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The contrast between Kurtz's intended and black mistress The Heart of
Darkness is a story about a man telling a tale of an adventure that he had on
the Congo River. During this adventure he meets a guy named Kurtz. Kurtz was
congregating with a tribe of people who worshiped him and did what ever he told
them to do. Kurtz was a very special person in the way he influenced the
feelings of two very different, but somewhat similar women. Among this tribe of
savages was a woman that was said to have been Kurtz's mistress. Back home he
had a woman who he was supposed to marry. Kurtz's black mistress and intended
were two very different people, from different places, who shared the same
devotion towards him even though there were many obstacles in the way of their
love. Kurtz's intended was from the city and was well off with money.
Kurtz's
black mistress was in a tribe of savages in Africa. She to was well off in her
possessions. You could tell she was well off or important in the things she wore
and the way that Marlow described the way she carried herself and the way the
other members of the tribe watched what ever she did. In the city the intended's
family labeled Kurtz as being not good enough. Marlow says that it was because,
he was not rich enough or something. (p.249) This is ironic because his black
mistress' tribe or family treats him like a god. Both women felt the same
undying devotion to Kurtz. When Kurtz was being taken away by Marlow on his ship
the tribe came running and hollering trying to get him back. The woman even
entered the water with her arms stretched towards the boat. Marlow blew the
whistle to scare away the tribe. This worked and even made the ones closest to
the shore fall down flat on their face as if they were dead. The whistle did
nothing to the woman and she remained in the water with her arms out. The
whistle did not scare the woman like it did the rest of the tribe because she
was devoted to Kurtz and wanted to be with him. Kurtz intended shared the same
devotion towards him as the black tribal woman did. Marlow went to see her, a
year after the death of Kurtz, and she was still in mourning.
The woman accepted
Marlow into her home because he was a friend of Kurtz. She was glad he had
visited, so she would have someone to talk to about him. She talked of how she
loved him and of how he needed her. They talked of when he died and she got
upset. She said, And I was not with him.(p.251) She said she would have
treasured everything he did and said. Marlow tells her that he was with him till
the end and that he heard his last words. She wanted to know what they were and
said, Repeat them…I want-I want-something-something-to-to live with.(p.251) She
says this so Marlow will tell her his last words. He tells her that his last
words were her name. This makes her feel good and at the same time makes her
weep in her hands. Kurtz played an important role in the lives of both women and
had a tremendous impact on the way they loved him. Both women were very
different and at the same time very similar in the way they loved Kurtz. Both
went through very tramadic experiences to show their undying love for him.
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