his fall His last words are a confession They show that he sees the evil of his own actions He knows he has become corrupt His cry The horror The horror is a confession of his wasted life A Judgment on Imperialism Kurtz is not only a man He is also a symbol of the empire Marlow says All Europe contributed to the making of Kurtz He is the product of European greed His final cry is not just personal guilt It is also the judgment of the whole system The horror is the exploitation of Africa the death of natives the false mask of civilization Kurtz s words expose the lie Brussels the White Sepulchre hides death The Outer Station shows destruction The Central Station shows greed In the Inner Station Kurtz becomes mad His last words judge imperialism itself as a horror The Darkness of Human Nature Conrad s theme is not only about Africa It is the heart of man The Congo River is like An immense snake uncoiled The jungle is a powerful and mysterious place In this darkness Kurtz loses his soul He makes the natives worship him as a god He sees no limit His last cry is the truth of all men inside the human heart there is greed and savagery The horror is human nature itself A Prophetic Vision of Death Marlow says of Kurtz s last words He had summed up he had judged In dying Kurtz sees his whole life He sees both his actions and their meaning The repetition The horror The horror gives a prophetic tone It sounds like a final judgment on existence Kurtz sees the empire the jungle and himself in one flash His cry is both personal and universal It is a revelation of truth Contrast with the Lie to the Intended Back in Europe Marlow visits Kurtz s Intended She believes Kurtz was noble and pure She asks about his last words Marlow cannot break her illusion He lies He says The last word he pronounced was your name To her Kurtz remains light But to the reader his truth is horror This contrast shows the two worlds illusion in Europe reality in Africa His last cry reveals the real face of civilization Kurtz s dying words are the key to Heart of Darkness They confess his wasted life criticize imperialism reveal human nature and act as prophecy They also stand in sharp contrast to the false dream kept by the Intended From Brussels to the Congo Conrad shows that the heart of the empire is not light but darkness Kurtz s last cry The horror The horror remains the true voice of the novel