Heart of Darkness †An Allegory? Essay

Heart of apparition is in its entirety not an allegory. Its step forward is too profound and meaningful to allow itself to be interpreted in more than deuce ways. There are however several split in the novel that hint at the opposite and that prove that the mise en scene of the novel can be seen from more than ace angle.This can principally be perceived in the life of Mr. Kurtz, as his descent into fad can be seen as an allegory for the colonization and destruction of the African continent and its people by the Europeans. Because barely as Kurtz was a utterly sane and normal man before he went into the African wilderness so were also the European nations very civilized before they came to Africa. And just as the nations of Europe governed Africa and its people without rules and restrictions so did isolation compel Mr. Kurtz to pull round his life without boundaries. Proof of this can be found on rapscallion 83, His m different was half-English his father was half-French. All of Europe contri simplyed to the making of Kurtz. This shows that Kurtz can be seen as a symbol of Europe, as he is the typical European explorer ambitious, greedy and adventurous.And if Kurtz is Europe embodied then it would be kind of logical that Africa should be represented by the harlequin (p.87) his faithful Russian comrade. Their relation greatly resembles that of the relation between Africa and Europe, although the African people represent quite differently to their earns compared to how the Russian acted towards Kurtz. The similarities lay in how the master treats the subordinate. He wanted to shoot me too one day.I had a small lot of ivoryhe wanted it, and wouldnt distinguish reasonand there was nothing on earth to prevent him kill whom he jolly well pleased.(p.92). The way Kurtz treats the Russian is mirrored in the way the Europeans governed Africa and extracted its riches. They stopped at nothing to make their colonies as impressive and prosperous as possible . This of course included killing any opposition, or in the words of Conrad, killing whoever they jolly well pleased.In result it can be said that the two voyages in Heart of Darkness, the one in the mind and the one on the Congo River, are not as much an allegoryas they are descriptions of two separate, but still closely linked, plot developments. For example, as the company sails ever close together(predicate) to Kurtz and the heart of the African jungle Marlows internal voyage alters his moral philosophy and opinions according to his experiences. This might seem as an allegory to some, as it features two separate levels, one relatively superficial the other underlying and sometimes also very symbolic, as when Kurtz is portrayed as a devil. only the novel misses out on the most important aspect of an allegory, that of it having a layer used only to represent or suggest other elements, often abstract, than those found in the main story. So although Heart of Darkness contains muc h symbolism and dual meanings, it falls short of being a true allegory of anything, but perhaps the voyage of Mr. Kurtz soul.