Heart of Darkness

Marlow, hero in Joseph Conrad's The Heart of Darkness, bravely sets out into the depths of the Congo looking for truth and adventure. He starts out with a strong set of moral beliefs concerning the greatness of truth and the evil of lies. However, things turn out to be not so black and white for Marlow, and he ends his journey telling one of the greatest lies of all. Marlow shows a strong passion for the truth until horrific truths are revealed and he surrenders himself to lies. Conrad represents this as mans failure to speak the truth when faced with an ugly reality.
Marlow's devotion for the truth is apparent and describes a lie as "biting into something rotten"(pg.45). As he begins his long story of the Congo, he sits with the "pose of a Buddha" (pg. 9) as if sharing a piece of truth and enlightenment with his fellow sailors. …