Part III Regarding KURTZ

[Yvonne Sturgeon]

Marlow observes: "All Europe contributed to the making of Kurtz". In what ways may Kurtz be regarded as representative of European attitudes and of European colonizing efforts? What self-contradictory aspects of so-called Western civilization does Conrad stress in his story?

[samanthajones]

Kurtz, although not directly shown, is a very greedy person that his sole desire was to get ivory and make money. He is representative of European attitudes in that he, along with the rest of the people in Europe, is greedy. The purpose of colonizing is to make money and Kurtz does exactly that. A self-contradictory aspect that Conrad stresses of this so-called Western civilization is that greed may be their driving force in all of their westernization, but Kurtz contradicts this in that he grew a bond with these natives. Kurtz is greedy to gain as much wealth as he can, but contradicts the typical European style by appreciating and bonding with the natives that live in the darkness.

[Justin H P.2]

Kurtz is representative of European attitudes and colonizing efforts because he is the leader. Driven by money, he is able to have his voice heard by everyone around him. The idea of having voice is important in this novel, because it means that people will follow and listen to whoever has that voice, regardless of what is said. Kurtz had a reputation that was glorified and not exactly true. In a way, this directly parallels the reason why they are in Africa. Colonizing Africa has the appearance of doing good by civilizing the savage natives, but in reality the only reason they are there is to extract as much money as possible and have no care for the people while doing it. The European attitude that they share is a greedy and cruel one. All of them feel that their sole purpose of being there is to get ivory and make money. The idea of the white man’s burden is self-contradictory in Conrad’s novel. They see the white man as one who goes to colonize in order to being civilization and humanity to the area, but in reality they are going there for profit an destroying the people there.

[paigefauntleroy]

Kurtz can be regarded as a representative of European attitudes due to the fact that he is greedy and money thirsty like them. His whole life is dedicated to gaining more ivory which results in gaining more money. Although Kurtz wanted to colonize Africa to make money and raise his business, he became close with the natives which is the self-contradictory aspect of so-called Western civilization. Kurtz never intended to become close with the naives, but he does because they both share the same darkness. This is the difference between the European attitudes and colonizing efforts and Kurtz.

[SaifMalley]

Kurtz could be regarded as a representative of European attitudes and of European colonizing efforts to a great extent because Kurtz represents European imperialism. In a sense he represents all of Europe as evidenced by his mixed background from a variety of European nations. Kurtz's cruelty also represents European imperialism's footprint in Africa. Kurtz's actions directly represent European imperialism and his doom at the end of the novel foreshadows the impending failure of colonization efforts in Africa. Self-contradictory aspects of Western civilization that Conrad stresses in Heart of Darkness include: the fact that those said to bring light really bring darkness and that the civilized Europeans turn to savages.

[heyitsmoog]

This quote from Marlow is due to the fact Kurtz's mother is 1/2 English & his father is 1/2 French.
Kurtz is an ivory trader who was sent to Africa by a shady European company. Originally, as shown by his painting, Kurtz is concerned with bringing 'light' to Africa - light being civilization. He soon abandons the idea of that when he forms a bond with the native people.
Kurtz uses force to get the most Ivory than any other station. Like the other Europeans involved in the Company, Kurtz is greedy, only caring about making money and obtaining mass amount of ivory.
While he once had good intentions, Kurtz dies believing the Company should "Exterminate all the brutes!" His death is foreshadowing for how colonization efforts in Africa will fail.

[jrsantoro]

Kurtz may be regarded as representative of European attitudes and of European colonizing efforts because he is strongly influenced by greed and wealth. Kurtz is known for making the company more money through ivory than all of the other working people in Africa. At multiple points in the story Kurtz gives off cues showing his great obsession and need for ivory and thus money. Just as Kurtz has an obsession for Ivory Europe has an obsession for wealth which is why they are in Africa in the first place. Self-contradictory aspects of so called Western civilization that Conrad stresses in his story is the idea that colonizing Africa is helping Africa. The idea of The white mans burden; the westerners are colonizing Africa with the idea that they are civilizing it when in fact they are only causing harm and making Africa worse by bringing harm and fear to the natives.

