Lies in the Heart of DarknessA lie, as defined by Webster's dictionary is 1) a false statement deliberately presented as true; 2) convey a false image or impression. It is generally accepted that Marlow told a lie to the Aspirant - the reasons for that lie are debatable. I would suggest that he told not just one lie, to the Intendant, but several - that his visit itself was, in some form, a lie. The statement easily recognizable as a lie, and which falls under Webster's definition 1), is that of Marlow's deliberate falsification of Kurtz's last words - "The last word he spoke was - your name" (Longman p. 2246), when we all know that Kurtz's last words were: "The horror! The horror!" (Longman p. 2240). Marlow's intentions - however noble in this case - are questionable, as far as the minor lies he tells the Expected One are concerned. This lie, in Marlow's mind, was justified as a means to protect the Destined. Marlow saw Kurtz's death as "...a moment of triumph for the wilds, an invasive and vengeful rush, it seemed to me, that I should hold alone for the safety of another soul" (Longman p. 2243) . Now lying is not only justified but also honorable. Marlow's nobler self - his spiritually attuned nature - tells us early on: "You know that I hate, detest and cannot bear a lie, not because I am straighter than the rest of us, but simply because it scares me. C 'It's a smell of death, a taste of mortality in lies - which is exactly what I hate and detest in the world - what I want to forget.' (Longman page 2210). His statement is an acknowledgment of lies (of the world, in general, and of the brickmaker, in particular) (Longman p. 2208-2210). He reviles these lies as a betrayal of what is good and... middle of paper.........."[Marlow]. To illustrate how effectively the previous lies are setting up Marlow - he has not also made to choke on this one: "His end was in every way worthy of his life" [Marlow]. However, taken literally, it may well have been a true statement, Marlow intended it to carry a false one impression of a noble, honorable and worthy death and life. Marlow never explains how the lies made him feel. I believe that Marlow 's true character was honest and noble and suffered from this blow to his previous righteous repugnance ) could be classified as irony (out of respect for Marlow's true character) - the use of words to convey the opposite of their literal meaning or an inconsistency between what is expected and what actually happens. Or it is this the first step into the Heart of Darkness Justify sins based on intentions or results.