DISTINCTIVE SYMBOLS IN JOSEPH CONRAND’S

HEART OF DARKNESS

PURWARNO
Faculty of Literature
Islamic University of North Sumatra, Medan

Abstract
Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness is a masterpiece which is
rich in symmbolism. However, this article focuses on just the
symbols represented by Mr. Kurtz and ivory. Mr. Kurtz, one
of the leading characters, the other being Marlow, the narrator
of the soty, represents many symbols in the novel. Firstly, he
symbolizes the greed and the commercial mentality of the
white people of the western countries. Secondly, he
symbolizes the white man's love of power. Thirdly, the
change which comes over him during his stay among the
savages symbolizes the influence of barbarism upon a
civilized man. He also symbolizes experience and maturity.
Finally, Mr. Kurtz symbolizes the repentant sinner. Kurtz's
relationship with ivory seems to have been reiterated by every
company member through the course of the story. Of course
Kurtz "harvested" more ivory than all the other stations
combined; therefore, it seems appropriate that Joseph Conrad
used extensive ivory imagery in describing Kurtz. Ivory is the
commodity in which the company's agents are
most interested. Ivory in Heart of Darkness becomes an
obsession for the members of the Company. The managers
and agents of the Company are so obsessed to obtain ivory
that they forget about their morals and so-called civilized
ways. Some of the men, especially Mr. Kurtz, get so worked
up in gaining ivory that all other morals and sensibility is lost.
Therefore, it is apt to claim that ivory symbolizes greed and
evil.

Keywords: symbolism, ivory, heart of darkness, dark continent

I. INTRODUCTION

Symbolism is the practice or art of using an object or a word to represent an

abstract idea. An action, person, place, word, or object can all have a symbolic meaning.
When an author wants to suggest a certain mood or emotion, he can use symbolism to
hint at it, rather than just blatantly saying it. In literature, symbolism can take many forms
including a figure of speech where an object, person, or situation has another meaning
other than its literal meaning, and the actions of a character, word, action, or event that
have a deeper meaning in the context of the whole story.   (http://examples.
yourdictionary.com/examples/examples-of-symbolism.html).

Symbolism in literature is one of the many tools that writers employ to generate
not only interest in one’s work but also to create another level of meaning. When the
author uses an object or reference to add deeper meaning to a story, it means that the
author has made use symbolism. Symbolism in literature can be subtle or obvious, used
sparingly or heavy-handedly. An author may repeatedly use the same object to convey
deeper meaning or may use variations of the same object to create an overarching mood
or feeling. Symbolism is often used to support a literary theme in a subtle manner.
Writers often use symbolism to enhance their writing because symbolism can give a
literary work more richness and colour, and can make the meaning of the work deeper.
Beckson and Ganz (1990) claim that before a symbol can be defined it must be
distinguished from a sign, an object that signifies something else, such as a red light that
instructs the motorist to stop. To be efficient, the sign must have only one meaning. A
symbol, on the other hand, is more complex. In its simplest sense, it is also something
that stands for something else. Symbols are more complicated than signs.
Symbol simply “stands for an object, place, or incident representing some abstract
idea or situation” (Quinn, 2006, p. 408). Abrams (2002) claims that a symbol, in the
broadest sense of the term, is anything which signifies something else; in this sense all
words are symbols. As commonly used in discussing literature, however, symbols is
applied only to a word or set of words that sifnifies an object or event which itself
signifies something else; that is, the words refer to something which suggests a range of
rerence beyond itself.
Generally, in literature, there are two broad types of symbols: conventional and
private. The symbols which “[their symbolic] significance are fixed and traditional in a
particular culture” (Abrams, 2002, p. 168) are called conventional symbols while the
symbols which their symbolic meaning is generated by the author are called private
symbols. In literature, we often find writers use private symbols. They use symbols which
do not have a publicly accepted meaning but take their significance from the total context
in which they appear—the symbols are taken from a private system of the author.
Abrams (2002) claims that many poets (writers) use “private” or “personal symbols”
which they develop themselves. Often they do so by exploiting preexisting and widely
shared associations with an object or action—for example, the general tendency to
associate a peacock with pride and an eagle with heroic endeavor, or to associate the
rising sun with birth and the setting sun with death, or to associate climbing with effort or
progress and descent with surrender or failure.
The quality which differentiates the private symbols from the public ones is the
vitality and originality of the private symbols; that is to say, unlike hackneyed public
symbols, they originate from the fertile imagination and invaluable and personal
experience of the author. Since in literature, many writers often use symbols whose
significance they mainly generate for themselves, they set the reader a more difficult
problem in interpretation.
Symbol can perform various roles in a literary work such as conveying the writer’s
outlook indirectly, connecting the world of reality with the inaccessible domain of
abstract world, and mystifying the work which in turn adds more beauty to it.
Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness is a novel which is rich in symbolism. Most of
the modern writers, including Joseph Conrad, are profound in their thinking; and their
thinking is complex too. The complexity, combined with profundity, leads them to imbue
their writings with greater significnce than we find on the surface. We, in short, can say
that that symbolism means exactly a deeper meaning in what has been written than meets
the eyes. In Heart of Darkness, every person and everything means more than what we
are likely to find on a superficial view. It is also legitimate to describe this novel as a
parable. The novel is based on the facts of histor as well as on the facts of Conrad’s own
life; but Conrad has used both the historical acts and the facts of his own life to express
something beyond history and something beyond his personal experiences. Through this
novel, Joseph Conrad certainly wants to make the reader see the vivid facts of the story,
but at the same time it is his intention to reveal to us the evasive truth behind those facts.
The facts of the story are an obscure revelation of the truth which lies behind them.