[morgan_lippnik]

Kurtz was a character that achieved greatness for the Europeans in the heart of Africa, though he did succeed using unethical methods that are questionable when compared to morals of the time. Kurtz is regarded as a representative of European attitudes based on the way that he easily influences native tribes and uses this to his advantage. The impact he has on the savages themselves benefits him and his people without their knowledge of that. He also represents European colonizing efforts by taking possession of the land that he deems inhabitable. And because of this, we see that Kurtz has the ability to take whatever it is that will help him triumph in any of his beliefs. Conrad stresses that the European people in the story think that they're doing the right thing by trying to civilize the natives, but it results in the opposite, leading to no resolution for the country or its people.

[Jillianbeese]

Kurtz portrays European attitudes in various events in Part III. Europeans are described as power thirsty, self-driven, and cowardly, which Kurtz represents all of these attitudes. As Marlow listens to the diverse descriptions of Kurtz, one belief is constant ivory controlling the minds of men which Kurtz seems to repeat for himself and Europe. Towards the end of part III, Kurtz reflects upon his progress in Africa and avoids his retribution by dying, displaying his cowardice of facing his guilt. In addition of Kurtz representing European attitudes, he also represents European colonizing efforts. The Colonization efforts in Africa are ironic of actual attempts of colonizing. Kurtz is the irony of colonizing by how he uses the natives for his own benefits instead of the natives. Kurtz as well as Europeans have the advantage of being isolated away from Europe which leaves leverage for anything to happen including the lack of colonization. Conrad stresses that the western civilization is supposed to be full of sophistication, self contradicting itself, for example the lack of humanity for the natives and the Europeans described to have a well kept wardrobe are ignorant to reality.

[Joannemachin]

Kurtz represents the typical European attitude toward the African Natives, being that he is both half english and half french. Throughout the novella, right up until the end, Kurtz makes his decisions based on self-interest and what he would gain personally, rather than thinking about the effects it would have on the Natives. The Natives see Kurtz as some sort of white, powerful ‘God’. The influence that Kurtz has over the natives, suggests that his control over them is extreme, and that they would do anything for him. As well as his power, Kurtz’ obsessive and greedy nature, with regard to ‘his’ ivory trade, suggests that Europeans only went to Africa not to help the Natives, but only to use their resources and disregard the whole idea of making Africa a better, more civilised place. Europeans first went to Africa, in order to help Africa become a civilised nation. This, however, was not the case; the Europeans used Africa's essential resources, and eventually brought the land to complete darkness because of the corruption of the ivory trade, and the savagery that was still within which they failed to remove.*

[Hoyt Crance]

During the colonization of Africa, many people had different views regarding the conquest of Africa and many people had different specific reasons for controlling the resources in Africa. In Kurtz's case, he represents the idea that the Europeans were far superior compared to the Africans and that the Europeans needed to help stimulate economic growth and westernization of society in the different African nations. Although Kurtz originally viewed the conquest of Africa in this way, as his life and journey within Africa progressed, it became more and more relevant that Kurtz's motives were driven by economic wants and greed. Furthermore, Kurtz believed it was necessary to colonize more and more villages within the heart of darkness in order to fulfill the economic greed of himself and the greed of European society as a whole. Conrad presents contradictions in the story among the Europeans by describing how many of the managers lacked a true motive to be in Africa. Also, presents these contradictions when he depicts Kurtz in the story. In the beginning, Kurtz is described as an a-typical colonist and workman who views Africa as a place as economic success. However, when Marlow meets Kurtz for the first time, Kurtz's appearance represents an appearance of a lost or dying African rather than a strong, successful European.

