Marlow's lie in the heart of darknessIn Conrad's novel, Heart of Darkness, it is generally accepted that Marlow lied to the Addressee - the reasons for this lie are questionable. Through his lie, Marlow grants Kurtz a sort of forgiveness. In doing so, Marlow perhaps errs on the side of restraint, while maintaining the belief that Faustian wisdom has little value. One of the main themes of Faust is that knowledge can be demoralizing and that ultimately it is best left alone. Early in the book, Marlow comments on the uselessness of civilized knowledge about the African native: “He was an improved specimen; he could light a vertical boiler. He was there beneath me, and, well, watching it was as edifying as seeing a dog in a parody of breeches and a feather hat, walking on his hind legs. A few months of training had been enough for this very handsome guy... He should have applauded and. stamping his foot on the bank, instead of which he worked hard, slave to a strange sorcery, full of knowledge that improves" (Conrad 33). In this quote, he shows how stupid European ideas are when They are applied to everyone. It is obvious that this native was not helped by his "improvement of knowledge". This revelation only came to him after having spent some time on the river. As Marlow goes "back in time", ideas about Europe become increasingly out of place. Although the fact that knowledge, and by proxy the truth, turned out to be out of place in the Congo, does not fully explain why. he can lie to Kurtz's Destiny in Europe, where the normal rules of truth should apply: middle of paper...... Marlow lied But it wasn't wrong What he learned vicariously from Kurtz was that his knowledge was "funny", "uninteresting" and. “disappointing”. He didn't need to share this with her. Much like the Europeans in Africa, he gets the chance to bring his "horrible light" to a new place, but unlike the explorers, missionaries, and traders he was a part of, he decides it is best to leave the natives alone. .Works Cited: Boyle, Ted E. “Marlow’s “Lie” in “Heart of Darkness.” " Studies in Short Fiction 1 (1964): 159-163. Bruffee, Kenneth A. "The Least Nightmare: Marlow's Lie at the Heart of Darkness." Modern Language Quarterly 25 (1964): 322-29. Conrad, Joseph. Heart of Darkness. New York: Norton, 1988. Maud, Ralph. “Literary Criticism,” ed. Evanston, Illinois: Northwestern U.P., 1992.