulance. Indeed the moral rectitude that was so important culturally was not adhered to at all. Even the "greatest of men" occupied their time with "a half crown tumble". The ambiguity surrounding the truth of London is culturally specific and is informed by culture - rather than by fact.


 


The English also had very staunch views on their specific form of imperialism, and the judicious dogma that accompanied it. British Imperialism in Marlow's eyes was the greatest, and we are positioned to believe that. Aboard the Nellie, Marlow describes how the French were "firing pointlessly at the coast, with no specific intention in mind". Such an event seems ludicrous and highly pragmatic. The Belgian Congo too, is a 'hell hole' and not indeed managed properly. Here Marlow finds "scattered bodies", "cavernous holes" and bodies "peeling from trees". Marlow finds such 'other' forms of colonisation obscene and constantly attests that the British - "an emissary of light" - are 'true' in their approach. This idea of British Imperialism being ?true? is informed by culture, similar to the ?truth? about London. This notion enhances the appearance of truth in Heart of Darkness as culturally encoded, multifaceted, dynamic, and dimensional.


 


Accompanying English dominance is the typically ethnocentric views held by the narrator ? with several theoretical stereotyped characters used to illustrate this. Perhaps most obvious is the referral and juxtaposition of ?blacks? to scenery. Throughout the text the ?blacks? and the wilderness they inhabit seem inextricably linked ? thus a form of each other. As they ?peel from trees at unnatural angles? the ethnocentric view is supported by tangible images, affirming the view. The same image among others also creates the theoretical character of pity. Constructing the ?blacks? as an image of sadness and pity encourages British dogma, suggesting that the ?blacks? need saving when indeed they may not. Further images can be constructed throughout the Congo. These include the noble savages who demonstrate ?restraint? under enormous natural pressures. ?Chained men? become the slaves of the text, and Kurtz?s mistress becomes our fantastic yet unaccepted beauty. All of these constructions and all of these images support the moral truths that British Imperialism presents; and colludes with the ethnocentric position we are encouraged to take.


 


 


 


In Heart of Darkness the ?blacks? represent primordial human truths in atavism and base primitivism whilst Marlow represents the truths in civilization and Britannia. Both are equally ?true? but are culturally specific and thus the ambiguity they create. To a contextual reader the truth is the latter of the two, but modern morality and our understanding of truth produces a different reading.


 


Truth is dynamic, convoluted and often complex. As such any text that attempts to demonstrate any degree of truth must b equally as complex. Heart of Darkness is a text that enables the reader to arrive at a complex reading, demonstrating elements of truth in the accounts of real, atavistic humanity.


 


D.H Lawrence compared the ambiguities of truth to ?an umbrella and its painted firmaments pitted against an everlasting whirl?. The firmaments of the umbrella represent the ?finer? truths which are present through civilization and culturally constructed truths and myths. The everlasting whirl represents the sadistic and natural truths of humanity. Here culture and value do not hold importance. Kurtz is the living embodiment of the heart of darkness and of these natural human truths. Marlow instead is our ?parasol man? who parades under the firmaments of our moral truths. The juxtaposition of these two characters is the final search for truth in the text, and the most powerful. Which is right? Our culture stands in the way of this decision. Tradition tells us to hold true to morality and better judgement. Nature however is the opposite. Conrad leaves this question unresolved and unanswered, encouraging us to construct the real truth of humanity without ambiguity or cultural augmentation.


 


This image ? ?life outside the square? ? demonstrates the chaotic yet enticing allure of this atavistic humanity outside of typical social and hierarchal construction. It is characterised by Marlow?s ?interest in exteriors? or ?the aura? that surrounds objects; rather than any ?deep and hidden nugget of meaning? in the thing itself. This inverses the normal construction of meaning. The inference is that truth is to be found outside the typical boundaries of social and moral construction. This is further embodied through the symbolism embedded in Heart of Darkness.


 


Foreshadowing permeates throughout the text and is consistently dark, gloomy and restrictive. The ?dark sea of forest? and the ?dark clouded city [London]? are good examples of this. They suggest that everything is cloaked in darkness, which is symbolic of moral flaw, physical pollution, primitivism and an attachment to a degree of absoluteness. Darkness or rather black in effect is the only absolute and finite degree of measurement as it is devoid of light and shade. This may sound simple but it demonstrates that darkness ? symbolic of primitivism ? is the most finite form of humanity. The consistent image of this darkness suggests that whilst all humans have the propensity for this finite opportunity ? the reluctance to meet this image creates an infinitely more complex humanity.


 


Setting too functions symbolically, and works to naturalise its characters and events. Marlow?s story is characterised by the fecund excess of the jungle, its heat and its sexual beat. Almost ironically the entirely natural setting of the Congo is contrasted against the naturalised unnatural world of modern civilization. The ?forest walls? function as physical claustrophobic metaphors and denaturalise the natural world ? in contrast to its realistic fecund and engendered image. On the contrary, the ?welded sky without a joint? naturalises the unnatural in civilization. Whilst the result is a somewhat ambiguous presentation of setting and what it symbolises, the inference is that the fecund excess of the jungle, its heat and its sexual beat ? is in keeping with the atavistic fecund excess, heat and sexual beat of primordial humanity ? and truth.


 


Heart of Darkness then is the demonstration and illustration of human truths ? and displays the complex nature of life?s truths through a complex text. Conrad?s search for moral truths in Heart of Darkness remains unfinished and unanswered. His story affirms the notion of a dynamic, dimensional and culturally encoded truth ? which is also culturally specific. In a way he explores the current ambiguities and paradoxes within humanity and truth itself.






Authors | Quotes | Digests | Submit | Interact | Store

Copyright © Classics Network. Contact Us