Talk:Kurtz (Heart of Darkness)

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Homosexual?[edit]

I see no reason to assume that Kurtz is a homosexual and has a torrid affair with Marlow. It seems absurd. Where does this analysis come from? It seems far more likely that Kurtz is having an affair with the native woman.

I have now edited this part out. I'm open to a discussion about it though.

You are quite correct. Kurtz has obviously been engaged in dealings with the native woman, either romantically or spiritually.

Actually, I read somewhere that Kurtz symbolizes the repressed homosexuality in Victorian men. While not stated at all, there are certain undertones when HoD is interpreted in a diffrent light. I'll look again for where I read that. Also, the native woman in question is known simply as Kurtz's mistress.

Zidel333 02:35, 6 January 2006 (UTC)[reply]

this "interpretation" is almost as ridiculous as trying to bastardize a Marxist slant into the book

Kurtz has a native mistress and a finace at home. Where in the world did homosexuality come from? //Mukk

How does "supressed homosexuality" lead to Kurtz to a complete degeneration into barbarism and a delusional quest to become worshipped as the divinity in the middle of the jungle!? The literary inspiration for Konrad's work has been identified by various researcher's with a certain mad Belgium officer that he met in the Congo, who decorated his station headquarters in the jungle with the skulls of the natives, whom he had murdered. This was reported by Konrad's diary and cited in King Leopold's Ghost, a history of colonial Congo.

The most prevalent pyscho-analytical interpretation that I have read were about Kurtz's narcisistic personality disorder that fratured his sense of self, which leads to the complete absense of a moral compass when all external restraints on his will has been removed. There are Freudian Will to Life v. Will to Death interpretatios. Even Nitzche's theory would be a illuminating one, though Nitzche is unlikely to endorse such a statment. The most convincing theory for me is that Kurtz is a study of human evil-a motiveless malevolence that was all-consuming, like Iago from Othello. As it was described in the text: that as Marlowe observed Kurtz's fevered, writhing on his stretcher, Kurtz's gaping mouth gave him a weirdly voracious aspect, as though he had wanted to swallow all the air, all the earth, all the men before him.

I have taken courses on Kurtz's character in a first-tier university and this so-called "latent homoerticism theory" has never been even considered. "Reading it somewhere" doesn't justify a critical theory--all that you need for the writing of a bad theory is an ignoramus with a pen.

Whoever made this assumption owe us a citation of TEXTUAL EVIDENCE to prove it, as well as by whom this theory is written, so that his academic credentials could be examined.

I am going to delete this section, until a more informed and diligent writer can actually construct something useful out of this unholy mess. -Chin, Cheng-chuan —Preceding unsigned comment added by 128.239.202.30 (talk) 10:06, 24 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

actually, 'homosexuality' as such was not known to Victorians and cannot be found in HoD. Instead one can make use of what Halperin David called "pre-homosexual" categories.^[1] But this is a whole topic on its own. Ruppel suggested that homoeroticm can be found in Konrad's works. ^[2]

References

^ Halperin, David. How to Do the History of Homosexuality. Chicago: U of Chicago P, 2002) pp. 109-131.
^ Ruppel, Richard. "'Girl! What? Did I Mention a Girl?' The Economy of Desire in Heart of Darkness, in Imperial Desire: Dissident Sexuality and Colonial Literature, eds. by Phillip Holden and Richard Ruppel (Minneapolis, MN: U of Minnesota P, 2003) pp. 152-171. and Ruppel, Richard, ’Joseph Conrad and the Ghost of Oscar Wilde’, The Conradian 23.1 (Spring 1998): 19-36.

"Ironic populism"??[edit]

"Kurtz is [...] a promising politician (ironically enough, a populist)"

This part really confuses me. In what sense is populist meant here? Only in the sense that he sides with the majority? And what is ironic about this? Theshibboleth 03:08, 8 January 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Dear Sir, This happens when Marlowe spoke with a friend of Kurtz's who wanted to have the dead man's manuscripts. He told Marlowe in no uncertain terms that Kurtz was a leader of popular causes supported by the lower classes. It was one of the various roles and personas that Kurtz had adopted as it suited his convenience, and showed how manipulative and ruthlessly ambitious Kurtz could be. The argument made here is that Kurtz is a man without an identity, thereby bereft of a moral compass. -Chin, Cheng-chuan

minor nitpick[edit]

The last line of the "In the Novel" section begins:

"The name, if not the characteristics, most probably came from [...]"

This is slightly confusing, both stylistically and grammatically. Recommend editing to read something like "The mannerisms, if not the name, of the Kurtz character probably came from [...]". 68.118.231.25 02:12, 24 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Not Belgian[edit]

I corrected a major historical inaccuracy, namely confusing the Congo Free State (before 1908) with the Belgian Congo (after 1908). I need cite no sources for my statements. This is undisputed common knowledge. The Congo Free State was taken over by Belgium and became a Belgian colony in 1908. Thereafter conditions swiftly improved. For example, forced labor was abolished under Belgian rule. The Congo Free State was controlled (until 1908) by a commercial company with a philanthropic façade, whose leading figure was King Leopold III of the Belgians, but in his private capacity, not as Belgian head of state. This is an important distinction, since before 1908 Belgium exercised no power in the Congo Free State, the Belgian flag did not fly there, Belgian law was not in force, there were no Belgian government officials, etc. As a matter of fact Belgium seized the Congo in response to the outrage felt in Europe when it was discovered that the Congo was actually a huge Gulag run by Leopold for profit. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Mumbo-jumbophobe (talk • contribs) 03:02, 20 December 2015 (UTC)[reply]

In the novella section[edit]

This section is seems to be one individual's original interpretation and is entirely unsourced. If interpretations of a book are being provided, a source for the interpretation should be cited as many possible interpretations may exists for a particular work.

Colonel[edit]

Previously a colonel? I think this conflates the novel with the film _Apocalypse Now_. The word "colonel" does not appear in Conrad's text. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 66.61.106.145 (talk) 02:34, 15 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Well-spotted. That was added by an IP without explanation exactly a year ago today, as it happens. I've reverted. -- Tamzin^{[cetacean needed]} (they|xe|she) 04:24, 15 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]

[1] Halperin, David. How to Do the History of Homosexuality. Chicago: U of Chicago P, 2002) pp. 109-131.

[2] Ruppel, Richard. "'Girl! What? Did I Mention a Girl?' The Economy of Desire in Heart of Darkness, in Imperial Desire: Dissident Sexuality and Colonial Literature, eds. by Phillip Holden and Richard Ruppel (Minneapolis, MN: U of Minnesota P, 2003) pp. 152-171. and Ruppel, Richard, ’Joseph Conrad and the Ghost of Oscar Wilde’, The Conradian 23.1 (Spring 1998): 19-36.

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