In Heart of Darkness, Marlow’s descriptions of Kurtz include the following: “a wandering and tormented thing”, someone whose words were like “phrases spoken in nightmares”, someone who “had no restraint, no faith”, whose “soul was mad”, someone who “struggled, struggled”.
Think back to the nightmare-like atmosphere that suffused Heart of Darkness, then read again the description of Rodya’s last dream (6 pages from the end of the novel, p. 547 P/V version, paragraph beginning “He lay in the hospital all through the end of Lent…” up through “…had heard their words or voices.”
Both Raskolnikov and Kurtz engage in interior battles between their better nature and their desire to “step over”, to be “supermen”. Crime and Punishment, however, ends with a powerful sense of hope and redemption, whereas Heart of Darkness ends with (naturally)…darkness.
How can we better understand Raskolnikov’s redemption through the tragedy of Kurtz? (As always, support your opinions.)
And this is it…our last blog entry of 2010-2011. See you Wednesday.
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