The Darkness in Heart of Darkness :: Heart Darkness essays

The Darkness in Heart of Darkness      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   It can be said that a certain degree of darkness lies within every person, but this darkness will not surface unless given the correct environment.   The darkness, however, can emerge and ultimately destroy the person if not checked by reason.   If one's inner darkness does surface, the victim then is given the opportunity to reach a point in personal growth, and to gain a sense of self- knowledge from it.   That is, when one's darkness appears, one must learn from this experience how he or she can prevent similar results from occurring in the future.   It is ultimately through self-knowledge that we gain the power to defeat our inner darkness, and all of its elements.   Just as everyone has the potential for evil within themselves, we too have the potential for true goodness.   In many literary works the author attempts to exemplify the evil which lies within by showing many characters which have been, or are being overcome by their inner darkness.   In the novel Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad we see how Marlow's journey into his ultimate evil, into his inner self, can be a positive experience.   By contrasting Marlow with Kurtz, who represents the absolute evil, we can see the two products 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.         Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   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.