II. DISCUSSION
Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness is a novel which is loaded with symbols.
Many of the symbols are the private ones that the reader should make a huge endeavour
to interprete them. Every character and everything found in the novel means more than
what they are portrayed. This article aims at analysing only the distinctive symbols found
in the novel since there are a great number of symbols the reader can come up with as he
or she reads the novel. Many words, characters, objects or actions found in the novel can
represent a concept; therefore they are taken as symbols. The distinctive symbols that the
writer wants to analyze in this article are those represented by Mr.Kurtz and Ivory.

2.1 Symbols Represented by Mr. Kurtz

Almost everry character in Heart of Darkness has some symbolic significance.
Marlowe, Mr. Kurtz, the Accountant, the Manager, and the women found in the novel
have symbolic signigicance. The portrayal of Mr. Kurtz in Heart of Darkness is one of
the main concerns of the novelist. Mr. Kurtz is one of the two dominating figures in the
novel, the other being the narrator of the story, Marlow. The portrayal of Mr. Kurtz in
this novel is an elaborate and extended affair; and Mr. Kurtz has been presented to us in
such a manner that he appears to us a very complex personality whom it is not easy to
understand or define. Till the end, Mr. Kurtz remains an enigma or a mysterious
individual about whom we keep thinking a good deal even after we have ended our
reading of the novel. The character of Mr. Kurtz illustrates several ideas; and Mr. Kurtz
therefore becomes a symbolic figure in our eyes. Mr. Kurtz is nothing if not a symbol.
Indeed, this man symbolizes many things. Firstly he symbolizes the greed and the
commercial mentality of the white people of the western countries. Secondly, he
symbolizes the white man’s love of power. Thirdly, he symbolizes the influence of
barbarism upon a civilized man. Fourthly, he symbolizes experience and maturity.
Finally, he also symbolizes the repentant sinner.

2.1.1 Mr. Kurtz as a Symbol of the Greed and Commercial Mentality of Westerners
First of all, Mr. Kurtz, who is an agent of the trading Company, symbolizes the
western man’s greed and commercial mentality. The Congo was in those days valued by
the Westerners chiefly as a source of ivory. Mr. Kurtz had, like many others, been sent by
a Belgian trading company as an agent to collect ivory and dispatch it to Europe through
the manager of the Company’s Central Station. The whole apparatus at the Central
Station and at the other stations as well, centres round ivory, the principal commodity in
which the Belgian Company was trading. Mr. Kurtz has proved to be the best agent in the
sense that he collects ivory as much as all the other agents put together.
The Company’s chief accountant speaks to Marlow, the central character of the
novel, of Mr. Kurtz and describes him as a “remarkable person”.

