The Epiphany in the Heart of DarknessIn The Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad, Marlow experiences an epiphany, a dramatic moment in which he intuitively grasps the meaning of a situation. Marlow's epiphany begins when Marlow's helmsman was killed in an attack by savages while they were sailing up the Congo between Central Station and Inner Station. Marlow became aware of the darkness that lies dormant in the soul of man. His helmsman, whom Marlow regarded with a sort of partnership, was killed by the natives sent by Kurtz, and his body fell bleeding at Marlow's feet. At this point, Marlow begins to think about the evil that is involved in the whole ivory trading operation, and in which he later discovers Kurtz is engulfed. Marlow immediately takes off his bloody shoes and throws them overboard. This can be seen as an action showing how Marlow wanted to escape all the violence, bloodshed and evil of the ivory trade he was involved in. Marlow continues to grasp the essential nature of the man's dark heart later in the story when he converses with Kurtz in the woods. There he “struggled with a soul.” Marlow's mindset changes from seeing all the glory and profits involved in the ivory trade to seeing the horrible evil involved, death and destruction. Almost all other white people involved in the ivory trade do it for profit, like Kurtz. When asked, one of the men who went to Congo said he was there "just for the money, of course." Marlow realizes that, in Kurtz's operation in particular, a lot of evil is involved. Darkness had “entered his veins, consumed his flesh and sealed his soul there by the inconceivable ceremonies of some diabolical initiation.” The powers of darkness had “claimed him for their own.” Kurtz is said to have "presided over certain midnight dances ending with indescribable rites, which - from what I have heard on several occasions reluctantly - were offered to him". All these theses show how Kurtz allowed himself to be swallowed up by evil and darkness. The significance of this change in Marlow is that Marlow realizes that in every man there is a heart of darkness, which can overwhelm a man as it did Kurtz..