Heart of Darkness Parts 2 and 3

Summary - Marlow overhears a conversation between the manager and the clerk complaining about Kurtz's methods of getting ivory. He hears that Kurtz is ill and isn't fully recovered. Marlow sets out on a trip on his newly repaired steamer to see Kurtz with the manager, clerk, and several pilgrims. The river and climate are sometimes difficult. They all occasionally hear the sounds of the natives on the riverbanks. During their journey, the steamer finds a hut with a stack of firewood and a note that says, "Wood for you. Hurry up. Approach cautiosly," with what seems to be a code on the side. The manager infers that it is from the troublesome Russian trader. The steamer stops close to Kurtz's location despite Marlow's will to avoid dangerous waters. However, the next morning, a heavy fog falls upon them, but they continue to travel anyway. A group of natives attacks their ship with arrows, killing one of the pilgrims. Marlow displeases lots of his hungry pilgrims by throwing the potential meal into the water. Marlow doubts that Kurtz is still alive, and this disappoints him. The men finally arrive at the Inner Station where they run into the Russian trader. The man seems to be brain washed by Kurtz with his constant praise and his never ending defense of Kurtz's honor, even though Kurtz threatened his life at times. Marlow discovers that he was the author of the code, which were only notes written in Russian. The pilgrims arrive with Kurtz's sick body on a stretcher. He is obviously extremely ill, but the natives still respect him with great honor. The manager criticizes Kurtz's methods, but Marlow defends him, making him an outcast to the men of his ship. That night, Marlow is woken up by the sound of drums and native songs. He goes to find the noise and discovers Kurtz is missing from his cabin. Marlow finds Kurtz, and Kurtz threatens him. Marlow convinces him to leave and helps him back to the ship. The steamer left the next day with Kurtz on board. While on his death bed, Kurtz fascinates Marlow with his philosophies on life, death, and success. He gives Marlow the remainder of his papers for safekeeping. Kurtz soon dies with his last words being "The horror! The horror!" Marlow becomes ill and almost dies too, but returns to Brussels after he recovers. Journalists beg, plead, and threaten Marlow for Kurtz's last papers, but he refuses to give them away until he finds one of Kurtz's colleagues that he trusts with them. To receive full closure of Kurtz's death, Marlow decides to go visit his Intended. She is still in deep mourning over a year after his death, and Marlow gives her the sympathetic ear that she needs. She begged to hear his lasts words. Marlow couldn't dare tell the poor woman the truth, so he tells her his last words were her name, only to find that nothing bad resulted from the lie.

Response - I have to say, I hated this book until about the last 10 pages. Yes, section 2 was more interesting than the first, but it felt like the story didn't even reach it's climax towards the end.

I was fascinated at how much of an effect Kurtz had on people. He obviously was an amazingly gifted leader because he seemed to brainwash the ones he was closest too, especially the Russian trader.

I loved how in the end Marlow hated ordinary people because of the experiences he had gone through because I can relate to that in a sense. I've walked down the hallways and wanted to curse at people for their ignorance before. It is frustrating to see people care about the most insignificant things, when you know that there are so many more important things in the reality. So when I read this, I couldn't help but laugh at how alike we are even though Marlow's circumstances were much more severe than my own.

The Intended was who really broke my heart. She was truly in love with Kurtz and she saw no flaw in him. Part of me wanted Marlow to tell her the truth about his last words, so she could get the proper closure she needed, no matter how long it would take her to come to terms with it. However, I completely understand why he lied. In a way, it didn't really hurt anything. In fact, it helped the hurting woman, even though she would heal based on lies.

Even though Heart of Darkness wasn't my favorite by any means, I can appreciate why it's such a literary classic. Though some of the descriptions were dense and seemingly pointless, others were so beautifully written that it made me think about things in an entirely new light.