The most evil villains are those who understand the evil they commit but pay no attention. In Heart of Darkness, however, the main villain, Kurtz, is not one of these characters. More than anything, he is portrayed as powerless in the face of a greater force that forces him to act depravedly. He doesn't choose to act evilly, but he still has to. He cannot prevail against the nature deep inside him and against the nature around him. In the jungle only the law of wild nature applies. Kurtz's role as a villain stems from the dark and perverse awareness of the freedom he gains in the jungle and the resulting destruction of all boundaries previously imposed by society. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay The narrator tells the reader that Kurtz goes to the Congo with the best of intentions. His desire was to help civilize those whom Europeans considered savages. Although he undoubtedly had a racist attitude, he also sincerely wanted to help the natives of the Congo. He was renowned in Europe for his efforts on behalf of Africans, and the narrator initially described him as a true humanitarian. The manager tells Marlow, “He is an emissary of piety, science, and progress… [He is the guide] of the cause entrusted to us by Europe… superior intelligence, broad sympathies, and singleness of purpose.” Kurtz had left Europe and its comforting borders for the betterment of another people. Towards the end of the story, Marlow himself says: "The original Kurtz had... his sympathies... in the right place. [Very appropriately... the International Society for the Suppression of Savage Customs, had entrusted him with. .. his future guide." Kurtz had shouldered the "white man's burden" and wished only to promote and spread civilization, not to be lost forever in a land that could not be tamed. Once in the jungle, however, Kurtz changes. Freed from the shackles of European society and Western civilization, Kurtz becomes familiar with the dark truths hidden in the wilderness. There is no longer any model of adequate behavior to which he must conform, but only his personal impulses and desires. Marlow says, "[Kurtz] had taken a high place among the devils of the earth - I mean literally. You cannot understand. How could you? - with a solid floor under his feet, surrounded by kind neighbors... walking delicately among the butcher and the policeman, in the holy terror of scandal, of the gallows and of asylums - how can you imagine what particular region of the early times a man's free feet can introduce into him through solitude - total solitude without a policeman - through the path of silence - the most absolute silence, where no warning voice is heard... public opinion whispering?" With nothing to balance these impulses, his actions only reflect his furious and wild freedom. Describing the effect the jungle has on Kurtz, Marlow says: “The wild had patted [Kurtz] on the head, and behold, he was like… an ivory ball; it had caressed him, and behold! - had withered ; had taken him, loved him, embraced him, entered his veins, consumed his flesh, and sealed his soul to itself by... some diabolical initiation." Kurtz's moral sense had been shaped by his society and, once free from that society, it was shattered and shaken off. The wild nature of the jungle and the awareness of such unbridled freedom overwhelm Kurtz, transforming him into a completely different being. From the moment of his arrival, Kurtz's behavior becomes increasingly driven by his parents:.