[Ryan Andrews]

Kurtz is representative of the European colonizing efforts in that he is in Africa originally to obtain ivory. He is clearly power hungry by how he acts like a God to the native people and imposes his will over them. Contradictory to Western Civilization though, Kurtz's journey to hunt for Ivory does not end up being part of a grand imperialistic plan for all of Europe but more a self indulging journey toward the darkest aspects of mankind. He develops an obsession for Ivory and allows himself to be consumed by his own lustful desires. He becomes less and less civilized to the point where all he wants is Ivory. The greatest difference between Kurtz's version of imperialism and the European colonizing efforts is that Kurtz found himself in a situation with no boundaries to keep his inner demons contained, whereas in Europe, society limits greed.

[anastasiagrant]

Kurtz may be regarded as representative of European attitudes and colonizing efforts in his essential robbing of the natives. As the most profitable agent, he essentially did what imperialism meant. He took the ivory with little or none profit for the natives, as the Company grew rich helping its country prosper.
The self-contradictory aspects of civilization include Kurtz becoming essentially one of the savages, adopting their customs and being essentially worshiped by them. As one of the Westerners, Kurtz wasn’t supposed to become one of the “savages.” Also, the whites are supposed to act rather civilized yet they are often purposeless and even go crazy like Marlow’s predecessor in the jungle and his companion who wants men killed for simply a scraped nose.

[rileygerdau]

There are many ways in which Kurts represents the Europeans attitudes and colonizing efforts. Kurtz is what all of the natives and Europeans think of when they think of how to be wealthy and admired. Kurtz is all-around a very greedy person and is top priority is to collect ivory and to make money. The purpose of colonizing Africa is to do good by civilizing the natives but in reality the only reason Kurtz is in Africa is to make money and he actually doesn't care for the natives well-being whatsoever. A self-contradictory aspect of so-called Western civilization that Conrad uses in his story is that greed may be the primary reason for Kurtz in his westernization, but Kurtz actually grew a bond with the natives.

[WillDo]

Kurtz represents the Europeans attitudes and their efforts to colonize in many ways. One of the ways is Kurtz's desire to gain power in Africa. His desire represents how one of the reasons for European colonization and expansion is for power. Also, he represents how Europeans colonized in places for raw materials, like ivory. Lastly, greed is shown when Kurtz covets for power and money from finding ivory, and this displays the European attitudes as they colonize for money. A self=contradictory aspect of western civilization is that they are savages and bring despair to other countries in reality, opposite of their own beliefs that they are advanced, civilized and that they are trying to turn savages into civilized people.

[sdebbas]

Kurtz may be regarded as representative of European attitudes because he is greedy. It is mentioned in the story that Kurtz greedy for ivory and even always looking for an audience. The self-contradictory aspects of so-called Western civilization that Conrad stresses in his story is that the greed is a dark sin yet Kurtz turns out to be close friends with the natives who live in the dark.

[Ethan Hanson]

Kurtz could represent the Europeans lifestyle, furthermore the Europeans have been looking for power in order to reach the top. Kurtz represents a godlike figure in Africa, he took advantage of the Europeans and used them to achieve his power. The Europeans colonization is hungry for power and this has influenced Kurtz. Also, the fight for ivory can show greed and power within Kurtz and Europeans. They both express an attitude that is greedy and hungry for power. A self contradictory aspect of western civilization is that they are called "savages" and how the white man is supposed to act civilized and be well mannered, but Kurtz grew a relationship with the natives and could possibly become a "savage" of himself at the end.

[annap]

Kurtz may be regarded as representative of European attitudes and European colonizing efforts by the way he uses the natives and takes the ivory for money. Even though Kurtz is nice and respectful of the natives, he harvests the ivory for money. Kurtz's main goal and motive is to collect as much money as he possibly can and to accumulate all the ivory that he can. Kurtz still views the natives as savages, even though he respects them and doesn't want to leave the Congo. Conrad stresses the self-contradictory aspects of the racism of the Western civilization. Even though he talks about the racism constantly throughout the book, he himself is racist by the way he portrays all of the characters.

[MorganDuss]

Kurtz is basically an indirect representation of the Europeans, because he is greedy and wealth-driven. Throughout the entire book, he has a strong desire to obtain all the ivory he can. This is similar to how the Europeans only care about working to make money. Overall, Kurtz is obsessed with gaining as much wealth as he can, but this contradicts the aspects of Western civilization by the fact that the Europeans end up turning into savages and portray darkness.

