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Oedipus quote and 'Heart of Darkness'


alexnath

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Hey! I am studying HoD as well~ I think the topic "you are the murderer you seek" is probably best embodied by Kurtz and Marlow.

Throughout the book, Kurtz is seen as a person of duality. His company workers see him as a really successful person and his fiance thinks he's virtuous, but he isn't really. He is corrupted! He questions his identity throughout the book by being drawn into his lust for power but concurrently wanting to refrain. He realises the emptiness and the wrongness of his actions just before he dies, saying "the horror! the horror!". He wasn't fully aware of what he was actually doing until that moment of realisation so I guess that fits in to the concept of "you are the murderer you seek". Also, Marlow is characterised as being honest and really virtuous throughout the book but when he experiences that same pull of power, he struggles to overcome the temptation. He tells people that he hate lies but at the end of the book he lies to Kurtz fiance in order to protect her from knowing the darkness of Kurtz. So he is actually a person who he ironically hates! I think this dualistic characterisation of Marlow also relates to your topic.

I hope this helps!!!

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