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In the novella Heart of Darkness, Joseph Conrad criticizes the use of deception and lies as a path to conceal the true motives of the heart.
“When the sun rose there was a white fog, very warm and clammy, and more blinding than the night… At eight or nine, perhaps, it lifted as a shutter lifts. We had a glimpse of the towering multitude of trees, of the immense matted jungle, with the blazing little ball of the sun hanging over it—all perfectly still—and then the white shutter came down again, smoothly, as if sliding in greased grooves.”
"He inspired uneasiness. That was it! Uneasiness. Not a definite mistrust—just uneasiness—nothing more. You have no idea how effective such a … a … faculty can be.”
Analysis
The passage begins with a soothing and calm surrounding where there is a perfect nature scene. However, in the end it breaks with the “white shutter” coming down. This depicts the deception found within the Congo/jungle.
Because the manager may have sunk Marlow's boat on purpose, he showed uneasiness. Marlow was started to become disgusted with the Europeans because of the trickeries they used in order to get whatever they wanted despite how others suffered the consequences
“I would not have gone so far as to fight for Kurtz, but I went for him near enough to a lie. You know I hate, detest, and can’t bear a lie, not because I am straighter than the rest of use, but simply because it appalls me. There is a taint of death, a flavour of mortality in lies - which is exactly what I hate and detest in the world - what I want to forget. It makes me miserable and sick, like biting something rotten would do.”
“I've my own eyes to trust.' Light dawned upon me. My dear aunt's influential acquaintances were producing an unexpected effect upon that young man. I nearly burst into a laugh… 'When Mr. Kurtz,' I continued, severely, 'is General Manager, you won't have the opportunity.”
Analysis
Even though the character almost said a lie, he describes a lie as a horrid action by connecting it to “a flavour of mortality.” There is strong condemnation against the act of lying.
Conrad illustrates the high usage of lies in society in this passage. The reader can dissect this since the passage starts off with “I've my own eyes to trust” which shows that people only trust what they see and not what they hear through others since that other person could be prone to lie.