[kristinyinn]

Because Kurtz is a little bit of every European (by blood), this makes him a representation of European imperialism as a whole. Kurtz himself got the characteristics for imperialism. He is greedy, blinded by wealth, and desires power. Kurtz has the power to influence others, to change the beliefs of people, and make others follow his orders. Conrad stress the self-contradictory aspects of Western civilization through the comparisons of white and black. He often confuses good and bad with white and black to raise the questions: which side is good and which side is bad?

[Sydney Davis]

Kurtz can be regarded as a representative of European attitudes and of European colonizing efforts by his amount of how important of a person he is. He is an influential leader but at the same time is driven by greed and money and in this novel, the need for ivory. Self-contradictory aspects of so-called Western civilization that is stressed in this story is Kurtz westernization. Kurtz eventually becomes friendly with the Natives.

[Collin Stark]

Kurtz is the perfect representative of the European colonizing countries. At first glance Kurtz is constantly praised and idolized, which is how Europe views the colonizing efforts in Africa. When further investigated you realize how Kurtz is corrupt and greedy just like the countries using Africa for its own personal gains. Conrad stresses how western culture sees themselves as civilized and moral yet the descriptions of how the Africans are treated show the gruesome and immoral.

[spencercornman]

Kurtz is shown as a hero and the opposite of a European imperialist to the natives in the story. In reality, Kurtz completely represents a European imperialist and demonstrates the conventions of desiring wealth and exploiting the natives in order to obtain that wealth. Kurtz cared deeply about the ivory which was what Europe cared deeply about, disregarding the natives. Kurtz death at the end of the book highlights the inevitable death of European imperialism in the future. Kurtz was a European and Marlow believed it to be true in the story.

[Patrick M]

Kurtz was very representative in the ideals of European culture. He went to Africa to make money and stopped at nothing until he succeeded. He made himself into a larger than life figure to the natives then abused this power in using them to gain more ivory and wealth. This is extremely contradictory to the typical ideals that Western culture claims to have. People in Europe believed they were benefiting the natives, showing them the true god to worship, and educating them in the proper ways to do things. In actuality they were just destroying the natives' way of life and uprooting them for their own self-centered gains.

[corinnetaylor]

Marlow's observation of Kurtz was literal and figurative in my opinion. Literal because it said that his mother was from European decent. More in depth with figurative, Kurtz does act and sound like a European in what he says and does. He's greedy about his skill level and the knowledge that he has gained. I also think that he has been brainwashed by the European ways and has seen that to get to the top, you have to be ruthless, which he is. I do think that it is quite ironic that Kurtz tries to play for both sides of the Europeans and the natives and until his death he pretty much had equal support.

[Chris N.]

Kurtz is a representative of European attitudes in Africa because he has many of the same ideals as them. He is motivated by the fact that there is a wealth like ivory to be extracted from Africa and the simplicity of collecting it being someone that has so much power and great influence over the African natives. Much like the Europeans occupied in Africa Kurtz is only interested in his own self-imporvement and gain in everything he does with the natives.The self-contradictory aspect of this so-called western civilization that Conrad shows is that while Kurtz is establishing this illusion that he is improving Africa making them more civilized he is actually making Africa even worse, enslaving its people, gaining power over the natives, and therefore making them even more like savages than they were before and having an evil view of the Europeans.

