King Lear Essays (500 words) - Fiction, Literature, Philosophy

King Lear Annonymous In the novel Heart Of Darkness, written by Joseph Conrad, the main character makes a decision to go against his convictions by telling a lie about Kurtz?s death to the intended. After careful analysis of the situation, one can see that Marlow is justified in lying to the intended because the lie enables Marlow live the rest of his life without having to bear the weight of truth on his shoulders. There was great meaning in the actual final words uttered by Kurtz. Kurtz had seen the true heart of man, and he knew of the evil. In his final words ?the horror, the horror?(68), Marlow comes to understand and to accept Kurtz?s view of life. The things that Kurtz had both done and seen in his life were in fact horrible, but was something that Marlow was able to look past. This is later clear by what is in his thoughts as he talks to the woman. He condemning mankind as a whole with this statement. . This is why Marlow keeps the words to himself. It allows him to preserve hope both in the intended, and more importantly in himself. Early in the story Marlow makes it clear that he detests lies. He says ?There is a taint of death, a flavor of mortality in lies-which is exactly what I hate and detest in the world(29).? This quote comes to mind at the end of the book when Marlow blatantly lies to the intended, but there is plenty evidence that Marlow?s has not changed, only his method of avoiding what he hates. He says that he hates the morality, and the taint of death associated with lies, but in this case these things are associated with the truth. Marlow tells of a vision that he has on his way into see the intended. He says that he saw Kurtz ?on the stretcher opening his mouth voraciously as if to devour all of the earth with all its mankind? and that he had seen Kurtz as ?a shadow insatiable of splendid appearances, of frightful realities, a shadow darker than the shadow of night,(72). This is a real and vivid description of his feelings for Kurtz. To Marlow, Kurtz was an evil force that represented horror of what people could easily become under the right circumstances. Marlow lied to the woman in an attempt to block this bitter truth from his mind. In this story, the main character is faced with with a decision. He had the option to either tell the woman the actual final words of her loved one, or to make up new ones which she would find soothing. Marlow choose the the latter of the two, but it was almost as though he was unable to tell her the truth. He claimed that the truth was much too dark, but that explanation could mean anything. The reason he did not tell her was because he was afraid of the truth, and was totally unable to deal with it, except in his subconscious mind. It is clear that he was justified in his actions, because he had only one real choice, and that was to lie.