, "[. . .] there wasn't a fragment of a brick anywhere in the station" (27). During his voyage Marlow not only observes misnaming, he realizes the importance of a name. While overhearing a conversation between the manager of the station and his uncle, he hears Mr. Kurtz being referred to as "that man" (34). Although Marlow has not met Kurtz yet, he has heard of his greatness. He now realizes that when these men call him "that man,” they strip him of his attributes. These men , by not referring to him by his name, deny Kurtz's accomplishments. This same idea of distorting a person's character by changing his name is displayed elsewhere. The Europeans apply the words “enemy” and “criminal” to the natives. However, they are no threat. The natives are confused and helpless victims being exploited by ignorant and greedy invaders. The injustice done by misrepresenting someone is catastrophic. After observing these names which bare no true meaning, as well as degrade a person's character, Marlow understands that he can not continue in his former ways of mindlessly giving random names to things for fear of diminishing the essence of the subject. Therefore, Marlow finds himself unable to label something for what it is. For example, while under attack, Marlow refers to arrows being shot in his direction as "sticks, little sticks,” and a spear protruding from a man as "a long cane" (45,47). When Marlow arrives at the inner station, he sees "slim posts [. . .] in a row" with their "ends ornamented with round carved balls" (52). In truth, these are poles with skulls on top of them. Marlow can not comprehend the reality of these things. Looking back on his voyage, Marlow realizes how mindless and meaningless the labels the Europeans use to identify things are. He wants to be able to identify properly everything he encountered on his voyage. Kurtz is the chief of the Inner Station. He is a "universal genius, a prodi...