[elle]

Kurtz can be regarded as a representative of European attitudes and colonizing efforts because he is seen as being of a higher power to the African people. The natives do view the Europeans as almost God-like, and, this is clearly reflected based upon how they view and treat Kurtz. He does have an arrogance to him and a sense of entitlement, like the European colonizing body as a whole. The Russian was talking about Kurtz to Marlow, saying,"Well, I had a small lot of ivory the chief of that village near my house gave me. You see I used to shoot game for them. Well, he wanted it, and wouldn't hear reason. He declared he would shoot me unless I gave him the ivory and then cleared out of the country, because he could do so, and had a fancy for it, and there was nothing on earth to prevent him from killing whom he jolly well pleased. And it was true, too. I gave him the ivory"(100-101). This quote really displays not only Kurtz's mentality, but also the overall mentality of the European colonizers towards Africa and the natives. They want what they want, and, just like Kurtz said, nothing will prevent them from doing that. Towards the end of the story, when Kurtz is dying, he seems to come to a realization that what has been going on this whole time has been terribly wrong. He, unlike the majority of the colonizers, comes to the conclusion that the way that Africa and the african people are being exploited is not right. He is contradicting himself, because earlier, he had the mentality that he wanted what he wanted and was going to get it. Later, he realized that maybe it just doesn't work that way.

[kazhir]

Kurtz is regarded as representative of European attitudes and colonizing efforts because he came into the Congo and created the Company and is essentially ruling the land there now. The European powers are well known for being imperialistic nations and Kurtz has done just as a European nation would have; he came in, colonized, and used the land and resources to create a profit for himself and his people. Conrad stresses that enlightenment is contradicted by Kurtz in this story, because instead of expanding and spreading knowledge and helping others, he expanded and ruined a civilization of Natives.

[lrempalski]

Kurtz can be regarded as a representative of European attitudes and of European colonizing efforts because like many of the European colonists he is greedy and hungry for power. Kurtz travels to Africa with the intention of making money and eventually gaining more ivory becomes the only thing that is important to him. In Kurtz's case he also is greedy for power and attention. Kurtz befriends the native people enough so that they practically worship him like a god. This is could be self-contradictory to other aspects of Western civilization because not all people in western civilization are as greedy as Kurtz or go the extremes that he did.

[cboehm1]

Marlow describes Kurtz as being “hollow” many times throughout the story which is an excellent parallel to the European attitude at that time. Many Europeans were ignorant to the reality of horror and brutality that was present in colonized Africa at that time, and embraced the ‘ignorance is bliss” attitude. They merely lived their own lives and whatever was happening in Africa was not their problem. Of those who were actually aware of the brutality and rampant racism, very few saw it as anything outside of what was considered the “norm” at the time. That is where the term “hollow” comes into play. The Europeans had to portray the natives as animals, rather than actual people in order to not feel compassion or disgust for what they were doing to the innocent people. Human inclination is to feel compassion for those experiencing pain or suffering. The Europeans had to ignore their conscience and remain hollow in order to not be as affected by their experiences. The self contradictory aspects of so-called Western civilization that Conrad stresses in his story that stood out as a reader was his portrayal of the Westerners keeping up their modern appearances and treating each other with respect, and then treating the natives like animals; viewing them as entirely non-human entities.

[ZackF]

Kurtz is a very greedy ivory colonizer who is representative of the europeans in the fact that all he cares about is money and will do whatever it takes to obtain it. Kurtz is a classic manipulator and Conrad stresses the self-contradictory aspect as he gains a bond with some of the natives in an attempt to better his colonization effort.

[Greeneyk]

Kurtz can be representative of European's attitudes and Europe's colonizing efforts in that he embodies European imperialism. European countries claim to want to help educate the local natives; however, their real goal is to make as much profit as possible. Kurtz reflects European goals in trying to be profitable in that he is extremely greed. He already brings in the most ivory, but that isn't enough for him. A good example of his greed is when the Russian says, "he wanted to shoot me, too, one day... I had a small lot of ivory the chief of that village near my house gave me... He declared he would shoot me unless I gave him the ivory," (36). Kurtz didn't value the Russian's life. He valued the ivory. The self-contradictory aspects of Western civilization that Conrad stresses is the reality of the roles played by the Europeans and natives. The Europeans that are claiming to be helping the natives are actually putting them in a worse situation than before their land became inhabited by Europeans. In addition, the actions of the Europeans depict them as savages, not the natives.

