Conrad does not give a simple or easy answer to this question. However, he points to the answer in Kurtz's last words: “How horrible! How horrible!” (Conrad, 85). In his final moments Kurtz seems to realize the darkness that was within him. He may have realized the irony of his attempt to bring enlightenment to suppress the savagery he thought existed in Africans, only to discover that it also existed within him. And with this Kurtz is not deceived like many other characters in the book who ignore, willingly or willingly, this deep and dark nature.