who could not fault others because he lacked any restraint, Marlow realizes that he can not fault them because they do not know the truth he knows. He seems to be searching for a middle ground between Kurtz’ enlightened madness and the European’s egocentric stupidity, but the reader does not know exactly what Marlow feels. By looking back to Marlow’s voyage, the reader can see an act of affirmation for the middle of the two extremes. While aboard the Nellie, Marlow says, "I hate, detest, and can't bear a lie [. . .] simply because it appalls [sic] me. There is a taint of death, a flavor of mortality in lies..." (29). However, near the end of the novel, he acts in away that is diametrically opposite of his assertion. Marlow visits Kurtz' intended to speak of her beloved fianc. She desperately wants to know what his last words were. Marlow says, “The last word he pronounced was---your name" (75). He lies to her. He does something he previously claimed to detest. Marlow’s lie to the intended is an indication that he has found a middle ground between the two extremes of human nature (Stewart 369). Her question forced Marlow to look inside himself for the truth of his reality. He found an instance where a lie was better than the truth. Like Kurtz, Marlow judged the situation independently, but unlike Kurtz, he used reason and reality. He rejected Kurtz’ values, which were based on whims and void of any objective principles. Marlow successfully used both personal creeds and objective principles to decide what answer to give the desperate intended. Marlow found a middle ground and discovered his own truth. Marlow saw the suffering imposed by the imperialistic environment on the Congo and its natives and it had a tremendous effect on him. He underwent a drastic change in response to the hostile environment that was so different from his homeland. Kurtz showed him the flaws of European imperialistic ideals. M...