[Benkashanchi]

Kurtz could be regarded as representative of European attitudes and of European colonizing efforts because of his greed and lack of regard of the well-being of the natives. It is no secret that the entire European colonization effort is one that stems from solely greed, and Kurtz actions, such as when he threated to shoot the Russian over a simple stash of ivory, epitomize the entire colonization effort. They do not care for the natives and are even willing to hang faces by a stick. Conrad stresses the so called "civil" aspect of western civilization, but clearly the European's actions contradict said civil beliefs as evident by the chaos they have caused throughout the region

[cdowning]

Kurtz is the leader of the whole ordeal so naturally he is representative of all of Europe. He is greedy and shows the most extreme type of westerner imperializing in Africa. When the Europeans came to imperialize Africa they seemed to not come to harm the natives which obviously turns out to not be true. This also represents how Kurtz's behavior and the fact that he seems to not bring harm with his amazing voice and ability to win people over when in reality all he cares about is himself. So Marlow and Kurtz's other followers behave similar to the natives because this new being is presenting themselves to be harmless when in reality they will only use them. However as time goes on the natives and Kurtz's followers start to figure out what they thought was true was actually false.

[sidshah]

Kurtz represents the Europeans attitudes and their efforts to colonize in Africa by his overall power and attitude towards the "Savages". He shows this when he uses his power to obtain ivory by making acquaintances with the local tribe and seizes the title as the most profitable ivory trader. He is also representative in the way he treats them as the congo's people are treated like less than dogs from all white people except Marlow, when in reality the women keep thinking that Europe is brining education and civilization to a people who would be better off without it. Conrad stresses this friendship with the brutes as the self-contradictory aspect because it is shown by Marlow's feeding of a near dead slave that the whites in Africa care more about the money than the pain and suffering of an entire population.

[AlexK]

Kurtz may be regarded as representative of Europeans because he is greedy. The whole European "invasion" in Africa was driven by people's will to make a lot of money by obtaining and selling the ivory using their advantage over Africans. Self-contradictory aspect was Kurtz's "co-operation" with natives, which was not common for Europeans. In fact, he managed to reach the same goals as other European conquerors, but in a completely different way.

[taylorspruth]

Kurtz is away from all mankind and civilization. He lives in the middle of the Congo Jungle in his hut where only he exists in his own world. He has taken solitude by himself and with his native african friends. When Kurtz finally meets Marlow he is caught off guard and goes "mad" as said in the book. He is obsessed with ivory. He lves for it is what substancially causes his death along with other health problems. Kurtz has come from western civilization, leaving every aspect of his life behind him execpt greed. He displays the European attitudes of colonizing for money and nothing more. The civilized world is going into the jungle and tries to turn "savages" as they call them into western civilized people, but as we know that is not the case.

[nicksandoval]

Kurtz may be regarded as a representative of European attitudes and of European colonizing efforts in a few ways. For one, one of the reasons or intentions of the Europeans while colonizing Africa was to civilize the natives. Kurtz wrote a report in which he explained his big plans for the natives and Africa and he said that a lot of good could be done. However, like the Europeans, Kurtz main goal ended up becoming ivory, riches and power. Really the all the Europeans wanted was to make a lot of money off of the ivory trade. Conrad stresses the self-contradictory aspect of how the Europeans claimed they wanted to help the natives and civilize them but they ended up brutalizing and enslaving them.

[taylorolson1123]

Kurtz was a man driven by greed, he admitted he had no morals, and his imperialistic ideas led him to his deterioration. “All Europe contributed to the making of Kurtz” means that this is what caused Kurtz’s to act out the way he did and in the end for his soul to go mad. Being alone in the wilderness suggests made him very susceptible to this madness. I believe something is either wrong with the way Europe is conditioning and educating and raising its citizens. Kurtz had a reputation that was glorified, but the ideas people had of him weren’t the exact truth. This was the same with the idea of colonizing Africa. They were supposed to be civilizing the savage natives, but in reality they were only there for the ivory.

