Heart of Darkness and Lord of the Flies
Uploaded by firealive on Oct 31, 2004
Within Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, Marlow asserts that “the mind of man is capable of anything—because everything is in it, all the past as well as all the future.”(p. 109) As Marlow journeys deeper into the Congo he is forced to adapt to the jungle environment and in the process he begins to lose his understanding of societal rules and ideals. His “psychological self” is coerced into adapting to the rustic environment of the Congo hence disturbing the balance between his ego, alter ego, super ego, and his id. William Golding’s Lord of the Flies similarly deals with this deteriorating awareness of societal standards in foreign environments, but does so with a group of young boys on an uninhabited island. Throughout Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness and William Golding’s Lord of the Flies Marlow, Kurtz and the boys clearly demonstrate the capacity of the human mind by adapting to their surroundings, resorting to savagery, and losing all understanding of society as well as themselves.
In Heart of Darkness, Marlow demonstrates the capability of the human mind as he makes his journey up the Congo River and adapts to the savage environment that surrounds him. While adapting to his environment, Marlow begins to disregard societal standards and hence his “psychological sense” is altered in that Marlow’s ego, alter ego and super ego subside in his overall nature. Marlow’s id begins to cease control of his personality and his innate instinctive nature is released. It is this imbalance of his “psychological self” which acts as an instigator for the evil found in him and all men. When Marlow states that “ Going up that river was like traveling back to the earliest beginnings of the world,” (p. 105) he is trying to depict his journey up the river as a representation of his discovery of the innate wickedness present in all mankind. The disappearance of Marlow’s super ego is imminent throughout his journey up the Congo. The presence of authority, society, and civilized people begin to fade and thus the innate wickedness of man emerges. Marlow’s savagery is the result of adaptation and the growing disproportion of his id to his ego, alter ego and super ego. His disregarding of his ego, alter ego and super ego can be seen when he says, “but if you try to shout I’ll smash your head with--’…‘I will throttle you for good.”(p. 148) This...