“In the interior you will no doubt meet Mr Kurtz.” On my asking

who Mr Kurtz was, he said he was a first-class agent; and seeing
my disappointment at this information, he added slowly, laying
down his pen, “He is a very remarkable person.” Further
questions elicited from him that Mr. Kurtz was at present in
charge of a trading-post, a very important one, in the true-ivory
country, at “the very bottom of there. Sends in as much ivory as
all the others put together…” (Conrad, 2001: 29-30)
 It is evident that the trading company, of which Mr. Kurtz is the employee, trades
in ivory for the sake of the financial returns which it brings. In this respect, Mr. Kurtz has
proved to be very useful to the Company that the manager of the Central Station says that
Mr. Kurtz is the best agent he has, and that Mr. Kurtz is an exceptional man, of the
greatest importance to the Company in the Congo. The brickmaker of the Central Station
says that Mr. Kurtz is a prodigy. Even, the brickmaker believes that Mr.Kurtz will one
day become much more important. Thus the brickmaker expresses the same view about
the great potentialities of Mr. Kurtz as the accountant has previously done. However, the
highest praise for Mr. Kurtz from the brickmaker comes when he describes Mr.Kurtz as
“a universal genius”.
“Yes. Today he is a chief of the best station, next year he will be
assistant-manager, two years more and… but I dare say you know
what he will be in two years’ time. (Conrad, 2001: 41)

Indeed, the point to note here is that Mr. Kurtz does not merely collect ivory but
that, in the process of collecting it, he has himself developed a passion for ivory. This
passion for ivory shows the extreme to which a man’s greed can go. The manager also
informs Marlow that Mr. Kurtz sometimes speaks freely about his chief interests in life.
You should have heard him say, “My ivory.” Oh, yes, I heard
him. “My Intended, my ivory, my station, my river, my----“
(Conrad, 2001: 82)

From the way in which Mr. Kurtz talks, it seems that everything belongs to him.
Mr. Kurtz seems to think that as if he were the owner of all things arround him. In other
words, Mr. Kurtz imagines himself to be the proprietor of all things far and near.
Evidently, Mr. Kurtz has begun to think that his success in collecting ivory would bring
him a big promotion. Mr. Kurtz often goes into the interior of the Congo in his quest for
ivory. Even when he lies ill, he keeps asking those around him to save his ivory lest it
should be plundered.
 At this moment I heard Kurtz’s deep voice behind the curtain:
“Save me! – Save the ivory, you mean. Don’t tell me. Save me!
(Conrad, 1994: 88)

On one occasion, Mr.Kurtz has threatened to shoot his Russian friend because the
Russian has refused to surrender to Mr. Kurtz a small quantity of ivory which a village
chief has given him as a present. As a consequence of that threat, the Russian has felt
compelled to surrender the ivory to Mr. Kurtz.

You can’t judge Mr. Kurtz as you would an ordinary man. No,
no, no! Now – just to give you an idea—I don’t mind telling you,
he wanted to shoot me, too, one day—but I don’t judge him.”
“Shoot you!” I cried “What for?” “Well, I had a small lot of
ivory; the chief of that village near my house gave me. You see I
used to shoot game for them. Well, he wanted it, and wouldn’t
hear reason. He declared he would shoot me unless I gave him
the ivory and then cleared out of the country, because he could do
so, and had a fancy for it, and there was nothing on earth to
prevent him killing whom he jolly well pleased. And it was true,
too. I gave him the ivory. (Conrad, 2001: 94-95)

It shows that Mr. Kurtz has been possessed by his passion for ivory. He is so
powerful in the region that he can force his wishes to anyone he wants. He can kill
anyone whom he might wish to kill. In order to satisfy his greed for ivory, he threats to
kill the Russian, his friend, who has so far done services for him. He certainly represents
the greed and commercial mentality of the westerners.

