Intricate Mystery

The Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad weaves an intricate mystery within itself giving more than what is first seen in this small novella. Marlow, the main character shares of a journey he once took through the uncivilized regions of Africa to solve a mystery while in search for a man called Kurtz. The tale Marlow creates of the search for Mr. Kurtz also allows him to reach an anagnorisis of the meaning of the search as a whole: the darkness of humanity lies more in the greed of the Europeans than in the savagery of the Africans.
Marlow's regale of his search reveals his own need to answer his own questions which he does as the tale continues. Conrad uses imagery to describe Marlow's anagnorisis.   The narrator describes Marlow's posture change as his voice grows more confident. Conrad also uses alliteration for the constant praise Marlow hears for Kurtz throughout the novel. Kurtz's wife, for instance, was unable to see him in anything but a golden light,as is mentioned towards the end of the novella. However, all the praise offered towards Mr. Kurtz falls uselessly when Mr. Kurtz finally makes an appearance. The man that had been so highly praised had become extremely sick and on the brink of insanity. His last words were “the horror! The horror”(56). Readers can draw the conclusion that what drove him to madness was the savagery of living with Africans although he clung to them with his dying breath. Marlow, however, comes to realize through his own experience that the constant demand from the Europeans, which drove Kurtz further into the uncivilized territory, may have caused his loss of sanity. Marlow, himself, believes that the Europeans wanted more than could be given.
The greed of the Europeans affected more than just Kurtz. Conrad shows through alienation that a   man, who was claimed to be a traitor for interfering with Kurtz's work with the ivory, also suffered. This man had separated himself from the others by living with the natives but still managing...