Website design By BotEap.comIn Heart of Darkness, Joseph Conrad introduces us to two men who are more or less polar opposites. Charlie Marlow is a compassionate and humane man with a reserve of integrity, and is a lover and pursuer of truth and justice. Mr. Kurtz, on the other hand, is a bit of a &$%!@#.

Website design By BotEap.comBoth men are compared to gods within the text, and each is seen as one: Marlow by the men in his boat and, Conrad hopes, by his readers as well, and Kurtz by the native Africans, who see him as some kind of god. the figure of Zeus. Throughout the book, we are exposed to both the ‘angry and vengeful god’ type and the ‘peace-loving god of enlightenment’ type. There are many religions in the world that propose the existence of one or the other; here we can see both sides of the coin and perhaps get a little insight into why different cultures worship such drastically different divine spirits.

Website design By BotEap.comChristianity, with which you are probably most familiar, is structured around a god, or a son of one, which is all that Marlow is. Kind, considerate of his neighbor, compassionate towards the underdog and disapproving of the abuse of power. Most religions around the world are similar in that they feature a god or gods who embody what we ourselves aspire to be: good, caring people who are not tied to vices like greed or irrational anger.

Website design By BotEap.comOn the other hand, there are certain cultures that worship a much more volatile set of gods. The kind of gods who will not forgive your sins. They are types of gods that will require you to make extreme sacrifices or suffer intense physical pain on their behalf. The kind of gods that will punish you for not spending enough time preparing for the ACT.

Website design By BotEap.comAs you may know, governments have had a great deal to do with the religion of their nation for millennia. Often a government will create or rewrite religious doctrine to more closely align with its own agenda. The horror! The horror!

Website design By BotEap.comBut it is true. Many gods were originally created or designed to scare the population of a culture into submission or fear, so that their rulers could bend the will of their subjects. What you end up with in that case is a god much like Kurtz’s character, someone whose greed or thirst for power outweighs his basic sense of decency; someone who has developed violent tendencies and, as Conrad repeatedly mentions, has trouble controlling himself.

Website design By BotEap.comThese two guys collide in Heart of Darkness, with “good” ultimately triumphing over “evil.” An entertaining read, to be sure, but if you ask us, it could have used a love triangle subplot.