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In "The Heart of Darkness," Conrad reiterates the idea of isolation in order to show the reader the underlying theme of civilization versus savagery. Conrad is trying to convey to us the idea that every man possesses a heart of darkness that is usually restrained by the societal norms that one encounters. When a person is isolated from the restraints of society and work, it is hard for that person to resist the evil that has been previously controlled by the society. By developing the idea of isolation, Conrad points out that civilization is less stable than people would like to believe and that it is very easy to lose control of one self and to go back to a primitive state.
We first encounter the idea of isolation in the beginning of the story when Marlow is travelling with his companions on the river Thames. "'And this also,' said Marlow suddenly, 'has been one of the dark places of the earth'" (Conrad 187). In making this reference, Marlow is pointing out that even England, which is thought of as one of the most civilized places in the world, was once a primitive state. Just like the Europeans who are now trying to 'civilize' Africa, the Romans found the need to 'civilize' England.
Next, Marlow ponders over the isolation that the Romans must have felt when they came to conquer England. "…In some inland post feel the savagery, the utter savagery, had closed round himall that mysterious life of the wilderness that stirs in the forest, in the jungles, in the hearts of wild men. There is no initiation either into such mysteries. He has to live in the midst of the incomprehensible, which is detestable. And it has a fascination, too, which goes to work upon him. The fascination of the abominationyou know. Imagine the growing regrets, the longing to escape, the powerless disgust, the surrender, the hate" (188). In this section, Marlow reminisces about the emotions that a Roman soldier must have had when venturing away from civilized Rome into the barbaric England. By mentioning the emotions and the experience of the Romans, he is eluding to the challenges that the Europeans faced when they ventured away from their society into the darkness of the Congo.Help with essay on Civilization v. savagery in "The Heart of Darkness"
Another instance in which we see the idea of isolation is when Marlow imagines Kurtz sailing up the river and away from society. "As to me, I seemed to see Kurtz for the first time. It was a distinct glimpse the dugout, four paddling savages, and the lone white man turning his back suddenly on the headquarters, on relief, on thoughts of homeperhaps; setting his face towards the depth of wilderness, towards his empty and desolate station" (0). At this point Kurtz is starting to reject the restraints that the society has placed on him by turning away from civilization and by facing the wilderness and the darkness in his own heart.
Through Marlow's description of his travel upriver, we get an enormous feeling of Marlow's loneliness and detachment from time and civilization. "We were cut off from the comprehension of our surroundings; we glided past like phantoms, wondering and secretly appalled, as sane men would be before an enthusiastic outbreak in a madhouse. We could not understand because we were too far and could not remember, because we were travelling in the night of first ages, of those ages that are gone, leaving hardly a signand no memories" (1). Marlow portrays the earth as prehistoric and lacking the control that the European society has. "The rest of the world was nowhere, as far as our eyes and ears were concerned. Just nowhere. Gone, disappeared; swept off without leaving a whisper or a shadow behind" (15). Again, he makes us feel the immense sense of isolation from European society that he is experiencing.
When Marlow finally makes his way too find Kurtz, he realizes that Kurtz is not the emissary of light that he had imagined him to be. Nonetheless, Marlow defends him by saying that it is very difficult to keep oneself civilized without the societal restraints and when one has faced total solitude.
"You can't understand. How could you?with solid pavement under your feet, surrounded by kind neighbors ready to cheer you or to fall on you, stepping delicately between the butcher and the policeman, in the holy terror of scandal and gallows and lunatic asylumshow can you imagine what particular region of the first ages a man's untrammeled feet may take him into by the way of solitude- utter solitude without a policeman by the of silence utter silence, where no warning voice of a kind neighbor can be heard whispering of public opinion" ().
When Kurtz came into a situation in which there were no external restraints, he lacked the internal strength, which could keep him from becoming a savage. "…Mr. Kurtz lacked restraint in the gratification of his various lusts, that there was something wanting in him some small matter which, when the pressing need arose, could not be found under his magnificent eloquence" (0). Unlike Marlow, who had his work and the belief in the idea which allowed him to resist the temptation of the darkness, Kurtz ignored all of the external restraints and allowed himself to be controlled by his desires." But the wilderness had found him out early, and had taken on him a terrible vengeance for the fantastic invasion. I think it had whispered to him things about himself which he did not know, things of which he had no conception till he took counsel with this great solitude and the whisper had proved irresistibly fascinating. It echoed loudly within him because he was hollow at the core" (0).
Marlow again reiterates to his shipmates that being alone in the wilderness is what drove Kurtz mad. "But his soul was mad. Being alone in the wilderness, it had looked within itself, and by heavens! I tell you, it had gone mad… I saw the inconceivable mystery of a soul that knew no restraint, no faith, and no fear, yet struggling blindly with itself" (7). Marlow makes the point that what was responsible for his madness was Kurtz's self-imposed isolation within the wilderness. He chose to stay in the wilderness instead of going back to Europe and he did not possess any internal checks that would allow him to remain civilized.
Marlow and Kurtz can be seen as two opposites who, when in isolated from society, take totally different paths. Marlow represents a civilized person who is able to resist the darkness of the jungle, while Kurtz represent a person who is left to deal with his own desires without the restraints of society. "He had made the last stride, he had stepped over the edge, while I had been permitted to draw back my hesitating foot. And perhaps in this is the whole difference; perhaps all the wisdom, and all truth, and all sincerity, are just compressed into that inappreciable moment of time in which we step over the threshold of the invisible" (41).
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