Heart of Darkness (End)

            Conrad incorporates visual imagery through colors and denotation in hopes of contrasting Marlow's gradually changing view of imperialism through the novella. Marlow’s interaction with Kurtz’s intendant is representative of Marlow’s original belief that an individual should not lie, yet defies it by stating that “The last word he pronounced was—your name” (Conrad 124). Originally, Kurtz’s intendant is committed to the idea that Kurtz’s memory must be preserved because of his remarkable nobility, however, the Kurtz she imagines does not exist at all. Marlow converses with the intendant knowing the concrete Kurtz: all the terrible things he has heard throughout the journey, and Marlow keeps in mind Kurtz’s last few words before he died as he is talking to the intendant. Marlow goes against his original belief of lying by convincing the intendant that Kurtz’s last words were of the intendant’s name. Marlow’s confusion is brought through the section of the text where he states: “But I couldn't  I could not tell her. It would have been too dark—too dark altogether…” (124). The denotation of “dark” is representative of the negativity of emotions that are created during scene, and ultimately relates to Marlow originally believing that he hates and detests lies, as he mentions earlier in the novella. The fact that Marlow lies about Kurtz’s last words shows that the intendant believes wholeheartedly in Kurtz’s nobility and thus entirely believes and embraces the rationale for Western imperialism as compared to where Marlow’s view of imperialism is deteriorating.