Heart of Darkness: The Finale In Conrad's Heart of Darkness, Kurtz's last words as he was dying are: "The horror! The horror !” (pp. 1415) Some interpret these last words as the horror of one culture decimating another in the name of religion, civilization, or greed. Others might believe that Kurtz had by then fully recognized what he had become, "the expression of dark pride, ruthless power, or cowardly terror..." (pp. 1415). But later, in Heart of Darkness, I believe Conrad tells us what the real horror is: life. "Life is a funny thing - this mysterious arrangement of ruthless logic for a futile purpose. All you can hope for from it is a certain knowledge of yourself - which comes too late - a harvest of unquenchable regret ..." (pp. 1415) Until the end, Kurtz was proud and unrepentant. It was not just the recognition of his wrongs, but the recognition of the wrongs and terrors and disappointments of life that made Kurtz cry out. Recognizing the horrors of life is what Marlow calls “a moral victory.” (pp. 1416) During Marlow's travels, he saw countless people too bored or too blinded by their greed or "cause" to take the time to stop and think about who they were become ; about what they did to others; about why they did the things they did. Kurtz’s identification of “horror!” » is the “moral victory”. Yes, he had pillaged, killed and destroyed, but ultimately he recognized the cruelty of life and judged it – more than can be said of the countless others who die daily in the “heart of darkness” . The “heart of darkness” is not Africa. It's not England, nor Belgium, nor the United States. The “heart of darkness” is the unexamined heart of man. Through Marlow's narration, Conrad challenges his readers to examine themselves to achieve "moral victory" before it is too late..