The Nature of Good/evil
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The nature of good and evil one of humanities never ending conflicts since the beginning of time. For instance in the novella “Heart of Darkness” by Joseph Conrad explores the issues surrounding imperialism, and centers Marlow the main character.
The conflict between good and evil is particularly evident throughout the story. In following the novella you begin analyzing and thinking theories for instance: “people are inherently evil and its expressed in varieties of forms”, or “people are inherently good, but become corrupted by society and other outside forces”. In my perspective Im in position of “people are inherently good, but become corrupted by society and other outside forces”
I do believe theyre people who are inherently good but influenced negatively by society and endure on evil. I stand on this position because in “Heart of Darkness” Marlow expresses “The word ivory rang in the air, was whispered, was sighed. You would think they were praying to it. A taint of imbecile rapacity blew through it all, like a whiff from some corpse. By Jove! Ive never seen anything so unreal in my life. And outside, the silent wilderness surrounding this cleared speck on the earth struck me as something great and invincible, like evil or truth, waiting patiently for the passing away of this fantastic invasion.” (Conrad 368) This quote Marlow clarifies that hes in this situation because of the white mans pursuit for ivory which caused death and greed; in which it proves the point of good people influenced by evil forces. Another example of this is in Part III in “Heart of Darkness” when Marlow and Kurtz finally meet each other through the steamships departure from the Inner Station. Here Marlow describes his developing relationship with Kurtz in terms of intimacy and betrayal. Marlow also indicates that the Africa natives are responsible for Kurtzs current condition of evilness and cruelty. Finally in the end after Kurtz dies his last words were “the horror, the horror” I believe Kurtz is referring to the darkness in his heart or emptiness, also being a failure of his destiny.
Chinua Achebe feels differently about the novella “Heart of Darkness” mainly because its concept of evil. She expresses that “The Heart of Darkness projects the image of Africa as “the other world,” the