Heart of Darkness
...t motive; however, once inside Marlow begins to see new forms of corruption. Are the imperialists their to help, or are they there to make money to fulfill their greed? He begins to realize that it is not the black savages who represent evil, but rather the selfish whites. This corruption is further shown through the novel with symbols that reveal that perversity of the jungle. None of Marlow’s previous beliefs hold true in the Congo and he must reevaluate what is light and what is dark. He is confronted with the distortion of images and confusion at the first station. He sees a group of natives in the shade and immediately compares it to hell. As he states: "Black shapes crouched, lay, sat between the trees, leaning against the trunks, clinging to the earth, half coming out, half effaced within the dim light, in all the attitudes of pain, abandonment, and despair"(35). He notices one figure in particular, one with a white rag around his neck. Is it the natives who create this feeling of suffering or is it the whites? These people are in the shade because they have nothing to live for anymore. The imperialists have destroyed their way of life and now they are eagerly awaiting death. The corruption is not in the black boy, rather in the white rag. What it symbolizes is not clear. Marlow asks, "Where did he get it? Was it a badge – an ornament – a charm – a propitiatory act...It looked startling round his black neck, this bit of white thread from beyond the seas"(35). Marlow does not know why exactly the boy is wearing the rag; however, he does know that the Europeans brought it - along with suffering and corruption. Rather than bringing light to the natives, they have brought nothing but pain and chaos. This confusion in appearances is show again with the alternative motives of the whites. They are not humanitarians helping a civilization out of good will. They are there out of greed and corruption. Without the presence of society, the inner core of humans is revealed and what is white on the outside is sometimes black on the inside. This reversal of appearances is displayed in all the imperialists that Marlow comes across. One is the manager at the first station. He gives the allusion of being a gentleman with his European clothing and manners, yet inside he is filled with crookedness. In order to maintain this image he must train a native to follow his orders. He makes another suffer to keep the allusion of being white. This distortion of appearances is revealed again in the uncle of the manager of the second station. His skin color hides the presence of evil. Marlow remarks that he "seemed to beckon with a dishonoring flourish before the sunlit face of the land a treacherous appeal to the lurking death, to the hidden evil, to the profound darkness of its heart"(58). Marlow does not know what his plans are; however, he has nothing good to say about Kurtz and is focused on the betterment of his own situation. Ivory is the underlying force to all the Europeans motives. The Europeans may claim to be helping the "savages" by bringing civilization; however, in reality they are just exploiting both the land and the people and bring corruption, not light. Kurtz, who becomes a white demi-god to ...