Change of Heart

As I finished reading the third and final part of Heart of Darkness, I paused to think about the characters and their development. What I found most impressive is Kurtz's radical change in the novel. He went from being the one in power, to the one who became that which he was trying to control. A savage. It seems as if the jungle had this power over him and it took over making him mad. Yet I believe he is pegged as such for fraternizing with the "swine"which was insane in that particular time period.

Kurtz defies the laws of society within the time period, robbing him of the chance of going back to europe. Had he returned he'd be a pariah within his own society for taking a native lover. Such a thing was outrageous when all these people thought of was taking as much as they could from the natives, regardless for their safety or welfare.

Change of Heart

I believe that what made Kurtz snap was that he realized that these savages were not so different from himself. After a lifetime of colonizing, brutalizing and subjugating others the realization turned him into a basket case. Kurtz's change of heart came as an unexpected shock.