In Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness, The recurring theme of opposite sides of the threshold truth, are depicted by the nature of Kurtz and the struggles of Marlow as he enters the physical boundary of the jungle. The Wilderness is simply a physical representation of the primal essence that each person contains. However when immersed in this contradiction of realities, his internal psychological battle darkens as he probes deeper into the Congo, and his own heart of darkness. .
Marlow's depiction of the jungle plays a key role in the story, exemplifying its might against the futility of mans struggle. Nature represents the beginning and the end of the truth. It contains the strength to overcome the boundaries of any one being. The environment was that which had "had taken [Kurtz], loved him, embraced him, got into his veins, consumed his flesh and sealed his soul to its own by the inconceivable ceremonies of some devilish initiation" (109). The threshold was breached and his soul was tuned to the reality of its nature. It had not so much become him, but retracted the barriers of society, allowing for him to become himself. Man is frail against nature and he battles to prevent its greatness from taking over. Communities and other such checks of society serve to oppress people's innate darkness. "These little things make all the great difference. When they are gone you must fall back upon your own innate strength, upon your own capacity for faithfulness", and most lack this strength, as in Kurtz's case (109). .
Nature embodies a purity unfound in any other thing and as man is part of nature he too contains this. This reality is dark, resulting in the construction of not only the physical barriers, but mental blocks as well. It is just as a person psychologically lives their life; the city is where they carry on their day-to-day business carrying an interpreted meaning, but in the jungle, in the pure and unbridled wilderness, people discover who they really are.
