Heart Of Darkness And Maslow

Heart Of Darkness And Maslow

Heart of Darkness - Marlow's Lies A lie is an untruth. It can be a false
statement or a statement left unsaid which causes someone to be misled. In life
lies are told for many different reasons. In fiction they thicken the plot. In

Conrad's Heart of Darkness, Marlow dislikes lies and therefore only tells two,
both in extraordinary circumstances, and the lies show the following about

Marlow: even though he has been touched by evil, he is still a good man himself;
that he never actually tells a lie, he lets others continue to believe what they
already believe; and that this helps him justify the lies. Marlow, in the middle
of his story, interupts himself to say "You know I hate, detest, and can't
bear a lie." He does not think he is better than the rest of the world.

Lies simply appal him. Marlow feels there is a "taint of death, and a
flavor of mortality in lies." Lying makes him feel "miserable and
sick, like biting something rotten would do." Since he feels this way, he
would only tell a lie in extraordinary circumstances. The first lie was told by

Marlow in extraordinary circumstances. It was told because he had a notion it
would somehow be of help to Mr. Kurtz. The lie was to allow the brick maker to
think he had more influence in the company than he actually had. This lie would
help Kurtz in two ways. Firstly it would help Marlow to get the rivets he needed
to fix the boat, and that would provide Kurtz with a means of communication, or
a...

Heart Of Darkness And Maslow

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