FREE ESSAY ON HEART OF DARKNESS

HEART OF DARKNESS

The contrast between Kurtz's intended and black mistress
The Heart of Darkness is a story about a man telling a tale of an adventure that he had
on the Congo River. During this adventure he meets a guy named Kurtz. Kurtz was
congregating with a tribe of people who worshiped him and did what ever he told them to
do. Kurtz was a very special person in the way he influenced the feelings of two very
different, but somewhat similar women. Among this tribe of savages was a woman that was
said to have been Kurtz's mistress. Back home he had a woman who he was supposed to
marry. Kurtz's black mistress and intended were two very different people, from different
places, who shared the same devotion towards him even though there were many obstacles in
the way of their love.
Kurtz's intended was from the city and was well off with money. Kurtz's black mistress
was in a tribe of savages in Africa. She to was well off in her possessions. You could
tell she was well off or important in the things she wore and the way that Marlow
described the way she carried herself and the way the other members of the tribe watched
what ever she did. 
In the city the intended's family labeled Kurtz as being not good enough. Marlow says
that it was because, he was not rich enough or something. (p.249) This is ironic because
his black mistress' tribe or family treats him like a god. 
Both women felt the same undying devotion to Kurtz. When Kurtz was being taken away by
Marlow on his ship the tribe came running and hollering trying to get him back. The woman
even entered the water with her arms stretched towards the boat. Marlow blew the whistle
to scare away the tribe. This worked and even made the ones closest to the shore fall
down flat on their face as if they were dead. The whistle did nothing to the woman and
she remained in the water with her arms out. The whistle did not scare the woman like it
did the rest of the tribe because she was devoted to Kurtz and wanted to be with him. 
Kurtz intended shared the same devotion towards him as the black tribal woman did. Marlow
went to see her, a year after the death of Kurtz, and she was still in mourning. The
woman accepted Marlow into her home because he was a friend of Kurtz. She was glad he had
visited, so she would have someone to talk to about him. She talked of how she loved him
and of how he needed her. They talked of when he died and she got upset. She said, And I
was not with him.(p.251) She said she would have treasured everything he did and said.
Marlow tells her that he was with him till the end and that he heard his last words. She
wanted to know what they were and said, Repeat them...I want-I
want-something-something-to-to live with.(p.251) She says this so Marlow will tell her
his last words. He tells her that his last words were her name. This makes her feel good
and at the same time makes her weep in her hands. 
Kurtz played an important role in the lives of both women and had a tremendous impact on
the way they loved him. Both women were very different and at the same time very similar
in the way they loved Kurtz. Both went through very tramadic experiences to show their
undying love for him.