gy, an emissary of pity science and progress" (28). Kurtz teaches Marlow how significant labels are: The man presented himself as a voice[. . .] of all his gifts, the one that stood out preeminently, that carried with it a sense of real presence, was his ability to talk, his words---the gift of expression, the bewildering, the illuminating [. . .]. (48) Kurtz was "[. . .] little more than a voice" (48), but there was no one with a voice like his. He could speak with remarkable eloquence, he could write with such precision, and he could name with true meaning. "You don't talk with that man [Kurtz]--- you listen to him” (53). Marlow has heard enough about Kurtz to know that he can give Marlow insight into the nature of the world. Indeed, Kurtz gives Marlow everything he is looking for, but in an unexpected way. Kurtz teaches Marlow the lesson with his last words: "The horror! The horror!” (68). These words are Kurtz's judgment on his own life. He is barbarous, unscrupulous, and possibly even evil. However, he has evaluated his life and pronounced judgment. Marlow sees Kurtz "open his mouth wide---it gave him a weirdly voracious aspect, as though he wanted to swallow all the air, all the earth, all the men before him..." (59). Kurtz takes everything he has done in his life into himself and pronounces a judgement upon it. "He had summed up--- he had judged [. . .] the horror!” (68). Kurtz's last words are his way of teaching Marlow the essence of a name. A name is not merely a label. It is one man's own judgment of an isolated event. However, unlike the Europeans who judge based on principles they acquired through social conditioning, Kurtz teaches Marlow to look inside himself and judge based on his own subjective creeds. While Marlow is recounting the story, he says to his comrades: He must meet that truth with his own true stuff---with his own inborn strength. Principles? Principles won't do. Acquisitions, clothes, pret...
