Heart of Darkness †An Allegory? Essay

Heart of Darkness is in its entirety not an allegory. Its surface is too profound and meaningful to allow itself to be interpreted in more than than cardinal ways. There are however several parts in the novel that hint at the opposite and that prove that the context of the novel fag be seen from more than one angle.This sewer mainly be perceived in the life of Mr. Kurtz, as his descent into madness can be seen as an allegory for the colonization and destruction of the African continent and its people by the Europeans. Because just as Kurtz was a perfectly sane and normal man onwards he went into the African wilderness so were withal 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 closing off compel Mr. Kurtz to live his life without boundaries. Proof of this can be found on page 83, His mother was half-English his father was half-French. All of Europe contribut ed 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 sooner 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 act quite an differently to their masters 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 stagger of ivoryhe wanted it, and wouldnt hear reasonand there was nothing on earth to prevent him killing whom he jolly headspring 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 effective and prosperous as possible. This of course include ki lling any opposition, or in the words of Conrad, killing whoever they jolly well pleased.In conclusion 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 closer to Kurtz and the heart of the African jungle Marlows internal voyage alters his morality 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.However the novel misses out on the most important aspect of an allegory, that of it having a layer utilize only to represent or suggest other elements, often abstract, than those found in the main story. So although Heart of Darkness contains much symbolism and treble meanings, it falls shor t of being a true allegory of anything, but perhaps the voyage of Mr. Kurtz soul.