NRJ #1: Heart of Darkness

Joseph Conrad’s “Heart of Darkness” is a journey into a soul surrounded by the omnipresent and enveloping force of nature.  Nature’s power pervades the story, guiding our journey on an inevitable path away from civilization and towards mystery.  As we move from the imperialistic civilization into the blackness of the depth of the Congo, Conrad uses the fearful imagery of the snake-like river to guide us ever deeper into the untamed depths of the human soul.  Once there, we find a mystery both wondrous and beautiful and yet terrifying in its power.

Beyond the fence the forest stood up spectrally in the moonlight, and through the dim stir, though the faint sounds of that lamentable courtyard, the silence of the land went home to one’s very heart – its mystery, its greatness, the amazing reality of its concealed life…I felt how big, how confoundedly big, was that thing that couldn’t talk and perhaps was deaf as well.

In parts I & II, nature represents mystery, excitement and adventure.  Conrad, through Marlow, seeks an escape from the frustrations of society and civilization.  His desire to venture into the “white spaces” on the map is an adventure into the unknown both on land and within himself.  As he journeys up the river, nature takes on a powerful new role, both controlling the path of the journey and defining the world around the sanctuary of the steamer.  Kurtz has taken this journey to its logical end and has become part of nature and cannot live when separated from it.

I tried to break the spell – the heavy, mute spell of the wilderness – that seemed to draw him to its pitiless breast by the awakening of forgotten and brutal instincts, by the memory of gratified and monstrous passions.  This alone, I was convinced, had driven him out to the edge of the forest, to the bush, towards the gleam of fires, the throb of drums, the drone of weird incantations; this alone had beguiled his unlawful soul beyond the bounds of permitted aspirations.

His final act before succumbing to the return journey is a desparate attempt to stay within the bosom of nature.  Nature has entwined itself with his soul.  Kurtz can no longer live without it, but of course he can’t live with it either.

He had kicked himself loose of the earth.  Confound the man! He had kicked the very earth to pieces.  He was alone, and I before him did not know whether I stood on the ground or floated in the air.

By diving headlong into nature, Kurtz has discovered the source of the river into his soul.  The horrors he finds there are too much to explain, but are too addictive to live without.  When finally separated from this raw power, life quickly leaves him and he soon dies, unable to take life on the civilization represented by the steamer.

Addendum, after a second reading:

 (Monday, March 30th)

Above I mentioned that "Conrad, through Marlow, seeks an escape from the frustrations of society and civilization."  I'm not sure this is true for either Conrad or Marlow.  Conrad intentionally took us to the Congo to contrast the atrocities there with the moralistic PR promulgated by The Company in Europe.  He shows us that power corrupts and that imperialism represented the worst in men, rather than the justifications used by European nations to fill their pockets with gold.   Unlike Conrad, Marlow is not trying to make a point, other than to show us how he was changed by this experience.  He is not escaping civilization by going to the Congo any more than he always has as a seaman.  He loves the clarity of vision and purpose that the sea provides.  I don't think he really knew what he wanted other than his next ship.

On my first reading, I didn't clearly see the relationship between Kurtz and the unconscious mind.  Although I understood this to be an allegory, I had to struggle with the plot the first time, which made it difficult to see the symbolism of the characters, the river, and the various settings.