The Darkness Within
Sigmund Freud, credited with creating psychology and psychoanalytic theory, is ever present within the novel, Heart of Darkness. Throughout this novel, one sees Freuds work in action and how it is portrayed through the actions of the characters. The darkness referenced frequently throughout this vivid literary work, not only shows the evils of the jungle, but more so the evil that resides dormant within man. The constant presence of society controls these urges as well as repressing them. Given the right circumstances, man is free to become the raw being that he is. The absence of these societal checks and moral abandonment create the perfect conditions for the coalescence of darkness within Mr. Kurtz.
In the Jungle, there obviously there are no societal bonds that tie people to the rest of the world. Freuds theory on Shadow Selves states that every person has two halves, the side that everyone around them see, and the one that is repressed within his or her self. In desolation, one can act or effectively become the person that they have repressed. Kurtz, although having mostly lost his mind, has effectively flipped his real ego, with the repressed one. Kurtzs utilization of his alter self to do unspeakable things within the jungle is remarkable. As one small example, Kurtz had placed severed human heads on the fence posts around his house. Had society been in place, this would not have happened. The psychological effects that society has on the mind are tremendous.
An older video made by Candid Camera shows just how well society plays into the psyche of a person. In the clip, you have an elevator and a few actors. What happens next is not only interesting, but also very telling as to how groups can suppress many kinds of behaviors. The actors were instructed to face the back wall of the elevator and stay that way until they reached their floor. A person, who is oblivious to the experiment, gets into the elevator with other the actors. Hesitant at first, his individuality is taken by the group slowly by the group as he turns around to face the same direction. This happens to quite a few more people. Finally the clip ends with a younger man getting into the elevator with the actors facing the back wall, but as they reach the next floor up, they all change to face the left wall. Soon after they change a final time, the men inside the elevator take off their hats, making the young man do the same. This is crucial in the novel as far as showing a reason as to why Kurtz does the things he can. It does not only allow one to see into Kurtz better, but it really brings his ability to do this to the natives into light. This scary ability to control people through simple actions or words is a real power that anyone can get lost within. With the absence of society and the absence of moral checks led to Kurtzs psychological breakdown and regression.
Kurtz had a follower, the Russian. They are similar in nature, in that they have no more need of society. The Russian, who is never given a proper name in the novel, adores Kurtz to an almost obsessive compulsive necessity. Never saying anything bad about him even after telling Marlow (insert quote) hints that he is also in some kind of diminished mental state. The ability of Kurtz to blatantly and easily say that he would kill the Russian, yet allow him to stay around like nothing had happened shows a tremendous sense of companionship. Although Kurtz states several times that he does not need or want the Russian, he keeps him to hang on to what humanity he does have left within himself. In the jungle, Kurtz has found small villages that he has established himself as a deity within them. In the same way that he has the Russian doing what he wants, he has these tribes under his thumb. The phrase Misery loves company is a perfect answer to this madness that is presented to the reader.
One vivid example of the concept of Misery loves company is that of the Jonestown mass suicides. The Peoples Temple Agricultural Project or better known as Jonestown, was a cult led by a man named Jim Jones. This man, much like Kurtz, had a gift with words. He led people with the ease of his words, took their possessions without resistance, and emptied their bank accounts with their gracious consent. He masked his intentions with messages from god. Jim bought land in northern Guyana and built his kingdom. Now that he was removed from the rest of society, things began to happen that the U.S. Government began to question. People were sent in to investigate what was happening at Jonestown. Knowing that he was going to soon be extradited back to America, he ordered the mass suicide of his followers. Jim Jones used the absence of societys checks and balance system coupled with his uncanny ability to get people to listen to him caused the massacre in Jonestown.
On page 28 of the novel, Marlow overhears two men talking about how Mr. Kurtz delivered his ivory.
Kurtzs final words The horror, the horror, are a significant end to a man of this caliber. The meaning of why he says this can be interpreted many different ways, but one simple truth remains, Kurtz has realized in his last moments, the atrocities that he committed against humanity. He is finally found perspective that he was lacking while he was a God. Removing ones self from society and allowing the evils within to take control creates a detrimental effect on the mind. Having lost touch with what was right and wrong. Kurtz became a monster that was only stopped by a man who found a strange fascination with him. Mr. Kurtzs death is also symbolic in that everything that he was had been lost. Thusly when he dies on the steamboat on the way back to humanity, because there is nothing left to come back to. The absence of societys control of psychological behavior, the abandonment of inhibitions that are normally suppressed, and finally the loss of ones self in madness constitute a true Heart of Darkness.
Works Cited
Conrad, Joseph. Heart of Darkness. New York: Dover, 1990. Print.
Denneson, Travis J. "Society and the Individual in Nietzsche's The Will to Power." Infidels.org. Internet Infidels, 6 Nov. 2010. Web. 09 Dec. 2010.
Elevator Psychology Experiment. Candid Camera. Www.Boreme.com. Boreme, 2010. Web. 9 Dec. 2010.
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