Heart of Darkness #5

          The ambiguity of Kurtz’s last words leaves the meaning of his final message open to interpretation by the reader. With his final breath, Kurtz cries out, “The horror! The horror!” (Conrad 154). Kurtz has been established as an eloquent and powerful speaker. Conrad often uses synecdoche, referring to Kurtz as his voice; it is Kurtz’s primary source of persuasion and control. Thus, the reader can assume that these last words are specifically chosen to convey a certain message. One explanation is that Kurtz has just experienced a moment of catharsis and realizes that his actions in Africa have been morally unjust. Kurtz is a very straightforward person, and Marlow admires this about him. He has been very matter-of-fact about what he has been doing in the Congo; he has taken advantage of the natives and taken an extensive amount of ivory by unethical means. He has severed heads stuck on posts surrounding his shack. Kurtz has justified everything he has done up until this point, but perhaps at this final moment it sinks in that he has not been a just and model human being. Marlow describes Kurtz’s “expression of somber pride, of ruthless power, of craven terror—of an intense and hopeless despair” (Conrad 153). Enlightened by his imminent death, he may be reliving his choices in life and realizing how and where he went wrong. On the other hand, Kurtz could be referring to his own death as the “horror.” Kurtz has considered himself above everyone else in the past, and he still may feel this way. Kurtz may see his death as a “horror” for the rest of humanity. He presents himself to the natives as one equivalent to a god, and even the harlequin follows him with disciple-like devotion. The isolation of the Congo has inflated his self-perception, and perhaps he thinks of himself as almost a divine being. He speaks and writes with such persuasion and self-assurance that people believe him. Marlow admits to being persuaded by Kurtz’s paper about how to treat native people, and Kurtz’s Intended tells how powerful his voice was. Kurtz believed in the ideas he shared with the world, and he may think that the world will suffer without them. Another possibility is that Kurtz is upset at the circumstances of his death, namely, the fact that he is not dying in a position of power. He is leaving the Congo, where he had complete control, against his will. He has lost his followers and his land, and now even his life is being wrested from his grasp. Since Kurtz lives for control, he really has nothing else to live for. Conrad does not clarify the meaning of this message, so there is no way to fully understand Kurtz or the corruption of power he represents.