Essay On Marlow's Ambiguity In Heart Of Darkness

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In the novel Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad, Conrad establishes Marlow as a character who can be considered as morally ambiguous within the text. Like any other individual, Marlow has both good and bad characteristics which shape his ambiguity in the novel such as his compassion and value of justice as well as his arrogance and his hypocritical nature. The change within Marlow’s morality during the duration of his time in Africa to the time he goes back to England can be seen through the different events he had to endure throughout his journey. Through his admiration to his eventual resentment of Kurtz, as well as being a man who showed a passion for justice as well as a strong distaste for lying at the beginning of the text to his actions towards Kurtz’s intended , Marlow shows his moral ambiguity throughout the novel. …show more content…
There is a taint of death, a flavour of mortality in lies - which is exactly what I hate and detest in the world - what I want to forget. It makes me miserable and sick, like biting something rotten would do. (Conrad 42)
This shows where Marlow stands with regards to what he believes is the right thing to do, making it seem as if he is one who can never tell a lie. It establishes his character for the rest of the novel but he is then faced with his interaction with Kurtz’s intended. It is clear to see in the novel what Kurtz’s last words really were, “The Horror! The Horror!” (Conrad 116) , but Marlow decides to lie to the intended and say, “The last word he pronounced was - your name" (Conrad 129). This brings up the question as to how he was able to forget what he stood for when he was faced with the choice of telling the intended the truth about Kurtz. Here is where Marlow’s moral ambiguity comes into
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