Introductory Paragraph

Joseph Conrad’s "Heart of Darkness" is one man’s journey to discovering his true identity. Conrad chronicles the unusual happenings of the human psyche in his novella, through a very conflicted protagonist: Marlow. The narrator begins a personal psychological voyage, subsequently, investigating the basis of human nature. Conrad initially introduces Marlow as a man who is confused about his moral code: not fully accepting the imperial approach on how to civilize a country considered “savage,” while also believing that barbaric behavior must not triumph. Conrad uses this dilemma to tell a symbolic story that builds on the theories of psychoanalysis. The “id,” coined by famous psychologist Sigmund Freud, is the foundation of Marlow’s story. This raw and unpolished version of oneself hides beneath restrained actions and emotions, hereby referred to as the “ego.” To find this very unpredictable side of his mental faculties, Marlow chooses to take on a powerful introspection into his “darkness,” represented literally by the Congo. Though he desperately clings onto his moral beliefs, the narrator temporarily leaves behind his “light” (reason), represented by imperial British society. On this very long journey, Marlow’s stream of thought, the river, takes him into an uncertain place in an effort to understand his impulsive and immoral “id:” Kurtz. Firstly scrutinized by the accurate psycho-critical observations of Frederick Karl, Marlow’s interactions with Kurtz are ultimately reflective of the narrator’s own repressed desires. And thus, Kurtz is an undetected part of Marlow’s mental being. Marlow’s trek to the Congo contains many psychological symbols, representative of his unearthed relationship to Kurtz- the most mysterious sector of his mind: his continuous dithering between fascination and repulsion and the comprehended integration of his “id” into British societal morality.