Heart of Darkness #6.1

Although Kurtz's painting is meant to represent justice, with the woman bringing light and seeing everything equally since she is blindfolded, Conrad uses it as an ironic symbol. It can be assumed that Marlow would disagree with the painting's intended meaning because of the frequent sarcasm that he uses to tell his story. In the context of the story, the woman no longer represents justice, but she instead represents the white Europeans who are taking over Africa and enslaving the natives. The Europeans claim to be bringing light, knowlege, and civilization to the darkness and, in some cases, may actually believe it. The woman in the painting who represents the Europeans is blindfolded, meaning that the Europeans do not realize and see the true evil nature of their actions. Furthermore, the sinister look that the light casts on the woman's face reveals that although the Europeans believe they are doing good by enslaving the Africans and "civilizing" them, they are in fact bringing out their evilness and increasing their savagery.