Shadows in the Darkness

The world as a whole is full of shadows. There is not doubt about it. You can find them just about anywhere; under desks, behind houses, under bridges, and other such places. In earlier times, when the Europeans had control of most of the world, they viewed themselves as the light in a world of shadows. Whatever they said or did had to be right, simply because that was they way of things. Europeans had a certain view of Africa, making Africa one of the largest and darkest places on Earth. Europe then decided that it was their ?duty? so to speak, to shine some of their light on this large shadow called Africa. Within the darkness of Africa, Europeans saw only evil, a black state of existence. There is no ?black? or ?white? but only shades of gray when it comes to Marlow?s life.
In Conrad?s book, the Europeans have been sent to Africa in search of ivory. They do this because ivory is a commodity not available in Europe, as the elephants are hard to come by. Rare commodities such as ivory are, of course, going to be worth a large sum of money back in Europe. Marlow?s aunt has set him up as the captain of a boat, headed for Africa in search of ivory. Some of the crew on Marlow?s boat may feel wonderful about the experience of going to Africa while other may feel frightened and wary of what they may run into. It seems, however, that no matter the person, the Europeans look forward to the fame and wealth they?ll receive back in Europe. With the hunt for ivory, certain people would view it as evil, or ?black?, simply because of the killing of the elephants to get to the ivory. This one reason alone really cannot make the hunting for ivory completely ?black?. Because of the killing of the elephants, there really is no way for the hunting of ivory to be considered pure and good, or ?white?. It is not for the benefit of mankind; it is for the benefit of the Europeans who are on this expedition and those whom they report to back in Europe. Marlow?s Aunt is described as a normal, everyday woman when Marlow says ?It?s queer how out of touch with truth women are.? Because of the fact that she doesn?t even see the killing of the elephants as bad or good. All she sees is the ivory and the wealth.
Europe is said to be the outset of civilization. They have laws, and punishments, and other such ?civilized? paraphernalia. Europe as a whole views Africa as a place they need to fix. Europeans are of the frame of mind that whatever they do must be right because they are the civilized ones, while Africa remains uncivilized. They see Africa this way because Africa is in no way like Europe. The way of living is different, the people are different, and the morals are different. Europe sees Africa and almost instantaneously feels that it must change and mold the ways of all Africans. Africans, however, do not know very much about Europe so they don?t get an urge to change them or to make Europe more like Africa. Perhaps Africa doesn?t understand Europe, but then again; maybe they do not want to. Neither the Africans or the Europeans are completely good (white) or completely evil (black) because neither of them are some sort of divine deity who has ultimate power and would therefor be able to set the moral standards of the world.
Marlow says at the outset of the book that he is against lying. He does not see the need or point for them. There were, in fact three lies that Marlow uttered. However, there was one that seemed more important than the others; one that sticks out. At the very end of the book, when Kurtz is dying, his last words are ?The horror! The horror!? Marlow completely understands why Kurtz has said this, but also realizes that he cannot voice these words to Kurtz?s intended. He, instead, tells her ?The last words he pronounced was?your name.? Perhaps Marlow does this to keep Kurtz?s intended safe in her own little world, and out of touch with the truth, as he says earlier. This lie cannot really be considered an evil lie. It hasn?t primarily caused anyone any harm, but instead, it has made someone feel better deep down inside. However, a lie is a lie, no matter what clothing it wears. According to Marlow?s morals, he has done an injustice in lying. Therefor, the lie can be neither completely black nor completely white.
Europe and Africa will always have their differences, ivory will always be greedily searched for, and lying, it is guaranteed, will always be morally wrong. Black and white do not exist in the realms of Heart of Darkness, because there are only shades of gray showing through. Perhaps there will never be complete good, or complete evil in the world. Maybe what we should be striving for is a state of balance.