Heart of Darkness Article: Short Story Criticism Volume 69: By Carola M. Kaplan
The thesis of this essay is that the most important distinction Marlow makes throughout Heart of Darkness is the one between Self and Other. The author also emphasizes the distinction between truth and lies, between men and women, and between civilization and savagery. To support the author’s argument regarding the Self and the Other, he states that the Other is the undiscovered territory within oneself. Throughout the novella, it is clear that Marlow struggles with identifying who he is and his similarities to Kurtz (which he holds in the inside). It is also0 interpreted in the essay as the other being the wild native people, and the Self being the more civilized people. The Self attempts to control the Other out of fear that they may eventually have to succumb to the other, and thus attempt to contain it. I do detect some bias in the writing, in that the author of the article believes that the most important distinction in the novella is the distinction between the Self and Other. I think the author starts off by presenting their argument well, but eventually I think the author spends too much of the essay proving the other distinctions and not spending the majority of the time on the Self and Other. I think if the author really wanted to prove that point the would have written more on that aspect of the subject rather than just writing roughly the same amount as the other distinctions. I do agree with one comment the author makes, they state that despite all of Marlow’s insistence, everything that is distinct from something else in the novella seems to switch roles. For example, the entire concept of black and white and what they symbolize seem to switch places, as well the distinction between what is true and what is a lie.
