Question

heart of darkness is an 1899 novella by joseph conrad, narrated primarily through the sailor marlow, who recounts his journey up the congo river to find the ivory trader kurtz. throughout the novella, marlow struggles to understand how the once-idealistic kurtz descended into brutality while stationed in the african interior. in the novella, conrad suggests that kurtz’s moral disintegration was more revelation than transformation. 11 mark for review which quotation from heart of darkness most effectively illustrates the claim? a “his soul was mad. being alone in the wilderness, it had looked within itself and, by heavens i tell you, it had gone mad.” b “i saw the inconceivable mystery of a soul that knew no restraint, no faith, and no fear, yet struggling blindly with itself.” c “he had summed up—he had judged. ‘the horror!’ he was a remarkable man.” d “the wilderness had whispered to him things about himself. …it echoed loudly within him because he was hollow at the core.”

Explanation:

The claim is that Kurtz’s moral disintegration was more revelation than transformation, meaning his true nature (hollow at the core) was revealed by the wilderness. Option D says the wilderness whispered things about himself (his true nature) and echoed loudly because he was hollow at the core, showing his moral disintegration was a revelation of his inherent hollowness, not a new transformation. Option A focuses on madness from aloneness, B on a soul’s struggle without restraint, C on his final judgment “The horror” but not as directly on revelation of inherent flaws.

Answer:

D. “[The wilderness] had whispered to him things about himself. …it echoed loudly within him because he was hollow at the core.”