Heart of Darkness Criticism

Heart of Darkness presents the reader with an introspective narration into the thoughts and ideologies of Marlow which is based on his experiences within the Congo. The story within a story that is Heart of Darkness can be perceived and interpreted within several types of literary criticism. At the end of the book, Conrad deceives Kurtz's intended by telling her that his last words were her name when in actuality it was "The horror, the horror!"(Conrad 164). This exemplifies how Kurtz's main focus of exclamation was not his intended, but the horrors pursued within the Congo. This ultimately hints towards how much the Congo changed the mindset of those who partook in its immoral conquering of Africa. Feminist and psychological criticism help one approach the analytical side of responding to the text by focusing on the psychological makeup of Marlow, and from the feministic ideological side. Looking at the evidence presented in the passage, feminist criticism is the best variation to use in the process of breaking down and analyzing the passage due to the context Marlow's aspect of gender.

Psychological criticism allows the interpreter to focus on the psychological makeup of the narrator and author in regards to the passage and context. In this form of criticism, the reader has to make an educated guess as what is repressed. Within the passage, Marlow disguises that he feels sorrow for the fact that he lied by accentuating that "the heavens do not fall for such a trifle"(Conrad 164) when before he was exclaiming that "it seemed to me that the house would collapse before I could escape, that the heavens would fall upon my head" (Conrad 164). The presented contradiction in his thoughts reflects Marlow's unstable psyche. But, from analyzing the passage with this criticism we see that he had the mindset that he made the right decision about lying to Kurtz's intended about his last words.

The value of looking at this passage from a psychological perspective is that Marlow is losing his sanity, right after coming back from his venture within the Heart of Darkness. This is seen in his technique of narration as he questions himself, "I wonder, if I had rendered Kurtz that justice which was his due? Hadn't he said he wanted only justice? But I couldn't. I could not tell her" (Conrad 164). From this style of writing, we see that Marlow is not paying the dues of respecting Kurtz's life by letting his intended off with the truth which hints toward a loss of sanity. This is noticeable after looking back through the story and realizing Marlow's psychological reverence for the man. The limitations of using psychological criticism is that it takes the focus out of the journey as a whole, and turns the novel more towards a psychological analysis of Marlow, rather than a work of art depicting the period with ideologies and a story within a story narration.

Feminist