Heart of Darkness- Symbol or Theme

For a symbol, I think I'll analyze the Russian. He's the guy that adored Kurtz, with all the rags sewed on his clothes. He's not just another loony bin there for space filling, at least I don't think he is. Firstly, his clothes are patched up with numerous multicolored pieces of rags that were lying around. Rags that Kurtz had lying around. I'm going to guess that this stands for the fact that he absorbed everything that Kurtz said, did, was. He didn't bother to express himself, he simply let Kurtz fill him in with everything and anything he pleased. He refused to think for himself, to see things as they were. He didn't think that there were problems with what they were doing, that they should stop and find a better way, he simply ignored their problems and covered it up with whatever Kurtz would ramble about. He covered up Kurtz's faults with his lectures. And he wouldn't suffer any bad remarks about Kurtz. He was more or less Kurtz's rag doll, a puppet to ensure that all people give him at least some degree of respect that he believes he deserves. He is completely under Kurtz's power.

Marlow describes him as someone "ruled by the the spirit of adventure," and that Marlow actually envied him a little for it. The Russian more or less is able to live only because he's fascinated with moving along, to do more and to assist Kurtz. He mindlessly accepted everything that Kurtz was, and he went with it and moved on. It's almost as if his indifference to good and evil, though primarily evil, was the only thing that kept him alive. His purpose and objective has been dictated to him by Kurtz, and he survives the moral jungle as easily as he survives the actual one. All he is concerned about is his superior, regardless of character. Innocence is often depicted as being a sort of incorruptible invincibility, and Marlow attributes that to his existence. If he wasn't as strong-willed and wasn't along only for the ride, as it were, he would have ended up just as crazy as Kurtz. Of course, this isn't to say he's not troubled by it.

The Russian is a strange person in that he shifts between being exceedingly happy and then overwhelmingly depressed. His "innocence and adventure" seem to contribute to this behavior. What he suffers from is the desire to go on conflicting with his conscience. Though he accepts that Kurtz is corrupted, that doesn't mean he approves of it. He not only respects Kurtz but fears him as well. He seems to be understanding more and more that Kurtz is lost, but is too afraid to stop him from destroying himself. His conscience is telling him something is terribly wrong, but he also wants to see what Kurtz is capable of doing. He desperately wants to succeed with Kurtz, and as a result cannot himself step away from the jungle. He stays behind as well, now hooked on what Kurtz was hooked on, but for a different reason. He now wants to finish what Kurtz started. As a result, he is also doomed to the darkness. He is both afraid of it but at the same time is intrigued by it and wants to see it through to the end. He is eager to succeed but nervous of what lies ahead. His innocence seems to have created two personalities within him, expressive of his likely conflict of Kurtz's deeds and the surrounding darkness versus the great things yet to be done and the rewards that are sure to follow.