What Motivates Marlow In Heart Of Darkness

Marlow is a seaman through and through and has seen the world many times over.
What motivates marlow in heart of darkness. In the end marlow s illusion the universe is fundamentally good is wiped away in his. Marlow undergoes a catharsis during his trip to the congo and learns of the effects of imperialism. Perhaps because of his journeys perhaps because of the temperament he was born with he is philosophical passionate and insightful. In this novella that focuses on the human psyche the reader explores kurtz s transformation in three consecutive chapters.
We sympathize with him we assume or hope he has a higher moral standard than his colleagues and we believe that his motivation isn t just greed or ambition. If you know the answer to this question please register to join our limited beta program and start the. From the start marlow takes this whole noble imperialism bit with a boulder of salt. Instead his experiences there teach marlow about the heart of darkness found in all men.
Marlow isn t always our narrator but he s definitely our main man. We need you to answer this question. One of the most enigmatic characters in twentieth century literature kurtz is a petty tyrant a dying god an embodiment of europe and an assault on european values. Many like himself suppress these evil urges while others like kurtz succumb to them.
The darkness foreshadows itself in part one describes its footpath in the second part and finally presents itself in part three. Marlow s chief qualities are his curiosity and skepticism. Marlow is about to tell the story of a dark and primitive africa which the europeans are so kindly civilizing. All this makes him well worth a closer examination.
He s just like us. But he reminds you that europe too was once a dark and primitive place. What is the motivation of marlow in heart of darkness. In joseph conrad s 1902 english novella heart of darkness a character by the name of mr.
Kurtz demonstrates an internal battle between that of the good and evil within himself using the ideals of morals and alienation. Marlow is the protagonist or main character of heart of darkness which is a somewhat fictionalized account of joseph conrad s own experiences traveling the congo. Marlow s metamorphosis in heart of darkness conrad s novel heart of darkness relies on the historical period of imperialism to illuminate its protagonist charlie marlow and his struggle with two opposite value systems. Although marlow appears in several of conrad s other works it is important not to view him as merely a surrogate for the author.
Marlow is fundamentally changed by what he sees and understands as a result.