2.1.2 Mr. Kurtz as a Symbol of the White Man’s Love of Power

Then Mr. Kurtz symbolizes the western man’s love of power. Power and pelf are
the two leading interests of the western man. The western man speaks glibly of the white
man’s burden, meaning that the white man has to exert himself a lot to improve the
conditions of life for the backward peoples of the earth. Now, there is no doubt at all that
the white man has civilized huge numbers of people all over the world, and that the white
man has spread knowledge, information, enlightenment, technology, and even a love of
learning all over the globe. But the deplorable fact is that the white man has never failed
to exact price for the services which he has rendered to the backward peoples of the
world. It is while governing the backward peoples that the white man has civilized them.
It was his love of power which made him conquer the backward countries and to govern
them; and then it was his love for power which also led him to civilize the backward
people.
Mr. Kurtz, a mere paid agent of a trading Company, develops a love of power
when he finds himself among ignorant, superstitious savages whom he can control by
virtue of his superior knowledge, his tact, his cunning, and above all his eloquence. Once
he finds that he can control some of them, he begins to extend his control to others and, in
course of time, is able to establish his supremacy over whole tribes. The Russian, Mr.
Kurtz’s assistant, tells Marlowe:
... Kurtz wandered alone, far in the depths of the forest. “Very
often coming to this station, I had to wait days and days before he
would turn up,” he said. “Ah, it was worth waiting for!—
sometimes.” “What was he doing? Exploring or what?” I asked.
“Oh, yes, of course”; he had discored lots of villages, a lake too
—he did not know exactly in what direction; it was dangerous to
inquire too much—but mostly his expeditions had been for ivory.
“But he had no goods to trade with by that time,” I objected.
“There’s a good lot of cartridges left even yet,” he answered,
looking away. “To speak plainly, he raided the country,” I said.
He nodded. “Not alone, surely!” He muttered something about
the villages round that lake. “Kurtz got the tribe to follow him,
did he?” I suggested. He fidgeted a little. “They adored him,” he
said. (Conrad, 2001: 94)

Mr. Kurtz has also now formulated in his mind certain “plans”; and these plans no
doubt visualize his becoming the sovereign of this whole region. The heads and the skulls
stuck to the poles standing on the ground around his residence bear witness to the
authority which he has already begun to exercise in this region because the heads and
skulls are of those natives who had been executed under his orders for having rebelled
against him.
They would have been even more more impressive, those heads
on the stakes, if their faces had not been turned to the house. Only
one, the first I had made out, was facing my way. I was not so
schocked as you may think. The start back I had given was really
nothing but a movement of surprise. I had expected to see a knob
of wood there, you know. I returned deliberately to the first I had
seen—and there it was, black, dried, sunken, with closed eyelids
—a head that seemed to sleep at the top of that pole, and, with the
shrunken dry lips showing a narrow white line of the teeth, was
smiling, too, smiling continuously at some endless and jocose
dream of that eternal slumber.
.........................................................................................................
He said: these heads were the heads of rebels. Those rebellious
heads looked very subdued to me on their sticks. (Conrad, 2001:
97-98)

It is really an irony to find that the natives are executed under Mr. Kurtz’s orders
due to being regarded as rebels. This only means that the white men find some pretext or
the other for their cruelty towards the natives. This shows that Mr. Kurtz loves showing
off his power to anyone who dares to oppose him.
From the Russian, Marlow also gets the knowldege that Mr. Kurtz is not at all
afraid to the natives, because the natives have become completely subservient to him.
The natives have pitched their camps around the place where Mr. Kurtz now lays ill; and
the chiefs come every day to visit him. Ultimately, he becomes so powerful that the
chiefs of the native tribes come crawling to pay their homage to him. He now becomes
almost the ruler or the king of these native tribes who begin to worship him as a man-god.
The chiefs and their followers look upon Mr. Kurtz as a divine being.
“The admirer of Mr. Kurtz was a bit crestfallen. In a hurried,
indistinct voice he began to assure me he had not dared to take
these—say, symbols—down. He was not afraid of the natives;
they would not stir till Mr. Kurtz gave the word. His ascendancy
was extraordinary. The camps of the people surrounded the place,
and the chiefs came every day to see him. They would crawl ...
(Conrad, 2001: 98)
 Mr. Kurtz’s love of power and authority surely symbolize the colonial power
which the white people of the various European countries exercised upon the natives
whom they governed for very long periods in their history. Mr. Kurtz symbolizes
imperialist rule. He symbolizes the rule of the British government, the French
government, the Spanish government, the Portuguese government, the Belgian
government, the Dutch government, and other western countries over the respective
countries which they had conquered and over which they were able to establish their
sway.

