Who Is Kurtz Telling The Truth In Heart Of Darkness

The deep overwhelming jungles of the Congo created a sickness of the mind in the case of Kurtz, in novel The Heart of Darkness. After descending into madness and illness, Kurtz ends up on his death bed with his final words “The horror! The horror!”(64). Leaving Marlow with a choice, to tell Kurtz intended a lie or the truth about his final words when confronted. If I was in Marlow’s shoes I as well would have told the grieving intended a lie about her fiancé’s final words. Marlow stooped below his morals and lied to safeguard the intended, protect Kurtz’s reputation and avoid revealing the darkness in the jungle.

By lying to Kurtz intended he kept her from knowing how he was at the very end and protecting the image she had of her beloved. The intended had created a larger than life image in her mind of her fiancé while he was in Africa. She had been deeply in love and idolized him greatly. In her conversations with Marlow she put Kurtz on a pedestal, “It was impossible to know him and not admire him. Was it?” (69). If Marlow told her the truth about Kurtz’s madness and actions, it would have hurt a woman even more who already had been grieving for a year. Kurtz had nothing to gain from telling the truth to her nor did the intended from hearing it. Kurtz had developed a heart of darkness and
While in the Congo there was a looming darkness over the men. A sense of barbarism overtook them that was driven fast by greed. By lying to the intended he is protecting Kurtz and the company from revealing the darkness there and what happened. Those who were not there would not understand the complex scenario and what drove them to commit such inhumane actions on others. To tell the truth Marlow would have exposed the uncivility of the Europeans. By lying to the intended he protected the image of the Country, the company, and the mission Kurtz set out on by keeping the darkness of the jungle