Marlowistrate

Heart of Darkness and Waiting For The Barbarians are both tales of a character's recognition and rejection of a corrupt community.

In Heart of Darkness, Marlow joins "The Company" because his unbridled curiosity naturally makes him want to explore the unexplored and, more pragmatically, he needs a job. Shortly after accepting his position in the company, Marlow begins to recognize the darkness and corruption of what is actually a brutal, imperialistic, racist, and dishonest organization. When Marlow tries to reject this corruption, he is regarded as "unsound" and company members, who initially tried to ally themselves with Marlow (because they believed Marlow to be allied with Kurtz, and the company is, above all else, ruled by self-serving political alliance and desire for power and control)became wary of their interactions with him. Marlow seems to be inherently independent-minded. He recognizes inconsistencies (the brick layer with no bricks, etc) and is able to form conclusions about the lack of integrity in the company. He has no massive illusions of idealism he has to dispel beforehand (he even mocks his aunt's readiness to accept the idealist propaganda).

The Magistrate is different in this respect. He has been a tool of the Empire for decades. He believes in and, also significantly, WANTS to believe in the integrity of the Empire that provides him with his title and relatively worry-free lifestyle. He has ties to the Empire and is not inclined to oppose it. His character, therefore, undergoes more of a transformation than Marlow, though they both walk the same path of rejecting a corrupt power. The Magistrate's opposition to The Empire starts unintentionally. When he picks up the lantern, he never expected to see the dead, beaten old man and the tortured little boy. He even thinks of how he wishes he had never seen it, he doesn't want to be a part of any conflict, he simply wants to return to his normal life, but he sees too much and is not able to sit idly by. By the end of the novel, the Magistrate labels himself an enemy of The Empire and wishes to see no similarities between himself and The Empires agents (mainly Colonel Joll).