2.1.3 Mr. Kurtz as a Symbol of the Influence of Barbarism Upon a Civilized Man
Furthermore, Mr. Kurtz symbolizes the effect of a savage environment on a
civilized man. The civilized man certainly civilizes the backward people; but, if a
civilized man is compelled to live alone among the backward natives for a certain length
of time, then he too is likely to fall under their influence. This condition happens to Mr.
Kurtz, who is an educated man. In other words, Mr. Kurtz has imbibed the culture of all
the European countries.
The original Kurtz had been educated partly in England, and—as
he was good enough to say himself—his sympathies were in the
right place. His mother was half-English, his father was half-
French. All Europe contributed to the making of Kurtz; ...
(Conrad, 2001: 83)

Mr. Kurtz, living at the Inner Station of the Company, is completely cut off from
civilized society. Living there, he comes into close contact with the backward natives;
and he has to undertake frequent trips into the interior parts of the country in quest of
ivory. Thus he comes into a prolonged, intimate contact with the savages over whom he
has begun to exercise great control also. In the course of this prolonged association with
them, and having witnessed again and again their superstitious observances, he himself
falls under their influence and reverts to a state of savagery and barbarism. Here is one of
the great ironies of Conrad’s novel. A civilized man himself falls a prey to the forces of
primitivism. Mr. Kurtz has begun to identify himself with the savages and has begun to
participate in their customs and ceremonies. He has been presiding over their midnight
dances which always end with “unspeakable rites”. Evidently these unspeakable rites
include sex orgies, all kinds of sex perversions, group sex, homosexuality, sadistic and
masochistic sexual practices, human sacrifice, brutality, bloodshed, etc. In other words,
Mr. Kurtz has come to be regarded as a kind of deity to whom the natives of the Congo
had been offering certain sacrifices and certain unspeakable rites.
But this must have been before his—let us say—nerves, went
wrong, and caused hiim to preside at certain midnight dances
ending with unspeakable rites, which—as far as I reluctantly
gathered from what I heard at various times—were offered up to
him—do you understand?—to Mr. Kurtz himself. (Conrad, 2001:
84)

Thus Mr. Kurtz has become a cult-figure among the natives. He has now been
experiencing the unrestrained gratification of his lusts, and he has been experiencing
monstrous abominable satisfactions. He has been providing a free outlet to his monstrous
passions. All this happens because of the influence of barbarism and of the primitive way
of life with which Mr. Kurtz has become closely associated. Thus the thin veneer of
civilization wears off under the influence of a continued association with savages. Of
course, Mr. Kurtz, being a highly intelligent man, has managed to retain his identity as a
white man fed on European cultural values; but this identity reveals itself only when he is
alone or when he comes into contact with other white men.
“He is prodigy,” he said at last. “He is an emissary of pity,
science, and progress, and devil knows what else. We want,” He
began to declaim suddenly, “For the guidance of the cause
intrusted to us by Europe, so to speak, higher intelligence, wide
sympathies, a singleness of purpose.” “Who says that?” I asked.
“Lot’s of them.” He replied. “Some even write that; and so he
comes here, a special being, ... (Conrad, 2001: 41)
 In the company of savages, Mr. Kurtz becomes himself a savage. Initially, Mr.
Kurtz used to be “hollow at the core” in spite of his high education and the high cultural
values which he has imbibed; and this hollowness exposes him to the influences of
primitivism even more readily.
But the wilderness had found him out early, and had taken on him
a terrible vengeance for the fantastic invasion. I think it had
whispered to him things about himself which he did not know,
things of which he had no conception till he took counsel with
this great solitude—and the whisper had proved irresistibly
fascinating. It echoed loudly within him because he was hollow at
the core… I put down the glass, and the head that had appeared
near enough to be spoken to seem at once to have leaped away
from me to in accessibly distance. (Conrad, 2001: 98)

In this context, it is noteworthy that Mr. Kurtz symbolizes a lack of self-restrain

also. If he had possessed even a moderate degree of self-control and self-restrain, he
would not have gone to the extremes in seeking the gratification of his lusts and appetites.

2.1.4 Mr. Kurtz as a Symbol of Experience and Maturity

In spite of his basic hollowness, Mr. Kurtz has shown a certain degree of
intelligence by virtue of which he has become very wise and shrewd. His accumulated
experience and his capacity to think upon his experiences have made him something of a
philosopher. His philosophical outlook, combined with his exceptional eloquence in
speech, has turned him into a kind of sage who exercises a certain fascination upon those
intellectuals who come into contact with him. Thus, the Russian, who is himself a very
intelligent man, falls under Mr. Kurtz’s influence to be irresistible.
Believe me or not, his intelligence was perfectly clear—
concentrated, it is true, upon himself with horrible intensity, yet
clear; and there in was my only chance— (Conrad, 2001: 112-
113)

Marlow frankly admits that, having a soul untainted by greed or by selfishness, he

yet became a devoted admirer and friend of Mr. Kurtz to whom he remained loyal even
after Mr. Kurtz’s death. Mr. Kurtz’s last words (“The horror! The horror!”) are regarded
by Marlow as highly significant and pregnant with meaning.

