Kurtz is an ivory trader, sent by a shadowy Belgian company into the heart of an unnamed place in Africa (generally regarded as the Congo Free State). With the help of his superior technology, Kurtz has turned himself into a charismatic demigod of all the tribes surrounding his station and gathered vast quantities of ivory in this way. As a result, his name is known throughout the region. Kurtz’s general manager is envious of Kurtz and plots his downfall. Kurtz’s mother was half English, his father was half French and thus “All Europe contributed to the making of Kurtz.” As the reader finds out at the end, Kurtz is a multitalented man—painter, musician, writer, promising politician. He starts out, years before the novel begins, as an imperialist in the best tradition of the “white man’s burden”. The reader is introduced to a painting of Kurtz’s, depicting a blindfolded woman bearing a torch against a nearly black background, and clearly symbolic of his former views. Kurtz’s painting suggests that he saw himself as a civilizing force, aiming to educate and enlighten the African continent, which was then often referred to as the “dark continent” due to its perceived unknowingness and perceived backwardness by European colonizers. Kurtz is also the author of a pamphlet regarding the civilization of the natives. The presence of his admirer, the Russian “Harlequin”, and what he reveals about Kurtz in his adulatory descriptions of him raises questions about Kurtz’s actual beliefs and the sincerity of his progressive views. However, over the course of his stay in Africa, Kurtz becomes corrupted. He takes his pamphlet and scribbles in, at the very end, the words “Exterminate all the brutes!” He induces the natives to worship him, setting up rituals and venerations worthy of a tyrant. By the time Marlow, the protagonist, sees Kurtz, he is ill with jungle fever and almost dead. Marlow seizes Kurtz and endeavours to take him back down the river in his steamboat. Kurtz dies on the boat with the last words, “The horror! The horror!” Kurtz ultimately was changed by the jungle. At first, he wanted to bring civilization to the natives, as his painting shows, but by the end it seems he wants to “exterminate” them.
First Appearance “The Heart of Darkness” in Blackwood’s Magazine (Feb-April 1899)
First Publisher Blackwood’s Magazine
Appearance List Literature: “The Heart of Darkness” in Blackwood’s Magazine (Feb-April 1899), A Conrad Argosy (1942), etc. Radio: “Heart of Darkness” by Orson Welles’ The Mercury Theatre on the Air (November 6, 1938), again by Welles for This Is My Best (March 13, 1945). Film: cancelled Orson Welles adaptation (1939). TV: Playhouse 90 (S3E7, 1958).
Description Kurtz is an ivory trader, sent by a shadowy Belgian company into the heart of an unnamed place in Africa (generally regarded as the Congo Free State). With the help of his superior technology, Kurtz has turned himself into a charismatic demigod of all the tribes surrounding his station and gathered vast quantities of ivory in this way. As a result, his name is known throughout the region. Kurtz’s general manager is envious of Kurtz and plots his downfall. Kurtz’s mother was half English, his father was half French and thus “All Europe contributed to the making of Kurtz.” As the reader finds out at the end, Kurtz is a multitalented man—painter, musician, writer, promising politician. He starts out, years before the novel begins, as an imperialist in the best tradition of the “white man’s burden”. The reader is introduced to a painting of Kurtz’s, depicting a blindfolded woman bearing a torch against a nearly black background, and clearly symbolic of his former views. Kurtz’s painting suggests that he saw himself as a civilizing force, aiming to educate and enlighten the African continent, which was then often referred to as the “dark continent” due to its perceived unknowingness and perceived backwardness by European colonizers. Kurtz is also the author of a pamphlet regarding the civilization of the natives. The presence of his admirer, the Russian “Harlequin”, and what he reveals about Kurtz in his adulatory descriptions of him raises questions about Kurtz’s actual beliefs and the sincerity of his progressive views. However, over the course of his stay in Africa, Kurtz becomes corrupted. He takes his pamphlet and scribbles in, at the very end, the words “Exterminate all the brutes!” He induces the natives to worship him, setting up rituals and venerations worthy of a tyrant. By the time Marlow, the protagonist, sees Kurtz, he is ill with jungle fever and almost dead. Marlow seizes Kurtz and endeavours to take him back down the river in his steamboat. Kurtz dies on the boat with the last words, “The horror! The horror!” Kurtz ultimately was changed by the jungle. At first, he wanted to bring civilization to the natives, as his painting shows, but by the end it seems he wants to “exterminate” them.
