Heart of Darkness Essay: Second Body

-The deeper Marlow travels into the darkness of the African Congo, more light is not only shed on the false perception of the African people, but also on his unconscious thought. Marlow’s eyes metaphorically begin to open to understand more about his unconscious thought. Again, it is extremely ironic how the darker it gets for Marlow emotionally, the more light he sees in himself and his unconscious. The reader can view this phenomenon as Marlow discovering more about the ninety percent of his thoughts, his unconscious thoughts. Ross C. Murfin touches on the subject of how little control we have over our thoughts. In his essay, Murfin states: “Freud went further, suggesting that the powers motivating men and women are mainly and normally unconscious” (Murfin 114). What both Murfin and Freud are suggesting is that what people believe are the own, original conscious thoughts are really influenced by outside sources and come up with in the unconscious part of the mind. This can relate to Marlow quite well due to the fact that Marlow started his journey with thoughts that the Africans were savages. This concept most likely came from the culture in which he grew up. The general consensus of the Europeans at that time was that the Africans were uncivilized savages; so naturally, Marlow would acquire the same perception. It is not until he travels deep into his unconscious that he can understand his previous perception is far from the truth, and that the Africans are people just like he is. Freud created a brilliant analogy to explain this phenomenon. The Freudian Iceberg explains his conception of the human psyche. Roughly ten percent of the iceberg is above water, which represents the conscious mind, and the other ninety percent is submerged into the unconscious ocean. Within the unconscious, the Superego, Ego, and Id lie. Freud’s Superego is the voice of reason in the unconscious, and the Id is the direct emotional response. The Ego finds itself in between and can flow freely in both the conscious and unconscious part of the mind. The Ego is the tool in which Marlow can shed more light on his unconscious. As he travels deeper into the darkness of his mind, he uses the Ego to do so. Freudian theory sheds immense light on understanding how to view Marlow’s journey and how/why he comes to his decisions.