No one is doing the work of being alive except Marlow and Kurtz
brick-maker, pilgrims sitting around and doing nothing
The futility of death, and life
life is nothing but an attempt for one to learn things about themselves
were we really worth enough for us to find excitement in a tangle with death?
Kurtz starts out as a man of values, recognises the horror, yet still does bad things?
to be a good person, yet do bad things at the same time?
a product of his society that blocks out individual desires?
chiaroscuro: the coexistence of light and dark
Sublime vs Banal
Kurtz could not see the flame of the candle but was wide enough to embrace the whole universe
he was not afraid to embrace the reality, he understands the horror, he experienced it all, came back and judged for himself, did not fall prey to the lies of civilisation
Marlow respects his truth telling at the end of the day
Is Marlow a preacher, or is he merely telling his story?
He is not forcing this wisdom that he has on anyone
It is your decision to choose to see the light
Is that wise or weak?
The futility of the situation
We have been hidden by the true nature of evil because society and civilisation has created enough institutions to hide the truth
we have created a world where we have created tenets of society that keep our evil nature at check
in the wilderness, there is nothing around us to harness this evil; our true desires, our innate sense of evil comes out in this unrestricted landscape where we are free to take certain actions
