Exploration of Abomination

We pass by a car accident and stop to see the disaster, the loss, and we try to fathom ways in which we, ourselves, would recoup after such trauma. A neighbor's house is on fire—are we first considering options of how to help the victim, or do our innate human impulses cause us to first review the hypothetical responses and solutions that would result from a fire burning down our house? We are not fascinated with abomination because of its appeal; we are fascinated because of its rarity and its plausibility, its deterrent and its lure, its distance and its impending proximity.
In Conrad's Heart of Darkness, Marlow is fascinated with Mr. Kurtz's abomination throughout his journey on the river; he obsessively tries to reach Kurtz as he philosophizes about his stories and experiences in the jungle. Marlow realizes that Kurtz is also at cross-roads with identity and truth: they both come wanting to stay as "civilized" Europeans, but with the temptation in the jungle, they need to abandon morality completely once they leave the context of European society. And with regards to colonization—what are the limitations to "civilizing the savages" in such conditions? At first, Kurtz embraces the "duty of civilizing", as if he was performing a social justice for the indigenous people—whom he already classifies as primitive. In such stark conditions, it is impossible to follow the same moral code, character, and conduct as those of previous environments. And soon after, these once altruistic approaches to the African society change into sheer abomination as the true darkness that is embedded in any imperialism, colonization, and exploitation bleeds through.
Well, how can they not succumb to utter darkness once engulfed in it? This is where Marlow finds a connection to Kurtz—they both realize the hypocrisy in imperialism, and the sheer suppression and extermination that are direct results from it. But Kurtz does not hide his knowledge of this, and he is clearly aware of his rule through violence and extermination. In my visual representation of Kurtz's downward spiral, he rips the flowers off the bundle in a fury; he depletes them for all their monetary value; he even pushes the desolate bundle—his once-existent morals— off to the side in exchange for the glass jar of coins—his new found power and greed. He basks in the sensation of being able to exploit his resources for his own gain. The more he falls into abomination, the more darkness surrounds him, as seen through the transition of the photographs at first displaying white-matte borders, then no borders, and then dark-vignette borders. We watch the montage and are fascinated with the relentless depletion of the nature, just as Marlow fascinates himself with tales of Kurtz and creates his own introspective philosophies of his behaviors. Marlow then sees Kurtz's abomination for himself: the collection of severed heads adorning the fence posts, his escape back into the darkness, his madness as he crawls on all fours. And finally, he witnesses Kurtz's recognition of the destruction, at the hour of his death, as the abominated man cries "The horror! The horror!" In my visual representation, "Kurtz's" recognition comes when he sniffs the jar of money, then the desolate bushel, and does not smell anything nice. Instead, he notices the horror that has entrenched him throughout his atrocity in the jungle, earning Marlow's loyalty as he, too, understands the circumstances of darkness.

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