Connection: Heart of Darkness and the Man Behind the Curtain

A very interesting point was brought up by Jenna this week. She compared HoD to the Wizard of Oz, at least in terms of its depiction of Kurtz. I found this comment very insightful, and it stimulated some thought. Kurtz is first depicted as an astounding person. His eloquence, his thoughts all resound with brilliance. Yet, Marlow discovers a very different Kurtz from what he had originally perceived. By the end of the book, Kurtz has been turned basically into an animal (as seen by his crawling). Likewise in the Wizard of Oz, throughout the entire plot, the main goal is to get to the all powerful, wonderful Wizard. Yet, in the end, he turns out to be a small man behind the curtain, pretending to be greater than what he is. Likewise, in Matrix Reloaded, we find out that “the One” is not a miracle prophesized by the Oracle, but yet another construction of the Matrix in order to balance some equation within the Matrix that is never really explained. We find there have been numerous “One”s in the past, and they all existed to fulfill the Machines’ purposes. In all of these popular plots, there is no escaping the system, just as something seems original, unique, humanity pulls back the curtain to find not a God, not a genius, but an small, twisted creature, less of a man, more of an animal. It is a lesson everyone must realize. There is no inherent value, goodness, God, there is only the grim truth of realism.