"Heart of Darkness" tells the story of a man's journey into a darkness that is both physical and metaphorical: he travels both into the inner depths of the Belgian Congo and in the deepest regions of the human heart. In the novel, the dark world of Africa has been transformed by the Company, an organization intent on exporting ivory and civilizing the natives, into a den of exploitation and greed, a place where madness thrives in the heart of Congo. Kurtz, an agent of society, represents reason in this insane world. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on 'Why violent video games should not be banned'? Get the original essay The madness of the other characters, namely the Company's agents and pilgrims, is revealed in a number of early incidents which only underline, by contrast, Kurtz's capacity for reasoning. A French warship is seen firing into the African bush, seemingly aimlessly: "Pop, one of the six-inch guns was going to go... and nothing happened. Nothing could happen. There was a touch of madness in the ongoing, a feeling of mournful drollery at the sight The "pop" produced by the weapons is the symbol of a mad, incomprehensible and ultimately futile attempt to subdue the continent. In the same way, the men of the. Company are detonating a series of explosions on a cliff for no apparent reason: "The cliff wasn't in the way or anything; but this pointless blasting was all work in progress." a pilgrim attempts to put out a fire one night by carrying water in a bucket with a large hole in it. The sheer madness of these actions only shows the lack of progress of the Company in the Congo, as well as the. inability of the Company to affect the country These moments of madness contrast sharply with Kurtz's reason: his determination and his ability to achieve his goal. the goals are astounding. As the accountant describes it, Kurtz "is a very remarkable person... He sends as much ivory as everyone else combined." Through his rational will and reasoning skills, Kurtz rises to a position of great power and influence over the natives - a position not unlike that of God - and he uses this deified role to incite the natives to attack villages and pillage the land for ivory. Although these are barbaric and morally reprehensible acts, they nevertheless demonstrate Kurtz's enormous capacity for practical action to achieve concrete goals. This confirms Kurtz's reason: he does what he does with reason and with a specific purpose. Kurtz further proves his sanity in his acceptance of reality, something that other agents and pilgrims foolishly and ridiculously ignore. Only Kurtz sees the Company for what it is: a cold-blooded commercial enterprise determined to deprive Africa of its ivory riches while pretending to be a force for civilization and religion among its inhabitants. Hypocrisy, the denial of reality, is one of the dominant traits of Company workers - agents claim to care about improving the lives of the natives, but one glimpse of the effects of this "improvement" is enough to destroy the credibility of their so-called concerns: "They were dying slowly - it was very clear. They were not enemies, they were not criminals, they were nothing earthly now - nothing but black shadows of disease and famine, lying confusedly in the greenish darkness." Likewise, the pilgrims claim that their goal is to instill religion and morality in the natives, but at the same time, they carry sticks with which to beat the African workers. It seems that the only God..