Moral ambiguity in Heart of Darkness In Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad we see various attitudes towards morality. It is extremely difficult, perhaps impossible, to deduce the exact adherence to morality that Conrad intended. Conrad provides his readers with several examples in which the interpretation of morality is circumstantial, relative, and even "indeterminable." In the novel there are many situations that are halfway between morality, immorality and amorality. Some examples from the novel that illustrate this idea are: the depiction of Kurtz revealed through Marlowe, Marlowe's actions and thoughts, and Kurtz's death scene. In the case of Kurtz, Conrad seems to give us a blatant amorality. Conrad constantly suggests that the question of morality with Kurtz is controversial, since he transcended the strict standards of morality of society, of Western society. The Russian that Marlowe meets soon after entering Kurtz's domain explains to Marlowe that "you cannot judge Mr. Kurtz as you would a normal man." The Russian believes that Kurtz has transcended all "ordinary" value systems. Marlowe confirms this idea in his enchantment with Kurtz when he and the steamboat manager converse about the nature of Kurtz's actions. Marlowe asks the warden if he thinks Kurtz's methods are wrong, to which the warden quickly responds in the affirmative. However, Marlowe cannot exactly agree with this assessment of Kurtz's actions since he sees "no method" in them. The Manager, an unreliable source of information since he is a biased character of the Western persuasion, sees Kurtz as immoral, probably because he considers him greedy. While Marlowe is completely incapable of relating to any kind of moral system, if indeed the...... middle of paper ......n the value of other moralities. So, in Kurtz's case, morality is not questionable. Instead of being judged, Kurtz now passes judgment, an act of a moral being. In conclusion, just as Conrad's narrator says, the story is confusing. The topic of morality, as Ian Watt says, is "particularly difficult to decipher". Conrad plays with the characters' value systems. As we can easily see, they are full of uncertainty. Marlowe and Kurtz undergo changes in their view of morality, Marlowe, perhaps, never arriving at a tangible destination. These shifts and changes make it impossible to arrive at the exact endorsement of morality, if indeed there is one, as Conrad intended. Works Cited: Conrad, Joseph. Heart of Darkness. New York and London: Norton. 1988.Watt, Ian. Corrado in the nineteenth century. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California P. 1979.