aveling back to the earliest beginnings of the worldprehistoric earth," (59) reflects the Europeans inclination to regard the natives as primitive. Marlow's notion of traveling back in time is later reinforced by the arrows and spears that are used in the attack on his ship, "Sticks, little sticks, were flying aboutArrows by Jove, we were being shot at," (79). Marlow is distraught by the natives he sees along the river bank, "and the men were--No, they were not inhuman. Well, you know, that was the worst of it-this suspicion of their not being inhuman," (62). Marlow realizes though that the natives are no different from an uneducated and ignorant European. This realization is significant to the personal development of Charlie Marlow and explains his treatment to the natives later in the novella. Further insight to the relationship between Kurtz and the Russian trader is offered in section three. Although the Russian trader is nave, he came to Africa in search of the same thing as Marlow; something experimental. They both aligned themselves with Kurtz. For Marlow, Kurtz represented the choice of outright exploitation over the hypocritical justifications of cruelty. "'Nevertheless, I think Mr. Kurtz is a remarkable man," (112) Marlow is willing to put aside the reality of Kurtz's cruel and selfish behavior, in order to satisfy the flawless image of Kurtz he can not let go of. "I was within a hair's-breadth of the last opportunity for pronouncement, and I found with humiliation, I would have nothing to sayKurtz was remarkable, he had something to say. And he said it," (127-128). Marlow's idea of having nothing to say was not reflective of the substance lacking in his life, but rather of his realization that anything he might have to say before dying would be ambiguous. Although Kurtz's words were vague, Marlow was fascinated with Kurtz's last words, "The horror! The horror," (126) because Kurtz had the courage to judge his...
