Connection: Mr. Kurtz and Hitler

This past week we dove into The Heart of Darkness. At first I was totally lost and overwhelmed, but as the book progressed it really started to speak to me. By the time we reached Part III I was not only enjoying the reading, but picking up ideas that had likely been over my head in the first two parts. What struck me most, other than the answers to the guiding questions, was the depth of each character. In 78 pages Conrad managed to craft deep, complex characters who were easy to relate to and timeless.

When reading about Mr. Kurtz I could not help but writing Hitler! all over my page. Something about him really reminds me of Hitler. I think this is primarily because of his eloquence. Kurtz, like Hitler, was able to dazzle people with his words. Kurtz, like Hitler, was also legendary. Everyone knew him all over the world. Although typically we are used to hearing about people who hated Hitler, there were and certainly still are many Ne0-Nazis. 

To me the Russian trader and Marlow were such Nazis. They bought into what Kurtz said and did. The Russian said Kurtz was not to be judged as any other man should be. This same idea could be applied to Hitler because if Hitler was judged by the standards which everyone is held to; he was certainly no hero. In that same respect, Kurtz was also a monster. He saw heads as decorations and -like Hitler- had no regard for the lives of others.

Kurtz especially reminds me of Hitler in his rise to power because of his concern with the perspective of others. What I mean by this is that Kurtz was extremely worried that people back in Europe would not admire him and he would not receive credit for his accomplishments. Similarly, Hitler on his rise to power was consumed with fame and appreciation. 

I plan on rereading The Heart of Darkness again because so much of the meaning was unfortunately lost on me initially. I think that when I do reread it I will see even more connections between Kurtz and Hitler. I think Heart of Darkness is full of connections between it's characters and situations to things that have happened thus far in history as well as many things that are occurring now.