Heart of Darkness 2

A detailed Summary of Heart of Darkness 2

A lie is an untruth. It can be a false statement or a statement

left unsaid which causes someone to be misled. In life lies are told

for many different reasons. In fiction they thicken the plot. In

Conrad's Heart of Darkness, Marlow dislikes lies and therefore

only tells two, both in extraordinary circumstances, and the lies show

the following about Marlow: even though he has been touched by evil,

he is still a good man himself; that he never actually tells a lie, he

lets others continue to believe what they already believe; and that

this helps him justify the lies. Marlow, in the middle of his story,

interupts himself to say "You know I hate, detest, and can't bear a

lie." He does not think he is better than the rest of the world. Lies

simply appal him. Marlow feels there is a "taint of death, and a

flavor of mortality in lies." Lying makes him feel "miserable and

sick, like biting something rotten would do." Since he feels this way,

he would only tell a lie in extraordinary circumstances. The first lie

was told by Marlow in extraordinary circumstances. It was told because

he had a notion it would somehow be of help to Mr. Kurtz. The lie was

of the jungle. Secondly it would provide Kurtz with an ally who was

been engaged to Kurtz, and would be shocked to learn of the things he

feels it would be "impossible not to love him." She was proud to have

right and wrong. Marlow never actually vocalized a lie. He simply

it would help Marlow to get the rivets he needed to fix the boat, and

thought her fiance was a good man, and Marlow allowed her to continue

Approximate Word count = 817
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English

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