The Necessary Lie in Joseph Conrads Heart of Darkness Essays -- Heart

The Necessary Lie in Heart of Darkness In his narrative, Marlow declares, "You know I hate, detest, and can't bear a lie, not because I am straighter than the rest of us, but simply because it appalls me. 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" (Longman 2210). In spite of these strong words, he lies to Kurtz's "Intended" when he visits her and tells her, "The last word he pronounced was - your name" (Longman 2246). Marlow's words, spoken in Part I to the audience, seem to contradict his words spoken in Part III to the Intended. Upon closer examination however, it is clear that it was keeping to his beliefs that caused Marlow to lie to the Intended. Marlow was initially hired for this job by using connections his Aunt had. After trying in vain on his own, he approached her and she "pulled a few strings", and got him hired. He then commences to explain to the audience that; "It's queer how out of touch with truth women are. They live in a world of their own, and there had never ...