Heart of Darkness #2

In the next section of reading HOD, we begin to see Marlow’s consuming obsession with Kurtz, who is sick. He is made out to be an icon, an idol, and was the company’s biggest asset for having the most successful trading post. Marlow expects he will be meeting Kurtz but soon finds other problems get in the way, like his damaged boat. Marlow suspects it was intentionally damaged as a diversion from meeting Kurtz.

I felt the damage to Marlow’s boat was really quite unfortunate. He looks to Kurtz as a model for how one can succeed in the darkness, or at least he use to until a new light is shed upon him. After Marlow spoke with the brick maker his opinion altered negatively toward Kurtz. Marlow started to see the reality of who this man really was. I found it to particularly ironic for Marlow to associate time as a reference point with Kurtz because it paralleled to his feelings changing over time.