II.1.5 Mr. Kurtz as a Symbol of the Repentant Sinner

Mr. Kurtz also symbolizes the repentant sinner. It is only that Marlow finds Mr.
Kurtz to be a demonic person, and a kind of evil occupying a high rank among devils of
the land, Mr. Kurtz himself ultimately recognizes the evil within him.
Everything belonged to him—but that was a trifle. The thing was
to know what he belonged to, how many powers of darkness
claimed him for their own. That was the reflection that made you
creepy all over. It was impossible—it was not good for one either
—trying to imagine. He had taken a high seat amongst the devils
of the land—I mean literally. (Conrad, 2001: 82)

While dying, he utters the words “the horror” which clearly express this
recognition on his part when his approaches. He becomes aware that he is about to die;
and this awareness brings with it also a realization of the evil which has been practising
during his stay at the interior station in the Congo.
He cried in a whisper at some image, at some vision—he cried
out twice, a cry that was no more than a breath:
“The horror! The horror!” (Conrad, 1994: 118)

Such a realization does not come to hardened criminals and seasoned scoundrels
who are beyond redemption. It comes only to those devils that still have some spark of
goodness in them. By virtue of the spark of goodness, which still remains in Mr. Kurtz,
he is able to see a vision of death and the damnation which waits him. Mr. Kurtz
evidently sees the horror of hell whither he is to go after his death. The last words of Mr.
Kurtz produce profound effect on Marlow who regards these words as an affirmation as a
victory, and as of some firm belief.
He had summed up—he had judged. “The horror!” he was a
remarkable man. After all, this was the expression of some sort of
 belief; it had candour, it had conviction, it had a vibrating note of
revolt in its whisper, it had the appalling face of a glimpsed truth
—the strange commingling of desire and hate.
......................................................................................................
Better his cry—much better. It was an affirmation, a moral
victory, paid for by innumerable defeats, by abominable terrors,
by abominable satisfactions. But it was victory! That is why I
have remained loyal to Kurtz to the last, and even beyond, when
a long time after I heard once more, not his own voice, but the
echo of his magnificent eloquence thrown to me from a soul as
translucently pure as a cliff of crystal. (Conrad, 2001: 119-120)

Many sinners experience feeling of regret, remorse and repentance when they are
about to die and their minds go back to the misdeeds which they had committed
recklessly. The last words of Mr. Kurtz should therefore serve as an eye-opener for us.
We should certainly derive a lesson from Mr. Kurtz’s final words on the earth. Of course,
Mr. Kurtz’s fiancée is not told his final words by Marlow who does not wish to hurt her
feelings or to disillusion her about the character of her lover.

“His last word—to live with,” she insisted. “Don’t you

understand I loved him—I loved him—I loved him!”
‘I pulled myself together and spoke slowly.
“The last word he pronounced was—your name.” (Conrad,
2001: 131)

If Marlow had told her about Mr. Kurtz’s last words, she would have felt shocked
beyond words and would definitely have changed her view of the man whom she had
been blindly worshipping.
Would they have fallen, I wonder, if I had rendered Kurtz that
justice which was his due? Hadn’t he said he wanted only justice?
But I couldn’t. I could not tell her. It would have been too dark—
too dark altogether...” (Conrad, 2001: 131)
 The final word that is uttered by Mr. Kurtz has a dark meaning. It is as his
companion by doing some sins when he stayed in the inner station in the Congo with the
savages.

