How we cite our quotes: Citations follow this format: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #16
"I am not disclosing any trade secrets. In fact, the manager said afterwards that Mr. Kurtz's methods had ruined the district. I have no opinion on that point, but I want you clearly to understand that there was nothing exactly profitable in these heads being there." (3.5)
All of a sudden, Marlow seems awfully concerned with the Company's profits. Like the manager, he disagrees with Kurtz's judgment here, saying that beheading native Africans wasn't exactly profitable. Callous? Cynical? Satiric? You decide.
Quote #17
"They [the heads] only showed that Mr. Kurtz lacked restraint in the gratification of his various lusts, that there was something wanting in him - some small matter which, when the pressing need arose, could not be found under his magnificent eloquence." (3.5)
Er, saying that the beheadings shows that Kurtz couldn't "restrain" his "lusts" seems like a bit of an understatement. This "lack of restraint" ultimately brings about Kurtz's downfall. You think?
Quote #18
"A voice! a voice! It was grave, profound, vibrating, while the man did not seem capable of a whisper. However, he had enough strength in him—factitious no doubt—to very nearly make an end of us, as you shall hear directly." (3.11)
Kurtz may look like a skeleton/ ghost/ phantom/ dying man, but he still has enough power in him to almost do away with Marlow and his crew.