Heart of Darkness
Respond to TWO of the below prompts or questions. Be sure to divide your time appropriately for two essays. And please number your responses
1) In Chapter Three, Marlow says of Kurtz, “His soul had gone made. Being alone in the wilderness, it had looked within itself, and, by heavens! I tell you, it had gone made. I had–for my sins, I suppose—to go through the ordeal of looking into myself. No eloquence could have been so withering to one’s belief in mankind as his final burst of sincerity. He struggled with it himself, too. I saw it,–I heard it. I saw the inconceivable mystery of a soul that knew no restraint, no faith, and no fear, yet struggling blindly with itself.” Working intimately with this passage, discuss how it develops or relates to significant themes throughout the novel.

2) At the beginning of the story, the narrator says, “We looked on, waiting patiently—there was nothing else to do till the end of the flood; but it was only after a long silence…that we knew we were fated, before the ebb began to run, to hear about one of Marlow’s inconclusive experiences.” Discuss the idea of fate as it operates in Heart of Darkness.