[wesleyr237]

Kurtz was created through European colonization idea in that there was nothing really special about him that created this idolized idea of him throughout the story, all he did was make the most money and be the most successful out of everyone and take what he wanted when he wanted, he was merely a means to and end. The self-contradictory aspects of this book are mostly stressed through the self-destructive tendencies of the people in society, basically taking what they will with little regard to other either social impacts or even environmental.

[fitbyaddie]

The way Kurtz is described throughout the entire novel: first class, remarkable, in charge of the inner trading post, sends in all ivory, will be a very important “somebody,” best agent, exceptional man, greatest importance to the company, painted dark and sinister painting, neither feared the devil nor God, universal genius, lone white man, ready to face anything, educated in England, wrote the International Society for the Suppression of Savage Customs, not anymore than a voice, bald ivory head, superior, original person, glamour of youth, colored rags, loneliness, dispatched youth, modest, clear flame, could easily take over a whole colony, hollow at the core, very sick, weak, planned the attack on the boat, phenomenon, unsteady, intelligent, no heart, no faith, no fear. All of these things are direct quotes gathered from the novella.

[Amn Chaychian]

Kurtz represents European imperialism in Africa. He worships wealth and he is greedy, the only thing he cares about is money. He uses native Africans to his own advantage and instead of trying to eliminate savagery and civilizing Africa, he only tries to find as much ivory as he can and make as much money as he can. He shows how all the Europeans do the same thing and civilizing Africa is not their goal.

[Bostgeme]

Kurtz is representative of European attitudes, because much of Europe had the attitude of gaining territory and natural resources. Self contradictory ideas of Western civilization are shown in how light and dark are represented in the book. Normally light is a positive thing and leads in the right direction while dark is scary and leads to only bad things. In this story, the woman remaining in the dark keeps her safe from knowing what dangers and evilness are really occurring in Africa, while the light shows her what horrible things Kurtz and his men have done to the natives.

[Easy]

Europe contributed to the making of Kurtz, because had it not been for the societal structure and obligations bestowed upon him there would have been no cathartic release of his inner nature. Kurtz actions, which is what drove him to madness, were due to the expectations society placed on him. Kurtz was a ruthless machine in the using of the continent to make many, including himself wealthy. Kurtz like the Nazis ran a very efficient machine but for the wrong reasons. the irony built into all of this is that the actions which are the most efficient and produce the best results will ruin the man the most.

[maxwellspearson]

Kurtz could be regarded as a representative of European attitudes and of European colonizing efforts because Kurtz is Conrad's way of stereotyping imperialism and Europeans. Kurtz only cares about the company and trying to make a profit at the expense of anyone who gets in his way. Imperialism is exactly that. Its main goal is to expand ones power or a nations power. Self-contradictory aspects of Western civilization that Conrad stresses in Heart of Darkness include: the fact that the Europeans who are thought to be bring "light" or civility to the blacks are really only bringing pain and destruction or "darkness'.

[mmurai]

Kurtz is able to represent all Europeans because of his mixed descent and the fact that he is the symbol for imperialism. kUrt represents the efforts of European countries in trying to reap as much raw material from Africa as they can at any cost. Kurtz madness represents the effects that the cruelty and events that go on in the Congo can have on a man which is why they remain hidden from the public. His death is symbolic of how the europeans plan for colonization are successful and will eventually fail without much accomplishments. Two contradictions that Conrad includes are that the european's come to Africa civilized but through what they experience become savages and the fact that they were supposed to bring light to the darkness but in reality are bringing darkness to light.

[tchoe]

Kurtz represents the Europeans and the horrors that they brought with them through imperialism. Conrad creates contradiction by showing how the Europeans view imperialism versus what imperialism actually does tot he people in Africa. Many of the Europeans living in Europe are oblivious and ignorant of the real horrors in Africa and believe that they are bringing light into the uncivilized wilderness of the Congo. When Marlow visit Africa he is able to preview firsthand what imperialism really means and how horrible and scary it is. The Europeans are doing more harm that good to the natives.

