Heart of Darkness #3

The second section of HOD was a lot more interesting than the first - more action occurs and we finally begin to explore the darkness. There are two means of exploring deeper into the darkness. Literally, the men on the ship travel towards the center of the Congo. Symbolically, Marlow begins to realize the evil of the people around him by the bad things they want to do.

When Marlow overhears the Station Manager and his Uncle talking about Kurtz, Marlow finds out they both want him dead. The Station Manager feels Kurtz wants to get ahead of him and is bring moral reign. Interestingly, they don’t plan on killing him though. The Uncle feels and trusts the darkness of the land will eventually overcome Kurtz and destroy him. This causes Marlow to realize the evil in man’s hearts and is a very large symbol to pay attention to.

I think it is important to note what Marlow was doing during this seen as it also symbolizes the newfound realization of evil. When the Station Manager and the Uncle are speaking it wakes Marlow up from sleeping. Most often than not Marlow provides many details about everything in HOD, but in this scene the details are not so clear. Marlow is awakened, literally and figuratively, to what the men are saying and as I stated previously, Marlow begins to realize the evil in the people around him.