During the end of the story, Marlow goes to see Kurtz's fiancée or intended, who is still mourning over the death of Kurtz even though he died a year prior to this. This woman profoundly loved Kurtz and tells Marlow nothing but positive things about him (apparently not knowing that Kurtz seemingly had affairs or a relationship with an African woman we learn about earlier in the chapter); she knew him as a meritorious man who deserved nothing but admiration. This fiancée also spoke with assurance that Kurtz loved her as much as she loved him. During the conclusion of their conversation, she asks Marlow what Kurtz's last words were: Marlow lies and says that his last words were her name. What I want to know is why exactly Marlow lied about this.
When Kurtz died, Marlow had the privilege of hearing his last words ("The horror! The horror") -- something that Kurtz's fiancée was curious about. I don't understand why he would lie and say that Kurtz's last words were her name. He can very well have lied because of feelings of sympathy and pity that enveloped his soul at this moment, as can be confirmed when he says, "My anger subsided before a feeling of infinite pity", but this quote also confirms that feelings of anger dwelled within him -- due to her ignorance -- at this time as well. Instead of further adding to her excessive delusions by saying that Kurtz's last words were her name, why didn't he just tell her the truth? I personally believe that simple pity shouldn't be enough of a reason to lie and continue building a naive person's delusions. Marlow didn't even have to say what Kurtz's last words really were; he could have simply stated that Kurtz didn't have any last words. This way, he could have still lied out of pity, but not continue to strengthen her ignorance about Kurtz (who she felt loved her equally to how much she loved him).
posted by Anthony M.
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I believe that when a person is already grieving over the loss of their loved one the most morally correct thing to do in that situation is to comfort the person. If by telling her that husbands last words were her name bring any type of peace to her then it's justifiable to lie.
ReplyDeleteI was alos a little confused at why Marlow didn't tell Kurtz's fiance the truth, and I also didn't understand why, if he was going to lie, he told her that he heard his last words. Perhaps he never had the intention of lying, but because he pitied her so, he couldn't bear ruing her memories of him as his memories were thrown into question when he began visiting with Kurtz's family and friends.
ReplyDeleteThe reason Marlow lied was simply pity. He even states "my anger subsided before a feeling of infinite pity." Marlow believed that women "live in a world of their own," which is delicate and weak. I think that Marlow didn't want to break the women's heart anymore because the death of Mr. Kurtz.
ReplyDeleteVery interesting blog Anthony. I personally believe that the reason why Marlow lies to Kurtz's fiancee is in order to keep up the illusion that Kurtz was just as great as the stories that were told about him. If she found out his true last words (the horror! the horror!), than it would make Kurtz's experiences seem frightning, and even give her that idea that the jungles of Africa had broken Kurtz. I doubt that Marlow wanted to give his mourning fiancee that idea....
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