Joseph Conrad’s novella Heart of Darkness is not only a story about Marlow’s journey on the Congo， but it also records the process of Kurtz’s transformation from righteousness to darkness. The whole process presents a road of degradation to the reader. With Marlow’s journey from the outer station to the inner station， the image of Kurtz is becoming clearer， and the cruel truth of the inner station is gradually unveiled. Actually， Kurtz is not the great hero that people in Europe have thought of any more. On the contrary， he has degraded from a civilized man into a savage， even a devil.
Kurtz starts out as an “emissary of light，” but the light is too weak to disperse the darkness in the Congo. Before meeting Kurtz in person， Marlow only hears about him from other people. Kurtz is said to be a remarkable man， the best agent of the company， and a universal genius. “His mother was half-English， his father was half-French. All Europe contributed to the making of Kurtz”（Conrad 50）. Though Kurtz is a good representative of the Western civilization， he comes to realize that the civilized way is not the most effective and profitable way in the wilderness. This educated civilized man has written a “beautiful” piece of writing “The International Society for the Suppression of Savage Customs” which is eloquent. In the beginning of the report， he argues that the whites “must necessarily appear to savages in nature of supernatural beings—approach them with the might as of a deity” （51）. In fact， the purpose of the company is to take， not to give. Hence， Kurtz undergoes a great change which is inevitable.
According to the law of the jungle， only the fittest one will survive. Since the civilization becomes functionless in the wilderness， Kurtz turns to live in the savage way. Gradually， Kurtz replaces fair trade with violent robbery so that he can accumulate more ivory at the least cost. Kurtz has made expeditions for ivory， and he has “raided” the country in that “he had no goods to trade with”（56）. In the wilderness which is far away from the social norms and moral rules， Kurtz’s greed for ivory and desire for power swell so much that he loses control of himself in the end. Thus， “the appetite for more ivory had got the better of the less material aspirations”（58）， and Kurtz degrades himself into an evil savage.
Kurtz is overcome by illness both physically and mentally. Unable to move， Kurtz is confined in the shabby cabin. He appears to the native people as certain supernatural thing which is powerful in the savage culture. In spite of his illness， the natives still treat him as a god. Instead of the civilization， it’s the worship of the godly power that rules the natives. The civilization does not function in the wilderness at all. In the outer station， the railway track and the building， which represent the civilization， are all decaying. Nevertheless， the situation in the inner station is more terrible. There is no enclosure or fence of any kind， and the station almost fades into the background made by the jungle and the woods. The rails had “disappeared”. Once， Kurtz wanted to introduce civilization to the Congo， the wilderness. However， all those efforts are in vain. As in the heart of the African journey， the forest encloses all， and Kurtz is not excluded. Even Kurtz himself is getting off the original track of civilization while entering the inner station， into the heart of darkness. The desires suppressed at the bottom of Kurtz’s heart are evoked by the darkness of the wilderness. The wilderness “had taken him， loved him， embraced him， got into his veins， consumed his flesh， and sealed his soul to its own by the inconceivable ceremonies of some devilish initiation” （49）. As mentioned in his early report， one must appear in the nature of supernatural things in order to become the most powerful person in the wilderness. Kurtz has made a success， although it is based on the savageness instead of the civilization. To satisfy his desire for authority， Kurtz has descended to the darkness and savageness. His work has created a hell in the jungle， which destroys him at the same time. He has sunk to the lowest possible depths of evil. To some extent， the Congo can be regarded as Acheron， the black and deep river leading to the hell Hades. Skulls are piled up outside the house because of some inconceivable ceremonies， and they only show that “Mr. Kurtz lacked restraint in the gratification of his various lusts”（58）. Moreover， the natives came to prostrate themselves before Kurtz， and to show their admiration to him. Even in the end of his life， Kurtz is reluctant to leave Africa where he can call the shot， and to return to Europe where he will lose his privilege enjoyed in the wilderness and become a nobody. In order to win the natives’ admiration and get more ivories， he has built up his own kingdom in the wilderness. There， he is adored as a god， and his desires to power and ivory are all satisfied. However， he has paid extremely painful price. His humanity is devoured by the darkness of the wilderness. In the end， Kurtz realizes the truth， but it is too late to get the salvation， despite that his last words are “The horror！ The horror！ ” （71）
The tragedy of Kurtz is resulted from the war between the civilization and the savageness， a war ended with the triumph of savageness over civilization. The fire of civilization is almost extinguished by the flood of savageness. Tempted by the irresistible darkness， Kurtz loses his self-control， transgresses the edge of the civilization， and falls into the abyss of savageness and darkness.
【参考文献】
[1]Conrad， Joseph. Heart of Darkness. Ed. Robert Kimbrough. 2nd ed. New York： Norton， 1971.