Heart of Darkness Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Heart of Darkness - Essay Example In Joseph Conrad’s novel Heart of Darkness, the concept of imperialism and the effects it has on all who are involved with it are fully explored. It is important to understand this in order to appreciate the closing dialogue of the story, when Marlowe discusses Kurtz’s death with Kurtz’s once Intended. Looking at this final dialogue with this tortured woman reveals a great deal of information about the story itself, serving to help characterize not only the speaker, Marlow, but the man spoken of as well. Although the woman is only an incidental character in the novel, her words further help to bring depth to both of these characters that might not have been understood previously as the two men are revealed through her relationship to them. Through various stylistic mechanisms, this dialogue also serves to explain the significance of Marlow’s journey into Africa and presents the reader with a great deal of helpful hints as to how to interpret the story just read. Even with just a basic understanding of the plot of the story just told, this small two-page interaction between Marlow and Kurtz’s Intended brings the story into sharp focus, piercingly defining the character of Marlow himself while also shedding light on the true nature of Kurtz through the use of various stylistic tools and the employment of dramatic irony when set against the backdrop of the previous pages.