Heart of Darkness: The Evil Soul RevealedIn Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness, there is a great interpretation of the characters' feelings and the uncertainties of the Congo. This intricate story reveals a lot of symbolism due to Conrad's theme of lies, good and evil, which interact together in every man. By exploring the heart of the jungle, Conrad was trying to convey an impression on the heart of man through the symbolism of the jungle itself and the manager. The story is written through Marlow's eyes. Marlow is a follower of the sea. His journey along the Congo is his first experience in freshwater navigation. He longs to see Kurtz, in hopes of appreciating all that Kurtz finds lovely in the African jungle. Marlow does not have the opportunity to see Kurtz until he is so stricken with illness that he resembles death more than a person. There is no such thing as good looks or health. In the story Marlow observes that Kurtz resembles "an animated image of death graven in old ivory" (Conrad page #). Like Marlow, Kurtz is seen as a man of honor by many admirers; but he is also a thief, murderer, marauder, persecutor, and above all he allows himself to be worshiped as a god. Both men had good intentions to seek, yet Kurtz seemed like a “universal genius” with no basic integrity or sense of responsibility (Roberts 43). Ultimately they form a symbolic unity. Marlow and Kurtz are the light and dark selves of a single person. It means that each is what the other could have been. Kurtz is the violent devil described by Marlow at the beginning of the story. It was his ability to control men through fear and adoration that led Marlow to prove it. Throughout the story Conrad builds an unhealthy darkness. At every corner he sees evil lurking in the country. Every image is sad and dark. The deadly Congo meanders to connect to the sea and all other rivers of darkness and light. The setting of these adventurous and moral quests is the great jungle, in which much of the story takes place. As a symbol the forest contains everything, and in the heart of the African journey Marlow enters the dark cave of his own heart. It even becomes the image of a vast catacomb of evil, in which Kurtz dies, but from which Marlow emerges spiritually reborn..