Contrasting Marlow And Kurtz And The Theme Of Evil In "Heart Of Darkness"

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of an inner evil which has
emerged. Marlow, who defeats his evil, and gains self-knowledge, and Kurtz,
who is defeated by his darkness and falls prey to its wrath. In William
Golding's Lord of the Flies the author points out how easily people can be
over taken by the darkness, how the potential for good can be destroyed by
the evil, but ideally how good will triumph. Through an examination of
these two works we can see how the darkness within, given the correct
environment will surface. The circumstances which eventually cause the
appearance of the inner darkness in these two novels stems from the lack of
civility, the true test, or journey which every life contains, and finally
the product of evil which lies in all of us, either through acts of
commission or omission.

When people lack the aspect of civility in their lives they too will
lack the restraints and barriers it has on one's inner evil. Civility, in
essence, provides the basic structure for good. Through ...

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the ideal route,
was going to be crushed, and with it him: "We can't do this, the savages,
they would crush us" (Golding 54). It is quite obvious how the potential
evil in a group of young boys unavoidably arises due to the lack of
restraint and order. When the darkness surfaces Jack and his group of
hunters gain no self-knowledge, and therefore can not reprieve themselves
nor the evil which takes over.

A strong parallel can be drawn between the island in Lord of the
Flies and The Congo in The Heart of Darkness. The Congo in is similarly
used to represent the absence of restraint and order. The effect which is
used exemplifies a lack of civility, which in turn provides ...

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