Early on in Joseph
Conrad’s Heart of Darkness the reader
learns of Marlow’s abhorrence of lies and how he tells a lie for Kurtz; “I went
for him near enough to a lie. You know I
hate, detest, and can’t bear a lie” (85).
The information learned about Marlow here (that he hates lies but he
tells one for Kurtz) is key to keep in mind as we continue to read the story
and wonder what this lie could possibly be.
The reader is left wondering what the lie is until after Kurtz dies and
his last words are “‘”The horror! The horror!”’” (144). The reader does not find out what this lie is
until the very end of the book when Marlow is conversing with Kurtz’s intended. She begs Marlow to tell her his dying words yet
he find himself struggling to tell her the truth; the idea that Kurtz’s
intended would find out how his job plagued him to his death and corrupted him was
unfathomable for Marlow and he did not want to be responsible for her final
memory of her fiancé being so awful.
This is where the lie comes into play; Marlow tells Kurtz’s intended that
“‘“The last words he pronounced was – your name”’” (154). The hyphen shows the hesitation he had before
lying to her about his last words but the lie itself highlights the humanity
left in Marlow. The fact that he lies to
make someone else happy as opposed to himself is the fundamental difference
between him and Kurtz; the Congo changes Kurtz to be a man that his intended
would not recognize, a man that cared only for himself. Marlow was able to see this in Kurtz and not
let it happen to himself; Marlow keeps his humanity and caring for others
because he witnesses what the Congo does to Kurtz and is able to not let it
happen to himself. This lie ends the
story with the resolution that you are in control of your fate. Marlow could have easily let the Congo strip
away his humanity and turn him into the next Kurtz, but he is able to hold on
to his human qualities and caring for others, showing that isolated power does
not inevitably corrupt.
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