While many readers often believe that Conrad is writing his own self through the character of Marlow in Heart of Darkness, ultimately Conrad is rather writing about his own beliefs and attitude regarding humanity. By illustrating such sinister images of darkness and inhumane treatment of society, Conrad effectively reveals how everybody, even the most moral of people such as Marlow, often can not restrain their id from influencing their decisions and beliefs. Thus, although Conrad employs the destruction of Marlow as a key theme in his story, he is trying to express the inner evil of the sub-conscience that lies in people rather than portraying himself as Marlow. Marlow's downfall, moreover, is most pertinent in his obsession of Kurtz; on his journey, Marlow is a victim to such horrific actions that he allowed his id to be partially released. As a result, when Marlow views the malignant actions that Kurtz has committed, Marlow already had been so blinded by his obsession with finding him that he is able to not only forgive Kurtz for his actions, but actually praise him for what he has done.
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