Africa in Heart of Darkness

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Africa in Heart of Darkness In Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness, Marlow and Kurtz, the novella's protagonists, take a journey deep into the jungle of the Congo. As they progress further within their journey, each man is forced to adapt to the primitive environment and consequently begins to lose his ability to understand and be regulated by societal rules. In terms of their mind, or "psychological self," Marlow and Kurtz are coerced into taking on the primitive, instinctual mindset of the natives around him. This journey the men partake in disrupts the balance between their superego, ego, and id. Psychologically speaking, the superego is the socialized moral agency, the ego serves as the moderating forced between the superego and the id, while the id is the entirely instinctual sector of the mind. Despite each man being immersed into the primitive environment of the Congo, Marlow and Kurtz take on differently psychological roles. Marlow symbolizes the superego, while his partner Kurtz reflects the id. Evidence of Freud's theory is reflected in various different portions of the text. According to Freud, things took on two meanings, a surface meaning, and a deeper, more symbolic meaning. Heart of Darkness is a story rooted in symbolism. One example of such symbolism is the setting of the novella. The darkness of the jungle symbolizes the darkness of the mind, in which we need to explore, described in Freudian terms as the id. The jungle is in opposition to London, the center of civilization at that time, which by Freud would be described as the superego. One is able to draw a parallel between the settings and the two protagonists, Marlow and Kurtz. Marlow begins his journey into Africa as a representative of the superego. He is searching for adventure and to fill in all the blank spaces on his favorite maps: “When I was a chap I had a passion for maps”
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