Isolation In Joseph Conrad's Heart Of Darkness

At the end of their wretched lives, both Victor and Kurtz find loyal defendants. The monster hangs over Victor upon his death and states: “Oh Frankenstein! Generous and self-devoted being! What does it avail that I now ask thee to pardon me? I, who irretrievably destroyed thee by destroying all thou lovedst.” (Shelley, 193) After all the vengeful events and tragic deaths, the monster faces his creator and asks forgiveness. This demonstrates, once again, his ability to love and his innate goodness, knowing that forgiveness is his only hope. However, since Victor is dead, his pleas are met with silence. Essentially, all hope for the monster’s ability to survive is now dead. Without hope, he turns back to evilness and blames Victor for his own

Both choose to isolate themselves from society in order to gain this power. While in isolation, both lose site of their moral responsibilities in life: Victor by abandoning his creation and Kurtz by participating in the horrific rites and ceremonies of the natives, which include killing. Further, the monster in Frankenstein and the Russian in Heart of Darkness define how evilness overpowers Victor and Kurtz respectively through isolation. The monster is fully capable of love and compassion but isolation and complete abandonment by his creator results in vengeful evilness, for which Victor is responsible. The Russian, by all accounts, should despise Kurtz for demanding his ivory and threatening his life. Yet he demonstrates complete loyalty, despite Kurtz’s evil and mad tendencies, explaining them away without judgment. Finally, the monster shows remorse and asks for forgiveness from his creator but his expressions come too late as Victor has already died. With that, the monster becomes hopeless and resorts back to evilness. In the same vain, Marlow wants to step over the line in order to know and experience truth in the same way that Kurtz does, but he is too much of a coward. Upon Kurtz’s death, he resorts to lies, calling Kurtz’s experiences in the Congo – despite the horror – victorious.