In the novel Heart of Darkness, written by Joseph Conrad, Marlow finds himself in a position .

             where he is faced to make a moral accept the fact that the man he has admired and looked up to is a madman. He realizes .

             that Kurtzs methods are not only unethical, but also inhumane. Marlow comes to realize that Kurtz is evil, .

             and that he himself is also evil, thus Marlows disillusion makes his identification with Kurtz horrifying. .

             .

             As Marlow travels up the river, he is constantly preoccupied with Kurtz. Marlow says _I seemed to .

             see Kurtz for the first time.the lone white man turning his back suddenly on the headquarters, on relief, on .

             thoughts of home.towards his empty and desolate station_(32). From the beginning of his trip, he is .

             compared to Kurtz by all of the people that he comes into contact with, and a great deal of his thoughts are .

             of Kurtz. He wonders how he will measure up to the standards that the company set for him, what Kurtzs .

             personality is like, and what Kurtz would think of him. The more obsessed he becomes with Kurtz, the .

             more he sets himself up for the horrible reality of what his new idol was truly made of. .

             .

             Upon reaching Kurtz's station, Marlows disillusion begins to set in. He is greeted by an English-.

             speaking Russian whom he takes for a man who on the surface is deceant level-headed person, but after .

             short conversation it is apparent to Marlow that he is talking with a disturbed individual, but that was not .

             what bothered Marlow. Hearing of and seeing the acts committed by Kurtz made Marlow uneasy, and even .

             afraid. It was at this point that Marlow begins his denial of any affinity he feels with Kurtz. He says in .

             regard to the Russian, I suppose that it had not occurred to him that Mr. Kurtz was no idol of mine_(59). .

             Marlow sees all of the atrocities committed by Kurtz, and is appalled, but when he looks deep with inside .

             himself he sees what he could easily become, and he desperately wants to suppress it.