2.2 Ivory as a Symbol of the White Men’s Greed and Evil

In Heart of Darkness Joseph Conrad often uses the word ‘ivory’. The word ‘ivory’
is not merely an object meaning the hard white substance of which an elephant’s tusks
are made. It is more than that. It represents many different meanings. However, in this
article, the writer only analyzes ivory as a symbol of greed and evil of the westeners.
The best example for the white men’s cruelty and greed in the book is Kurtz who
is often mentioned in connection with the word ‘ivory’. Mr. Kurtz is also the reason why
ivory becomes so important in the novel. If there would not be his cruel methods to get
ivory and his megalomania, nobody would matter about this material.
Marlow’s (or Conrad’s) experiences in the Congo clearly show that the white
men there had failed to perform their functions. Instead of civilizing the savages, the
white men who went there became exploiters, pure, and simple. The Congo was at that
time being governed by the Belgian King, Leopold II; and the Belgian trading companies
were sending their agents into the Congo for trading purposes. The chief commodity
which these Belgians found worth their pains was ivory. Ivory was of no use to the
natives themselves, while the white men collected ivory and sent it to Europe where it
could profitably be used for the making of numerous ornamental articles.
Everything else in the station was in a muddle—heads, things,
buildings. Strings of dusty niggers with splay feet arrived and
departed; a stream of manufactured goods, rubbishy cottons,
beads, and brass-wire set into the depths of darkness, and in
return came a precious trickle of ivory. (Conrad, 2001: 29)

As we go through the novel, we find that ivory is being constantly mentioned.

Ivory becomes the main purpose of the white men’s coming to the Congo. Every person
going to the Congo talks about ivory. Ivory dominates the thoughts of the manager of the
Central Station, the thoughts of the brick-maker, the thoughts of the several white agents
who loiter around the Central Station and to whom Marlow gives the name of “faithless
pilgrims.” Subsequently we find that ivory not only dominates the thoughts of Mr. Kurtz
but has become an obsession with him.
The word 'ivory' rang in the air, was whispered, was sighed. You
would think they were praying to it. (Conrad, 2001: 37)

In the lines quoted above, Conrad uses ivory in connection with something
religious. He describes that the men are wandering around with absurd long staves in
their hands in the same way like pilgrims do that. He says “you would think they were
praying to it”, so to all appearances ivory is treated like a god. Ivory becomes the god
besides Kurtz for all of the natives. It seems that ivory is their life, that it is holy and that
everyone has respect for it. Thus, Kurtz becomes the “father of ivory”. This so-
called “ivory-keeper” is responsible for all the mistreatments of the blacks in the jungle
because of his greed and his megalomania for ivory. However, ivory has also a share of
the responsibility of the natives’ suffering.
Can you imagine such impudence! “Anything since then?” asked
the other hoarsely. “Ivory”, jerked the nephew; “lots of it—
prime sort -- lots -- most annoying, from him”. (Conrad, 2001:
52)

After reading this part of the section, it is evident how Conrad reports the events of
the colonialism age. In this novel, it is clearly described that the white men are in search
for ivory for its commerce, and Africa is the most important producer of it in the world. 
Therefore, it is reasonable to say that ivory is the cause of destruction and decay for
Africa and Africans. The white men arrive in the dark continent, since then arrive
slavery, fear, and exploitation of the continent resources. Kurtz is the typical of white
man who has destroyed many villages and abused of many slaves in the name of a thing
the so-called ‘ivory’.
The wilderness had patted him on the head, and, behold, it was
like a ball—an ivory ball; it had caressed him, and—lo!—he had
withered; it had taken him, loved him, embraced him, got into
his veins, consumed his flesh, and sealed his soul to its own by
 the inconceivable ceremonies of some devilish initiation. He was
its spoiled and pampered favourite. Ivory? I should think so.
Heaps of it, stacks of it (Conrad, 2001: 81)

After meeting Kurtz, Marlow describes him very minutely and he is struck by
noticing that a man as Kurtz is consumed by the ivory fever. Because of the ivory, Kurtz
lives in loneliness, surrounded by dangers, ill; a boastful man who he does not have any
friends, he has only followers for the conquest of the Ivory. Ivory is Kurtz’s companion.
Ivory raises the reputation and wealth of the people who possess it but at the same time it
also raises hate, competition and destruction of the moral part of men. Ivory is the centre
of economy and the centre of power; it is a symbol. But ivory has ruined him, and Conrad
in the passage mentioned above, underlines how a venerated and hated man, that has
subdued many persons, now has been subdued by his ivory.  
The natives have respect for Mr. Kurtz, and even are also afraid of him, because
they have seen many examples for his cruelty. Kurtz is ready to do anything for ivory and
he is also willing to kill people if he does not get what he wants. The best example is as
Kurtz threatens to kill the Russian trader who gets a small quantity of ivory and who
refuses to give it to Kurtz. 

