Oh the horror

Polished Response

“Oh the horror…the horror…”

In the novel Heart of Darkness the quote "Oh the horror... the horror..." are the dying words of the character Kurtz. Kurtz is an ivory trader and the words probably described what was going on in the trading post. The Europeans used the native Africans to gather ivory and Kurtz probably grew to find this very disturbing. This reflects upon the dark nature of mankind that the boys in Lord of the Flies discover in themselves; some, not so much. Wealth, power, and reputation make up the skin of the dark onion and are sought after by terrible people. Kurtz was one to understand the flaws in the human race yet he had a role in the ivory trading and did nothing about it. We all carry a darkness inside of us no matter how small it may be.