Marianne Blando

Period 8 - AP Literature

Heart of Darkness Literary Analysis

Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness underscores the ​self​ through characters such as Kurtz,
Marlow, Kurtz’s Intended, and the Belgian Company. Kurtz relates to the first three lines of the song ​The
Ballad of Me and My Brain​ by The 1975, as well as ​Peeta Mellark​ in The Hunger Games Trilogy:
Mockingjay. The Belgian Company seems to be the ​President Snow​ of Heart of Darkness because of its
power and ability to manipulate other people. With all of these references, Heart of Darkness shows the
struggle in one’s psyche of having to conform to a greedy external source.

To begin with, Marlow is the character parallel to ​Katniss Everdeen​. His journey was the annual
Hunger Games​. Although he did not have to work for the company, he volunteered to do so as to go with
his Aunt’s suggestion. Also, he had always been fascinated with going out of his comfort zone. This can
be supported when Marlow mentioned, “But when one is young one must see things, gather experiences,
ideas; enlarge the mind” (66). He knew within him that he would be fit enough to travel. Outside one’s
comfort zone is quite unpredictable. There could be failures and successes, and it is hard to say which
direction one will be in. Because of Conrad’s use of the verb ​enlarge​, he seems to imply a growth mindset
through Marlow’s character. There is a take away, either through failure or success. In comparison to
Katniss Everdeen​, she volunteered to spare her sister. She was confident and aware of her hunting skills,
which she thought would benefit her the most. Although these characters think they are adept in what they
are passionate about, the restrictions brought upon by the Belgian Company and the capitol pushed them
further from their comfort zones.

The Belgian Company had been the root of Kurtz’s insanity and the change that Marlow had to
go through. Both of them were exposed to sights and experiences that were inhumane. When Marlow had
the sight of the slaves, Conrad’s powerful diction brought out a somber but somehow sympathetic mood.
Marlow said, “They were dying slowly —it was very clear. They were not enemies, they were not
criminals, they were nothing earthly now — nothing but black shadows of disease and starvation, lying
confusedly in the greenish bloom” (20). From that part on, it can be implied that it was a major event that
had changed Marlow. Conrad’s use of the words ​black​ and ​starvation​ showed the gravity of the situation
because if nouns had a cline as adjectives do, ​black​ would be the extreme of all shades, and ​starvation
would be the extreme of hunger. Marlow was stripped off from the wonder of seeing and going to
different places because he had to see how human beings are extremely mistreated by the company he is
working for.

As for Kurtz, he had been immersed in the lives of the natives. He had been immersed in the
wilderness. The wilderness could symbolize his awakening to the harsh reality that he is working for, and
there is a connotation of freshness when there is wilderness. It also played an important role in making
him into a person who he was when he and Marlow met. It was stated, “But the wilderness had found him
out early, and had taken on him a terrible vengeance for the fantastic invasion. I think it had whispered to
him things about himself which he did not know, things of which he had no conception till he took
counsel with this great solitude… It echoed loudly within him because he was hollow at the core” (72).
This line relates well to the lyrics, “I think I’ve gone mad. Isn’t it so sad? And what a shame you’ve lost a
brain that you never had” (The 1975, The Ballad of Me and My Brain). Although the “brain” is not the
literal brain, it seems to be represent the entire being of a person, considering that the brain is the ‘central
processing unit.’ Kurtz left England with the reputation of a noble, dignified ivory trader, but as he spent
most of his time in the Congo, he was shaped to be the worst of himself. He can be best described by the
line “the mind of man is capable of anything — because everything is in it, all the past as well as all
valour, rage — who can tell? — but truth — truth stripped of its cloak of time” (44). His health and
intellect were failing, until he came to his death. The emptiness of his core and his mind had gotten deep
that he was no longer able to be revived.

In relation to ​Peeta Mellark​, Kurtz seemed to have been hijacked by the mentality of the Belgian
Company. He did not have the same sympathy as Marlow had, and the company took this advantage. This
relates to the previous paragraphs that the Belgian Company had snatched Kurtz’s psyche. The hijack that
he experienced came off strong that it came to a point that he wanted to “exterminate all the brutes” (50)
— the ​brutes​ ​being the natives of the Congo. Similar with ​Peeta Mellark​, the Capitol took advantage of
his vulnerability. It was mentioned in the book ​The Hunger Games Trilogy: Mockingjay​ that "’So,
Katniss, Peeta's condition has come as a shock to all of us,’ says Plutarch. ‘We couldn't help but notice his
deterioration in the last two interviews. Obviously, he'd been abused, and we put his psychological state
down to that. Now we believe something more was going on. That the Capitol has been subjecting him to
a rather uncommon technique known as hijacking’” (Collins, 86). Considering these similarities, the
restrictions and greed of this external source caused these characters to deteriorate.
 With all of these, ​Heart of Darkness​, ​The Hunger Games Trilogy: Mockingjay​, and ​The Ballad of
Me and My Brain​ all relate to each other by emphasizing on the morbid impacts of having to go with
principles that do not agree with one’s morals. The external source is out of one’s control, but the way one
chooses to cope and handle the self is truly within reach. Although it is within reach, systems of support
would be the most effective.