[KLyle]

The dynamic of Kurtz is one that is very interesting and has to be tuned into to get a solid grasp of. Kurtz is half English and half French in the novel, in my belief to completely embody the nature of all of Europe at the time. I believe the point Marlow is trying to get across is that the Europeans of the time were of the most part working behind the curtain. Very few people could tell what Kurtz was actually doing in Africa, and the role he played throughout the novel was mysterious for the most of it. The self-contradictory side is that he loved Africa so much and lost himself in Africa even though it was theoretically a place of savages.

[MartySparty]

Kurtz represents the European attitudes in that he only cares about ivory and money. He doesn't really care about the natives that are endangered in his wake and he goes farther and farther into native territory to find more money and he has the false claim of being there to "civilize them" to back up his actions. He also had a lust for power which is why he almost like a demigod to the natives. His greed didn't stop him from going for the money until he died even after being nursed out of 2 other tough illnesses. He contradicts the colonizing efforts in that he was able to make a bond with the natives who loved him and respected him to a really high extent which wasn't really customary in the colonizing efforts. People would expect natives to fight back with all they got to reclaim their territory, but they just went with the flow.

[bhong3211]

Kurtz is depicted as a man who gets things done efficiently and quickly. He is known for being a great colonist and imperialist by exploring and collecting a lot of materials such as ivory. However, in reality, this greed for materials makes Kurtz lustful for materials and it makes him treat the natives inhumanely. His attitude represents Europe as a whole and Conrad shows that greed often leads to inhumane actions. Conrad is trying to display that greed is a common theme in humanity.

[Amin Taherabadi]

As a leader of the European colonization, Kurtz is a very greedy person as a result of his excessive search and greed for ivory. The whole journey into the heart of darkness of Africa is a learning curve for Kurtz, the mysterious man who dies with pride. On page 43, Conrad suggests "his was an impenetrable darkness." He depicts that mr.Kurtz is a corrupted man that nobody could understand. Conrad demonstrates the complexity of mr.Kurtz by showing his greatness as well as cruelty and corruption.

[Emily Schwartz]

Kurtz is an extremely powerful human. He is powerful because he is a master manipulator. This, in Western Civilizations, is a very strong trait because of how one in power can affect others by a touch of a hand. Kurtz uses fear to get what he wants and to instill his overbearing knowledge and control. He used his sociopathic ways to gain control over the Natives, he tortured them and then did good deeds to make them want to please Kurtz in return. He likes to make himself feel like people are reliant and dependent on him. Western Civilizations are savages and they need a ruler, corrupt or not. Kurtz fills this position perfectly.

[Katie Craig]

Kurtz represents European attitudes and colonizing efforts because he is greedy and power hungry. Kurtz started out like any other European on the ivory trade, successful, devoted to the cause, and determined. After he quickly became the most successful ivory gatherer he understood what kind of power he could achieve. He was able to colonize in the wild and spread his own thoughts and ideas among the natives creating his own culture. By Kurtz being his own leader and taking over a place of his own he resembles the European attitudes because that is their intentions for all of Africa. The Europeans disagree with Kurtz because he has his own ideas and beliefs and they think he is mad for revolting against Europe which is ironic because they are still the ones taking over another country in the first place.

[Skylarcrenshaw]

Kurtz sees himself as an all knowing God. He has convinced the locals that he is, and uses this for his reign of terror. He believes that the European way is the best way and that he must “civilize” the locals. This is ironic because as he tries to civilize them he is acting very brutal and uncivilized. He is also referred to by Marlow as the Devil of Greed, while he sees himself as the God of giving. For centuries european nations have forced their beliefs and ways on other countries, as Kurtz is doing to the locals

[megashark]

Kurtz represents the European attitudes and their efforts to colonize entirely. Kurtz basically creates his own separate colony in the inner station and therefor is himself, ideologically a European country. He has his own tribe, conquers other tribes, spreads his own ideals and beliefs, and has extreme economic prosperity; these are all aspects of a colonizing European country at the time. His extreme greed and desire for power are what led to him climbing the ranks of his company and setting up his ivory empire, however that same greed starts to drive him mad as he starts to develop feelings for the natives in his tribe and this is the self-contradictory aspect that Conrad stresses.