The Heart of Darkness: The Horror! In Heart of Darkness it is the white invaders for instance, who are, almost without exception, embodiments of blindness, selfishness, and cruelty; and even in the cognitive domain, where such positive phrases as "to enlighten," for instance, are conventionally opposed to negative ones such as "to be in the dark," the traditional expectations are reversed. In Kurtz's painting, as we have seen, "the effect of the torch light on the face was sinister" (Watt 332). Ian Watt, author of "Impressionism and Symbolism in Heart of Darkness,"discusses about the destruction set upon the Congo by Europeans. Thedestruction set upon the Congo by Europeans led to the cry of Kurtz's lastwords, "The horror! The horror!" The horror in Heart of Darkness has beencritiqued to represent different aspects of situations in the book. However,Kurtz's last words "The horror! The horror!" refer, to me, to magnify onlythree major aspects. The horror magnifies Kurtz not being able to restrainhimself, the colonizers' greed, and Europe's darkness.Kurtz comes to the Congo with noble intentions. He thought that eachivory station should stand like a beacon light, offering a better way of lifeto the natives. He was considered to be a "universal genius": he was an orator,writer, poet, musician, artist, politician, ivory producer, and chief agent ofthe ivory company's Inner Station. yet, he was also a "hollow man," a manwithout basic integrity or any sense of social responsibility. "Kurtz issuesthe feeble cry, 'The horror! The horror!' and the man of vision, of poetry, the'emissary of pity, and science, and progress' is gone. The jungle closes'round" (Labrasca 290). Kurtz being cut off from civilization reveals his darkside. Once he entered within his "heart of darkness" he was shielded from thelight. Kurtz turned into a thief, murderer, raider, persecutor, and to climaxall of his o...
