암흑의 핵심'에 나타난 君子와 小人의 이미지

Abstract

Heart of Darkness records the journeys of those who entered the continent of Africa to pursue diverse aims such as commercial expansionism and civilizing enlightenment, and who went through the physical dropout offered by geographical remoteness. Among the characters, two men named Krutz and Marlow are at the center of this story. There have been diverse interpretations of the characters in Heart of Darkness. However, the comparison between the changes of Marlow after the journey through the Congo river and all the western people around him manifests the clear contrast between 'the Superior Man(君子)' and 'the Mean Man(小人)' in Eastern philosophy, especially that of Confucius and Mencius. The culture and history of the West, which have searched for the enlightenment of the savages by virtue of "Reason," turned out to have hidden much greater savageness than its other, the real savages. Also its history, as shown in the thoughts and activities of most of the characters in Heart of Darkness, has been riddled with the images of the 'Mean Man,' who only pursues his own personal interest and prosperity through biased and prejudiced ways of thought and behavior. However, in Marlow, who seems to be an outsider of civilized society, we can find the images of thhe 'Superior Man,' who is unbiased and universal, searching for harmonization with others without pursuing personal interest or prosperity.