No, not Dick Cheney! Although if he had read the book maybe he would have identified in himself the paternalistic arrogance of imperialism and would have understood how 20th century leaders with visions of creating new models for humans through misplaced idealism putrefied into savagery and madness were usually disappointed by the response of those that they wanted to transform, or “save”. And if more Americans had read the book, it may not have been so easy for the literally heartless former Vice President to invade Iraq under the guise of the absurd utopian illusion that the Iraqis wanted our blue jeans and our Hot Pockets. It is, of course, Conrad’s most enduring novella, an easy read, a slim 80 pages that reads like an endlessly re readable poem. But since it’s now available in a comic book, maybe more American readers will be able to follow along, although probably not the illiterate and sub-human Dick Cheney.
The enigmatic Mr Kurtz’ dying words,”the horror, the horror”, have become the epitaph of the West’s uneasy and exploitative relationship with Africa. And everything else. Who doesn’t use this quote to add gravitas – accurately or inaccurately – to any situation? The Bush presidency, the 2009 post season, the Twilight series, etc. Besides the use, over use and misuse of that quote, the Edwardian novella’s references and influences and continuing relevance in the 108 years since it was published in all forms of media are vast, spawning radio, theatre film and television adaptations. It infected Ronan Bennett’s The Catastrophist and two of John le Carré’s novels, The Constant Gardener and The Mission Son, Nick Davies’ Dark Heart, Sven Lindquist’s Exterminate All the Brutes, Michaela Wrong’s In the Footsteps of Mr Kurtz, and Tim Butcher’s Blood River. Quoting the phrase: “Mistah Kurtz, he dead.†expanded TS Eliot’s The Hollow Men’s readership.
