First of all, I would like to remark that the core of this idea came to me when I read a part of the conversation between Kurtz’s russian follower or the harlequin and Marlow, in one of the most terrific moments of the novel when he realizes about the heads on the stakes. Marlow describes this character as a person who has been completely absorbed by the wilderness, and who is completely devoted to Kurtz. Consequently, he names him in different ways through the narration, and one of them was Kurtz’s last disciple.

At some point during the conversation the harlequin has the need of justifying in some way Kurtz’s actions, and even when Marlow never justifies Kurtz’s actions, he is very affected with the encounter with the man he has been looking after , becoming what I consider his real last disciple, even when he may not be aware of it. In fact, I consider that Marlow is not a completely reliable narrator, due mainly to two possibilities, his sailor facade or his lack of self-awareness. We can see examples of this in two different situations, one of them when Marlow gets out of the company offices, being deeply affected by the bad omens he has experienced there, narrating that he had a glimpse of doubt about his quest, which he describes it not as hesitation. Nevertheless, I really consider this isn’t true, he may not just hesitated, we can even suppose he felt fear.

The second scene is when Marlow is tracking down Kurtz after the company has provoked the fire. He narrates that he has a thought about never getting back to the civilization and remaining the rest of his life there in the wood, which is in my opinion a reflection of his empathy to Kurtz’s decision, and can even be a sign of rebellion against society and capitalism. Nevertheless, He considers it a silly thought.

Marlow’s feelings and emotions about Kurtz change a lot during the novel. During his journey to the inner station through the Congo river Marlow listens many different opinions about the man, some characters consider him a genius with a bright future in the business, some think that he isn’t playing fair using the natives to his own purpose, some think he is a remarkable man and some even refer him as practically a divinity. As a matter of fact, he experiences different emotional stages, which some of them are curiosity, fascination, disappointment, anger, hate, empathy, pity, and finally, admiration and loyalty. He has conflicted emotions about Kurtz and the scenario, which show us the complexity of both characters and the situation. Moreover, Marlow is also aware of the company’s interests and intentions about Kurtz’s discoveries and the information he compiled, so he has a wide perspective of the whole situation.

It is in the chapter III when we will see a whole evolution on Marlow, who just arrives to the inner station. Once he reaches it, we will see a burst of anger in Marlow’s words when he meets Kurtz: “ At this moment I heard Kurtz’s deep voice behind the curtain, Save me!- save the ivory you mean. Don’t tell me! Save me ! Why, I’ve had to save you. You are interrupting my plans now. Sick! Sick! Not so sick as you would like to believe. Never mind. I’ll carry my ideas out yet – I will return. I’ll show you what can be done. You with your little peddling notions – you are interfering with me. I will return. I… “ . Nevertheless, Marlow’s mindset and attitude towards Kurtz will change soon, and we can appreciate this at his farewell with Kurtz’s follower when he swears to protect Kurtz’s reputation: “ All right, Said I after a while. “ Mr Kurtz’s reputation is safe with me. I did not know how truly I spoke “

In the next scene, the hill next to Kurtz’s house is on fire, and he has abandoned it. Marlows follows his trail, finding him and experiencing different emotions. At that moment he perceives his darkness and how much his soul has suffered, becoming aware of the experiences he has lived and how much they have affected him. Moreover, This leads to Marlow ‘s development of some new feelings and emotions, feeling empathy and showing mercy to him, taking him to the steamboat instead of killing him. In fact, we can see from this point that Marlow starts supporting Kurtz in a more active way , even when he has been contracted by the company, he acts with certain loyalty to Kurtz, which is noticed by the rest of the crew. Once they are in the steamboat with Kurtz and the ivory Marlow is witness of Kurtz’s final words ( The horror, the horror ! ) Which will have a great impact on him, and this will be the crucial point where he starts to develop his feeling of admiration to him in a deeper way. As a matter of fact, he suffers a near-death experience getting sick in the steamboat, where we can see his full admiration and loyalty to Kurtz when he reaches his reflectional climax when he says: “ I did not join Kurtz there and then. I did not. I remained to dream the nightmare out to the end and to show my loyalty to Kurtz once more…I was within a hair’s breadth of the last opportunity for pronouncement, and I found with humiliation that I would have nothing to say. This is the reason why I affirm that Kurtz was a remarkable man. He had something to say. He said it… It was an affirmation, a moral victory paid by innumerable defeats… that is why I remained loyal to Kurtz to the last, and even beyond “. We can see also this loyalty to Kurtz when he visits his wife and lies her about his final words, he could have told her the truth, nevertheless, that truth would have been too much cruel for her. 

Finally, even when the last scene connects the term heart of darkness, which has been alluded many times during the novel with a more global, deep and general perspective, I find really interesting and revealing the simile between Marlow and a meditating buddha, which is the essence and final element of this writing. In my opinion it connects Marlow with that divine aura of wisdom Kurtz had, and in some way their relationship has tainted Marlow with it. Having this into account, we can observe a part of Kurtz in Marlow, so we can consider that we are looking at Kurtz instead of Marlow, making of him his real last disciple.