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Heart Of Darkness Kurtz Journey

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Heart Of Darkness Kurtz Journey
On the surface Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness is a story of adventure, suspense, and mystery, but beneath its literal exterior lays a philosophical undercurrent: the quest towards self-actualization. The novel begins on the Thames River in London where five seamen sit "with silence onboard the yacht" watching the sun set, feeling "meditative, and fit for nothing but placid staring." The adventure is prefaced and foreshadowed by the images created by in the opening pages. The narrator first describes Marlow as a man who "followed the sea with reverence and affection" and compares him to the heroic adventurers of the past, the settlers who sailed before him, and to the greatness that had taken the same path. Something is different about …show more content…
The central plot is Marlow searching for Kurtz who, as the reader finds out, has begun to take the journey of self-actualization already. Kurtz, in the darkness of the Congo, has discovered the freedom of self, he has the choice between good and evil, but, nevertheless, he has found the meaning of self which is freedom from exterior forces. This is the journey that Marlow is taking, to learn from Kurtz who serves as Marlow's ultimate goal. Kurtz's final epiphany is the moment when Marlow understands that he is taking a path of self-discovery and that he must evaluate his being along with discovering self-freedom. Kurtz's has removed himself from all restraints, but he has not realized what he has become and been a part of until this point, he has to assess his place in the world. Kurtz's final words represent his realization, whether or not that realization is Kurtz's own role in the world or the world itself is up for argument, but there is no doubt that Kurtz has come to comprehension. The ambiguity of this line opens up the story to a far greater meaning of the world in general. When Kurtz has his final words Marlow begins his final stage of self-realization. Marlow goes out alone and realizes the world when he meets death, but the realization is sparked and enhanced by the knowledge of
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