Question: Write a short note on the theme of “Hollow Men” in Heart of Darkness.
Ans. Heart of Darkness is widely regarded as an indictment of colonial exploitation. Seen from this perspective, it becomes an attack on the type of men who are most successful in the business of “taking it (the loot) away from those who have a different complexion or slightly flatter noses than ourselves.” Conrad’s method in mounting this attack is through the theme of hollow men.
These hollow men may be ordinary, like the Manager, or extraordinary, like Kurtz, but in each case, something vital is missing from their moral and spiritual make-up. The Manager is described as a man without entrails, symbolizing his lack of inner substance and human feeling. The Brickmaker is called “a papier-mâché Mephistopheles,” a figure so empty that Marlow feels he could poke a finger through him. Kurtz—the most successful of all the ivory traders—is ultimately reduced to nothing more than a voice echoing from an empty shell.
However, to view the theme of hollow men merely as an indictment of colonial methods is inadequate. Although critics differ on Conrad’s precise message through characters like Kurtz and the Manager, it seems reasonable to conclude that their emptiness reflects Conrad’s deeper belief that fidelity—to work, to moral values, and to human responsibility—is the average man’s salvation. It is the proper way to live and the only means of resisting and overcoming the surrounding darkness.
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