Marlow and Human Limitations Essay -- Africa Philosophy Essays

Marlow and Human Limitations In boldness of Darkness Marlow takes us on a move into the heart of darkest Africa, at a time when explorers and treasure seekers were venturing up the Congo River in search of the riches of ivory. What separates Marlows tale from a mere calamity story, however, are the uncomfortable truths about civilization and humanity that Marlow uncovers during his voyage. One of the inescapable truths he runs up against concerns the basic limitations of the human species. While humans whitethorn arrest so utterly confident in our civilizations prowess, and sometimes even believe we can act like gods, the truth is that we are placid human and are bound by the basic human limitations that are inherent to our world and species. Although in a rush of confidence we humans may believe ourselves to be immortal, omnipotent, and omniscient, Marlow realizes the reality is that humans are limited by death, have weaknesses, and sometimes must contend with knowi ng less than the absolute truth. It is Marlows contending with human limitation and weakness that provides a major focus for Heart of Darkness. In the following passage, Marlow states his attitude towards the human limitations implied by the act of lying. In ordinance to reach an understanding of the significance of lies to Marlow it is important to note how he finds in lies a taint of deathYou know I hate, detest, and cant let a lie, not because I am straighter than the rest of us, but simply because it appals me. There is a taint of death, a flavour of mortality in lies,which is just what I hate and detest in the worldwhat I want to forget1 This quote shows how the inevitability of never knowing the absolute t... ...art of his own self-knowledge. only if he deliberately lies, submerging himself in the detested taint of death and mortality, for the greater protection of civilization and humanity from the subversiveness of naked truth. Marlow comes to the realization that he must live and sometimes bathe in the appalling waters of human limitations in order not to disrupt the whole human world.1 Joseph Conrad, Heart of Darkness, London, Penguin, 1995, 49-50.2 Conrad, 101.3 Conrad, 92.4 Conrad, 16.5 Conrad, 20.6 Conrad, 60.7 Conrad, 58.8 Conrad, 62.9 Conrad, 106.10 Conrad, 62-63.11 Conrad, 60.12 Conrad, 63.13 Conrad, 28.14 Conrad, 20.15 Conrad, 20.16 Conrad, 28.17 Conrad, 28.18 Conrad, 115.19 Conrad, 115.20 Conrad, 80.21 Conrad, 114.22 Conrad, 104.