In as early as kindergarten, my teachers have glorified the immense power of the brain. I have been told that we are all gifted with a brain that can practically lift skyscrapers and save the day if it tries hard enough. All of these notions comforted me, and I felt nestled in the warm and comforting quilt which was my brain. Heart of Darkness and Joseph Conrad, however, have shown me the inconvenient truth that a smart brain is capable of committing horrible atrocities, and that intelligence does not always imply benevolence.
While reading the first two parts of Heart of Darkness, I was introduced to the man Kurtz, who was supposedly “a very remarkable person” (19). Kurtz intrigued me, because I really wanted to learn more about what made him so remarkable. The novel went on to tell us that Kurtz had committed horrible crimes, and this intrigued me even more. Little did I know about the disturbing truth of why everyone saw him as so “remarkable.”
When Marlow began explaining Kurtz’s report for ‘The International Society for the Suppression of Savage Customs,’ I was taken aback. Kurtz was a pure genius, yet he still sought to exterminate the savages whom he believed were inferior in every way to Europeans. Marlow says that he did this through “the unbounded power of eloquence—of words—of burning noble words” (50).
Throughout my entire life, I had immediately assumed that the intelligent and well-educated people of the world were naturally kind-hearted and rational. Joseph Conrad finally opened my eyes and I learned that when pushed to the edge, a well-educated and sane intellectual could turn into a monster.
This inconvenient truth began to bother me even more once we discussed its implications in relation to the twentieth century. Adolf Hitler was a smart, ambitious young German who seemed to have a bright future paved ahead of him. However, he eventually took power and “The Final Solution” erupted from his reign. Hitler, like Kurtz, turned into a monster.
In trying to come to terms with this truth, I began to think of the use of propaganda during the Third Reich. As Conrad states, “burning noble words” (50) alone can sway public opinion in favor of a terrible ideology. Nazi Germany used this tactic to convince Germans that what they were doing was right and just.
Although hard to believe, this reminder of the past gave me a great deal of hope. If a brilliant mind has the ability to use words to sway public opinion, another brilliant mind can notice this horrible propaganda and try to put an end to it. There will always be darkness and evil in the world, as Conrad explained in his novel. However, uncorrupted, brilliant minds also exist and can save the world from monsters like Hitler and Kurtz. Conrad’s novel has not only described the darkness in this world to me; he has allowed me to find a path to come to terms with this evil and seek the uncorrupted brilliance which still exists.
