Black Heart

A Small Price to Pay In the novel Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad, the seaman Marlow tells a big lie to Kurtz’s Intended. To Marlow “[there] is a taint of death, a flavour of mortality in lies - which is exactly what I hate and detest in the world - what I want to forget”. He hates and detests those who lie but lowers himself to doing it himself at the end of …

…justice which was due”? Marlow sees that through an insignificant lie he keeps the worst from occurring. Due to this, the situation remains stable and many people can finally put this experience behind themselves and move on. Marlow lies to protect the Intended, to prevent the darkness of the jungle from having a prolonged hold, and finally to protect Kurtz’s reputation from the humiliation that would be caused by the exposure of the truth.