Blind To The Truth In Joseph Conrad's Heart Of Darkness

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Over ten million Congo Africans were killed in a massacre by King Leopold II because he wanted ivory (Ankomah). Europeans had no idea this was happening and we're finally revealed to the truth when the novel, Heart of Darkness, was published. Mankind is blind to what is happening outside of their bubble and often do not even care that they are blind. Whatever environment a man lives in, he focuses only on his environment and does not notice those around him. The government keeps their society away from the evil and destruction happening around them. Furthermore, in his novel, Heart of Darkness, Joseph Conrad shows that man is blind to the truth that is happening outside of his environment. He shows what happens when a man finds out the truth and conforms to the new …show more content…
The longer Marlow stayed in the Congo, the more he was beginning to lose his conscience. A main part of where Marlow's change was visibly seen was when his helmsman died and all Marlow cared about was not being able to see Kurtz (Conrad 42). For even though the helmsman was Marlow's right hand man, Marlow was terribly disappointed that Kurtz, a man he has never met, was possibly dead. The altruism was lost and Marlow began to fall into selfishness. Kurtz is another character who fell into the greed of this world. Once Kurtz got to the Congo, he was dragged into the wonders of ivory and could not get enough of it. He began to gain power and soon that was all he could think of, destroying villages and practically creating slaves to get him more. When Kurtz wanted a small amount of ivory that his right hand man had, he threatened to shoot him unless he gave him the ivory (Conrad 51). Kurtz became the victim to his own conscience and he went so far, he could not have been edified. Both Kurtz and Marlow changed as they moved into a new environment and fell victim of greed and
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