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Major Characters In The Novel
Heart Of Darkness
By
Joseph Conrad
Kurtz
His Parentage And Personality:
Kurtz’s mother was half English; his father was half French. All Europe contributed to his making. He was educated partly in England and partly in other countries. Marlow became his friend and admirer because he could talk to him in English. He was a great genius. Conrad has presented him as an efficient agent, a painter, a journalist, a musician, a great conversationalist, and a great man who could win over the hearts of the natives. The international society for the suppression of savage customs heads and trusted him with the making of a report, for its future guidance. He had written a report, which Marlow had read. It was eloquent and a beautiful piece of writing. ‘ there were no practical hints to interrupt the magic current of phrases, unless a kind of note at the foot of the last page, scrawled evidently much later, in an unsteady hand, may be regarded as the exposition of a method.’ the footnote ran, ‘ exterminate all the brutes.’
When Marlow enquired from the Russian if he had ever talked to Kurtz, the Russian replied that one did not talk to him, one listened to him. He had the power to charm people .whatever he was, he was not common. In the Russian, he had one devoted friend at least, who nursed him through two illnesses. Kurtz wandered alone, far in the depths of the forest. He had discovered lots of villages; a lake, too. Most of his expeditions were for ivory. He was hungry for ivory; ivory was a fashion with him. He came to the natives ‘ with thunder and lightning, you know - and the had never seen anything like it - and very terrible.’
He did not want to leave that part of the country. Quite often he was persuaded by the Russian to leave while there was time; he would say yes; they would remain, and would go off on another I ivory hunt. His appetite for more ivory had got the better of the less material aspirations.
Marlow conveys his first impressions about the personality of Kurtz in the words --- ‘ and there it was, black, dried, sunken, with closed eyelids, -- a head that seemed to sleep at the top of that pole, and, with the shrunken dry lips showing a narrow white line of the teeth, was smiling,too, smiling continuously at some endless and jocose dream of that eternal slumber.’
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