English students and professors could easily spend days, if not weeks, discussing Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness paired with four of the main literary theories.  Kurtz is an odd duck, making him ripe to dissect, theoretically.  Freudian interpretations of Kurtz have him representing a strong Id in contrast to Marlow’s sturdy Ego.  Using Freudian theory and psychoanalytical theory, Marlow and Kurtz identify with each other because of the likenesses between their Id's.
	Throughout the book, Marlow fights with himself to keep from giving into his Id.    He manages to keep it in accord with his Ego.  Conversely, Kurtz's Id takes over his life completely.  This is the fundamental difference between the two men.
	Kurtz is Marlow's alter Ego.  The basic traits he has of greed and violence are exposed in an atmosphere where there are no social constraints.  His being in Africa with virtually no responsibilities highlights a negative take on the unconscious mind.   Kurtz ultimately descends into madness, thanks to his Id becoming too strong, which leads to his death.
	Marlow characterizes a strong Ego and Kurtz represents a strong Id, the Superego is embodied by the accountant that Marlow meets.  When he sees the greedy activities of everyone else, the accountant practices self-restraint and follows his moral compass.  This shows that it isn’t being in Africa that is making Kurtz act this way; it is Kurtz’s nature to be like this.
	Marlow's journey into Africa is the equivalent of his journey into his unconscious mind from a Freudian perspective.  Also seen in Heart of Darkness is the significance of the Id, Ego, and Superego; and how important it is to keep the three in balance.  "He struggled with himself, too.  I saw it--I heard it.  I saw the inconceivable mystery of a soul that knew no restraint, no faith, and no feat, yet struggling blindly with itself".   Here it is fascinating to see Marlow observe Kurtz dying, while Kurtz is all along watching Marlow watch him.
	Violence and greed are the traits that effect Kurtz's unconscious mind.  Kurtz left behind the civilized world, which caused him to voluntarily lose all contact with any and all that would influence his Superego.  He is no longer a member of any society that had values, high moral standards, and education.  This permits him to leave behind his Superego, and even part of his ego,  as he enters a lawless world set apart from his original one.
	In Heart of Darkness, Marlow's pursuit of identity is consistent with the psychoanalytic theory that human identity is inside the psyche.   “The novel is like a dream and Marlow's travel of self-discovery is like the author’s and the reader's own journey. The insistence on dream in Heart of Darkness predicts some of the interest in Freud's book The Interpretations of Dreams. He argued that dreams are in conflict within the unconscious self.” Psychoanalytic theory also does well to show that it amplifies the deepest desires and forbidden yearnings inside of everyone.  In Heart of Darkness, no one exemplified this better than Kurtz.