 “You can't judge Mr. Kurtz as you would an ordinary man. No,
no, no! Now—just to give you an idea—I don't mind telling you,
he wanted to shoot me, too, one day—but I don't judge him.'
'Shoot you!' I cried 'What for?' 'Well, I had a small lot of ivory
the chief of that village near my house gave me. You see I used
to shoot game for them. Well, he wanted it, and wouldn't hear
reason. He declared he would shoot me unless I gave him the
ivory and then cleared out of the country, because he could do
so, and had a fancy for it, and there was nothing on earth to
prevent him killing whom he jolly well pleased. And it was true,
too. I gave him the ivory. What did I care! But I didn't clear out.
No, no. I couldn't leave him. I had to be careful, of course, till we
got friendly again for a time.” (Conrad, 2001: 94-95)
 The lines quoted above show how the word ivory is so important to Mr. Kurtz. It
emphasizes how ivory has possessed Mr. Kurtz that he is ready to shoot the Russian, his
assistant. In this part the young Russian boy is telling how Kurtz’s reason is centred on
hoarding ivory, because this demonstrates how Kurtz is able to kill the Russian, his
faithful assistant, for a misery stock of ivory.

"At this moment I heard Kurtz's deep voice behind the curtain:
'Save me!—save the ivory, you mean. Don't tell me. Save me!
Why, I've had to save you. You are interrupting my plans now.
Sick! Sick! Not so sick as you would like to believe. Never
mind. I'll carry my ideas out yet—I will return. I'll show you
what can be done. You with your little peddling notions—you
are interfering with me. I will return. I. . . .” (Conrad, 2001: 104) 

In this part Kurtz’s delirium is starting in the first part of the dialogue referring to
ivory. He is still worried for the men’s expedition and yet for his life. His heart is worried
about the idea of abandoning the “heart of darkness”, the earth of ivory. Also in the little
time left, he has in mind only hoarding ivory.
Thus ivory becomes a symbol in the novel. Ivory symbolizes the white men’s
greed and the white men’s commercial mentality. The white men’s chief concern in the
Congo is to collect ivory and send it to Europe. The greater the ivory collected by an
agent, the greater is his achievement in the eyes of his employers, and the higher is the
promotion which he can expect. Ivory becomes a source of revenue to the trading
company which can, therefore, afford to invest a lot of money in sending its agents into
the Congo.

III. CONCLUSION

The portrayal of Mr. Kurtz in Heart of Darkness is one of the main concerns of
Joseph Conrad. Mr. Kurtz is one of the two dominating figures in the novel, the other one
being Marlow, the narrator of the story. Mr. Kurtz plays significant role in the novel that
his portrayal is an elaborate and extended affair. The character of Mr. Kurtz illustrates
several ideas; and Mr. Kurtz therefore becomes a symbolic figure in our eyes. First of all.
Mr. Kurtz symbolizes the western man’s greed and commercial mentality of the white
people from the western countries. Then he symbolizes the western man’s love of power.
Mr. Kurtz's desire to collect the maximum possible quantity of ivory is meant to symbolize the
greed and commercial mentality of the westerners, and to convey to the reader the exploitation of
the backward people of the dark continent by the white colonizers, which at the same time to
symbolize their love for power. Furthermore, he symbolizes the effect of a savage
environment on a civilized man. Mr. Kurtz's becoming a savage because of his prolonged stay
in the interior of the dark continent symbolizes the irresistible influence of barbarian modes of
living upon a civilized man who is cut off from civilized society. This change in Mr. Kurtz
shows that in every human being the primitive evil instincts continue to exist, no matter how
civilized he may have become. Kurtz represents man's dark side and what can happen when it
envelops human beings completely. Kurtz's prolonged exposure to the untamed regions of the
Congo has removed all his ties to civilization. He no longer feels satisfied with just being a mere
mortal, so instead transforms himself into an omnipotent being. He also symbolizes
experience and maturity, and finally he symbolizes the repentant sinner.
Then there are other symbolic elements also in the novel, and one of them is ivory.
Ivory symbolizes the white men’s greed and evil. Ivory is the commodity in which the
Company’s agents are most interested. Ivory dominates the thoughts of the white men
coming to the Congo. It is to collect ivory that these white men have come to the Congo.
Even, it not only dominates the thought of Mr. Kurtz but also becomes an obsession with
him.

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