In the last section of the book, many events happen. Kurtz is sick on the ship, but then he escapes and goes back on the island. Then, Marlow chases after him and finally catches up to him. He manages to persuade Kurtz to get back on the ship by saying Kurtz might get lost. Back on the ship, Kurtz’s sickness starts to worsen and he starts to say random things that are thought to be from newspaper articles Kurtz wrote. From there, he gives Marlow some important papers and dies. His last words were “The horror! The horror!”. After he dies, they bury him on the shore. People start to bother Marlow about the papers because they want to see them and find out what is in them. However, Marlow feels like it is sort of his duty to not let them see. In the end of the story, Marlow goes and visits Kurtz’s Intended and gives her the letters. Even though it has been over a year since Kurtz died, she is still mourning. She wanted Marlow to tell her what Kurtz’s last words were but Marlow did not want her to know the truth. Instead of telling the truth, he said that the lasts word he spoke was her name. He does this to give her meaning and tells her what she needs to hear for protection of Kurtz. It helps control her happiness by hiding the truth.
Kurtz last words were vague and could mean several things. It could mean that he realizes what he has done and sees the impact of it and he is ashamed. He sees how what he has done is the start of more to come (people taking over the natives). On one of his last days he was looking out a window and he asked Marlow to close it. It seemed that he did not want to see what has happened to the Congo.
Also, Marlow starts to ponder about death and his destiny and purpose in life. He thinks that in your life you should gain knowledge about yourself. You should have something to say and say it. Something interesting that happened in this section is that Marlow started talking about grayness. It seemed he was relating death to gray. He is not using black and white like he had throughout the story.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
Katie-
Hola! Como estás? Yo soy muy bien. Pero, en ingles…I liked your possible explanation for what Kurtz’s last words could mean. I hadn’t thought about the action of having Marlow close the window to the outside and why it mattered. Kurtz probably had no desire to face the outside world anymore because he knew he was not going to make it. He could never return to the Darkness nor could he ever survive outside the darkness. Basically, he was up a creek without a paddle. He had no purpose to live anymore; his job was done. Also, I never saw where Marlow started talking about grayness. I’m not saying it didn’t happen, I just never consciously saw it. I found it interesting how the last paragraph of the book, where the unnamed narrator is speaking, equated that all paths eventually lead to darkness somewhere in the world. Good story.
Katie, I too will have to comment on your blog since you, alex, and I are the only ones who have posted. As Alex said it is interesting how you concluded the meaning of Kurtz's last words. I think you are right on with this assumption. Kurtz has lived this life of turmoil and absolute madness. As you said, previously in the novel Kurtz wanted the window to be shut. You would imagine that this is so because he has realized that he is part of the destruction created in the Congo. His time now is ending and he knows that he can not correct his mistakes. From his words, "the horror, the horror," we must assume that he sees his past and is ashamed of all he has done. Nice post Katie.
Post a Comment