The Absolute Truth In Joseph Conrad's Heart Of Darkness

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Since reality can be concealed and distorted to embody one’s desired world, many do not see the point of acknowledging the potentially unfavorable truth. In Joseph Conrad’s the Heart of Darkness, the characters believe whatever they are told without hesitation to preserve the pristine image of their lives and prevent conflict from arising. Even when false statements are presented to the explorers in Congo, they refrain from doubting or questioning the information at hand. The false beliefs that they possess prevent them from seeing the absolute truth of their world. One may view their misguided beliefs as the truth; however, there is a clear distinction between what is viewed as the supposed truth and what is the absolute truth. While men proclaim …show more content…
Moments before Kurtz passed away, he whispered, “‘The horror!’ . . . it had candour, it had conviction, it had a vibrating note of revolt in its whisper, it had the appalling face of a glimpsed truth” (88). Kurtz’s final whisper proclaiming “‘The horror!’” is a pivotal moment of the novel when he finally discerns the absolute truth of his world, a world of wickedness. At this instant, Kurtz acknowledges the brutality that he witnesses during his time in Congo and is disgusted by the “appalling” nature of these actions. Kurtz is able to unveil and glimpse the unfavorable truth; however, the other characters in the novel are unable to come to this realization. They are blinded by misguided beliefs and choose to push the truth away to protect themselves and their perception humanity. The time preceding Kurtz’s death allows him to reflect on his life and delve into the disheartening occurrences that he has witnessed yet chooses to push away. When Kurtz proclaims “‘The horror!’”, he is choosing to tear down the veil that the people of Congo have positioned to conceal and disguise the twisted truths of their world. Kurtz is the sole character who possesses an individual willingness to stop believing things of no substance and begin unraveling the heartless
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