The novella Heart of Darkness opens and closes with a Marlow seating in a Buddha like posture, and so regarded as modern day Buddha. The author Joseph Conrad gives an obscure picture of Buddhism in the pose of Marlow. The pose also represents him to a certain degree philosophical and wise because Marlow keenly observes human life and nature in his voyage. The basis for the common portrayal of Marlow as a meditating figure perhaps due to the Marlow’s intentions of avoiding suffering and find the inner peace as he begins his tale about the heart of darkness which found in all humans.
The ideas regarding Buddhism presented by Conrad are uncertain. Although, reference to Buddhism depict in Conrad’s Marlow are understandable to some extent. The Buddhism is a path of practice and spiritual development leading to insight into the true nature of reality. Correspondingly, Marlow’s journey into the impenetrable and mysterious core of jungle is not only physical but also psychological and mystical journey where he encounters darkness of both moral and physical. The intrinsic darkness which is deep inside all of us, and the extrinsic darkness of the impenetrable forest. Marlow eyewitnesses the true nature of human reality. However, the novella possesses central theme that no true groups of people unnecessarily are distinct from one another in terms of barbarity, civilization, savagery, and refinement.
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The line from novella, “he had the pose of a Buddha preaching in the European clothes and without a lotus flower” showing that he is telling the tale in a didactic manner of Buddhism. The anonymous narrator comparing European values of Marlow with the Indian values of Buddhism. Although, he is European that’s why he is seating without lotus flower. The mentioning of lotus flower is allegorical to Marlow because lotus holds an enormous symbolic weight in Buddhism. The lotus has a life cycle unlike any other. It submerges every night into murky water and revive next morning without residue on its petals. An incredible daily cycle of life, death, and a sudden immaculate rebirth that can only be described as spiritual. Comparably, Marlow also learn that spiritual experience of life and death within the forest and a sudden rebirth in his self after the continuous episodes of darkness. But the rebirth or revival of Marlow was not as pure as of lotus flower. However, Marlow lacks the lotus flower suggesting an imitating Buddha.
The Buddhist practices like meditation are means of changing yourself in order to develop the qualities of awareness, and a path which ultimately culminates in Enlightenment and Buddhahood. Similarly, Marlow pose himself as an idol for self-enlightenment as he looks to find meaning in his life and experiences. Marlow in search of elusive figure Mr. Kurtz goes deeper into the core of jungle and begin to notice that savagery is a primitive phase of civilization. But Marlow’s awareness of truth in terms of civilization changes, what he thought as rational and superior was irrational. When Marlow learn about Kurtz’s activities in the Congo, he had criticized the Kurtz moral decline because of moral separation from European civilization. The paradigm of Kurtz forced Marlow to look into his own soul and reassess his European values. Marlow comes to know the hollowness of European Civilization at the core. He mentions the white men he come across in Africa, from the general manager to Kurtz as empty, and alludes to the European city as the ‘sepulchral city’, a sepulchral is hollow tomb. Throughout the novella Marlow argues that what Europeans call ‘civilization’ is superficial, a mask created by fear of the law and public disgrace that hides a dark heart, just as a beautiful white sepulchral hides the decaying dead inside. Therefore, Marlow meets a chance to enlighten himself.
Marlow’s tale of Congo adventure was seemed to have Buddha’s quest in which he restraints himself from the evil which was prevalent in the jungle. Marlow after meeting with the surroundings of this dark continent and Kurtz, learn to know the whole atmosphere that was the embodiment of corruption, decay, and exploitation. Conrad actually questions the imperialist narrative of his time through Marlow. In the disguise of a noble cause, Belgians have exploited the Congo by claiming to educate the natives and to bring them religion and a better way of life. This was called as hypocrisy of imperialism. However, Marlow’s quest is a failure because Kurtz turns out to be the biggest monster of all. The failure causes him to learn that at heart of everything lies only darkness. Marlow notes that he escaped the jungle’s influence not due to that he had high principles and ideals but due to his job or work which kept him busy. The work perhaps the only thing in the “heart of darkness” that Marlow views in an entirely positive light. This elaborates why he is so horrified when he saw laziness, poor work and machines left out to rust.
The darkness that was become a fact to humans by Marlow, can be oppressed by religious practices by humans. Thus, Marlow sit crossed legged, with his arms dropped, the palms of his hand outwards, resembled an idol. It gives him perhaps the inner peace and a courage to tell the story to others. A story full of human darkness of heart which may burst out where the opportunity meets.
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