The Heart of Darkness: The Great Human Disease :: Literary Analysis, Joseph Conrad

It is easy to look at others and see their faults and weaknesses, but it is hard to see the same vices in ourselves. In the novella warmth of Darkness, by Joseph Conrad, this universal human flaw can be seen in the character of Marlow. While it appears that Marlow escaped the darkness, really he remained just as illogical in the wilderness as the rest of those involved. The truth is that Marlow was not the exception. He may have escaped Africa, but he did not escape the darkness. Marlow model that he had only peered over the edge (pg. 119), seen into the darkness, when really he had fallen into it. He had been seduced by the snake.It should have been obvious to Marlow that there was something wrong with this company. There were measureless clues right in front of him. Nothing was masked or hidden, made to appear wholesome. First of all, the way that he got the job was something that should have raised suspicion. The forward captain had died in a scuffle with the natives (pg. 12 ). That bit of information should have made Marlow reconsider taking the job or at least raised some questions concerning the circumstances of the scuffle. Aside from how he got the job, from when he first set foot in Brussels, Belgium, Marlow saw so many off-putting things. He describes the city as a whited sepulcher (pg. 14)-a symbol of death. It is a biblical allusion from the book of Mathew. In a passage Mathew describes whited sepulchers saying that they appear beautiful outward, but argon within full of dead mens b anes, and of all uncleanness (Matthew 2327). The fact that Marlow recognizes this shows that he is not completely ignorant to the truth about the company. and so he walks into the companys office positioned on a narrow and deserted street in deep shadow (pg. 14), and he sees these two women plain black wool, looking as though they were guarding the door of darkness (pg. 16). Basically everything was telling him not to go behind those doors-not to take the intervi ew-and Marlow chose to do it anyway. At one point Marlow even says it was as if he had been let into some conspiracy, into something not quite right (pg. 15). Clearly, Marlow knew that there was something nefarious about the whole business, and yet he took the job just the same, thus disproving his innocence in