Evil and Insanity in the Heart of Darkness

"And this also," said Marlow suddenly, "has been one of the dark places of the earth (Conrad, 6)." This is the first quote from Marlow and it hints at the evil and loss of sanity in Joseph Conrad¡¯s Heart of Darkness. Evil can be found everywhere in this novella and Francis Coppola¡¯s Apocalypse Now. Both stories narrate a man¡¯s journey inside himself and the discoveries he makes. He confronts his worst fears regarding insanity, failure, and cultural contamination.
Evil itself is an inherent part of every human soul yet it seems to be held back by society. Sometimes this evil side stays inside of us forever and other times it is released when we come upon specific situations. This is clearly illustrated in Heart of Darkness. It is reflected in the setting as the Europeans travel from the Thames River in England slowly down the Congo and the whites slowly crumble and finally some lose their sanity. When Marlow was sent on the mission to find Kurtz, he was also trying to find hi...