The Devil Inside Him

p. 121-122

"'[Kurtz] had taken a seat amongst the devils of the land-
I mean literally.  You can't understand.  How could you?
- with solid pavement under your feet, surrounded by
kind neighbours ready to cheer you or to fall on you,
stepping delicately between the butcher and the police-
man, in the holy terror of scandal and gallows and luna-
tic asylums- how can you imagine what particular region
of the first ages a man's untrammelled feet may take
him into by the way of solitude- utter solitude without
a policeman- by the way of silence- utter silence, where
no warning voice of a kind neighbour can be heard
whispering of public opinion?  These little things make all
back upon your own innate strength, upon your own
capacity for faithfulness.  Of course you may be too much
of a fool to go wrong- too dull even to know you are
being assaulted by the powers of darkness.  I take it, no
fool ever made a bargain for his soul with the devil; the
fool is too much of a fool, or the devil too much of a
devil- I don't know which. Or you may be such a thun-
deringly exalted creature as to be altogether deaf and
blind to anything but heavenly sights and sounds.  Then
the earth for you is only a standing place- and whether
to be like this is you loss or your gain I won't pretend
to say.  But most of us are neither one nor the other.
The earth for us is a place to live in, where we must put
up with sights, with sounds, with smells, too, by Jove!-
breathe dead hippo, so to speak, and not be contami-
nated.  And there, don't you see? Your strength comes
in, the faith in your ability for the digging of unostenta-
tious holes to bury the stuff in- you power of devotion,
not to yourself, but to an obscure, back-breaking business.
And that's difficult enough.  Mind, I am not trying to
excuse or even explain- I am trying to account to my-
self for- for- Mr. Kurtz- for the shade of Mr. Kurtz."


Joseph Conrad explores many themes throughout Heart of Darkness, one of which being the influence of environment on a person's mental well-being.  If a person's surroundings are too hostile, unfamiliar, and isolating, the person may develop a mindset outside of who they were in civilization. The trick is to not allow one's surroundings to affect one's emotional core, but Kurtz falls prey to the dangers of the deep interior.  This passage brings us through Marlow's thought process explaining how Kurtz became so far from what people thought of him.

In this passage, Marlow explains certain factors contributing to Kurtz's apparent insanity.  He concludes that Kurtz was not once mad, but living in the African jungle for so long made him the way he is when Marlow met him.  While most people, Marlow himself included, can derive strength from "the faith in your ability for the diffing of unostentatious holes to bury the stuff in" (line 29), or be able to internalize the negative stimuli's affects, Kurtz is wholly persuaded by the influence of devilish aspects.  Since he was so vulnerable, Kurtz "had taken a seat amongst the devils of the land" (line 1), in the sense of becoming inhuman in body and spirit.  He no longer felt compassion or positive human emotions; instead, he felt only greed and lust.  These two motivators consumed all that he became, greedy for more ivory and lusting for power.  Without the support of "kind neighbours" (line 4), Kurtz devolved into an uncivilized person in the view of those still in touch with the Western world.  Without people nearby to help, only "utter solitude" (line 9) and "silence" (line 10), Kurtz had only his "innate strength" (line 13).  While it first appeared Kurtz was this great innovator and leader, he was only as good as the help afforded to him.  Once the other people went away, Kurtz became unable to support a healthy mindset on his own.  He was not enough of a "fool" to make "a bargain for his soul with the devil" (line17), as he was bright enough "to know [he was] being assaulted by the powers of darkness" (line 15).  Even though this sounds like a good thing, being smart enough to know what's happening, it actually portrays an unhealthy relationship between mind and body.

Conrad uses descriptive and repetitive language to contrast Kurtz's environments.  The repeated mention of a "policeman" (line 5) contrasts the lack of restraint shown in the jungle of Africa.  Policemen are in place to enforce the law, and in a land without law enforcement or even laws, some people may become overwhelmed by the lack of authority, as Kurtz exemplifies.  Also, including "lunatic asylums" (line 6) in the list of common places foreshadows Kurtz's apparent need for one.  While a convention of Western culture, one does not usually first think of these institutions as cornerstones of our society.  However, in light of the subjects of this story, the choice of descriptors makes a lot of sense.  Conrad uses these descriptors of urban life to show just how starkly the environment in which Kurtz went crazy in differs from that of his home. 

While Heart of Darkness was written over a century ago,  there are many parallels between what's written and what's seen today.  However, Conrad thought that the audience would be limited to upper class straight white males, so he directed the contrast between Kurtz's lifestyle and what he thought the audience's looked like.  This limits the ability for everyone to connect to this book, as a wider audience may not have the same experiences as Conrad thought.  Even though these limitations impede the universality of Heart of Darkness, the point is still made that the two environments are drastically different, and the nurture of Kurtz in Africa made him become such a horrible, twisted person.  Everyone may be able to become one with the devils, but solely Kurtz fully embraces becoming one himself.