Humanity In Joseph Conrad's Heart Of Darkness

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As Marlow dissociates from his former self, he undergoes a psychological transformation that ultimately renders him isolated and lonely within the confines of his psyche. Marlow’s experience in the Congo begs the question of whether the imperialists are regressing into a state of primordial human nature due to the absence of civilization or if the psychological tribulation that they undergo distorts their sense of what it means to be human. The detriment on the human psyche is initially foreshadowed by the Doctor as he is conducting an examination of Marlow’s skull; moreover, he explains how the “changes take place inside” (Conrad 15), presumably referring to one’s psyche. At the outset of the novel, Marlow is characterized as one who avoids …show more content…
Namely, the Brickmaker’s proclivity to climbing the corporate ladder by extracting information from Marlow under the pretense of curiosity is what contrives Marlow’s cynicism; moreover, the Brickmaker is an avaricious individual who Marlow thinks is the manifestation of “Mephistopheles” (Conrad 33), alluding to the notion that the Brickmaker embodies the devil due to the ideals he possesses. Marlow’s perspective of the manager is analogous to that of the Brickmaker’s; moreover, the Manager embodies a greedy bureaucrat. The company’s progress is of the utmost concern to him and it takes precedence over the treatment of the natives. Additionally, Marlow believes that he “inspired neither love nor fear” (Conrad 28), suggesting his callousness for the natives. When the Manager visits Kurtz and informs him that he has come to save him, Kurtz expresses his incredulity by saying, “save the ivory, you mean” (Conrad 79), reinforcing the notion that the Manager is merely interested in overtaking Kurtz. Disgusted by the greed and depravation of his European counterparts, Marlow concludes that he had “never seen anything so unreal in [his]
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