Heart of Darkness, is not only an intense quest story, but also a psychological rollercoaster since, through the characters of the story, Joseph Conrad shows us a powerful struggle between personalities Freudian theories of the id, the ego and the superego. The main characters of the novel, Marlow and Kurtz, are mainly identified with Id and Superego type personalities and, throughout the novel, these characters are placed in intense situations that make them question their own beliefs and reactions and, in definitively, their ideas. human personality. So between the characters there is not only a physical battle, but also a metaphysical one. This leads to a psychological imbalance between the human personalities of both characters, and while one character is already dominated to a large extent by his Id, the other character is struggling with the struggle of his Id with his Superego. against the backdrop of the Congo River, in the African jungles. Joseph Conrad, the same author of this novel, had piloted a small steamboat along the Congo River in the midst of dense land that was being mercilessly exploited as the private property of King Leopold. Although Conrad would not meet any Kurtz, the entire experience of the journey left him morally, mentally, and physically paralyzed. Therefore, this novel has many autobiographical elements as Conrad included many deductions based on his experience in the African jungle. And this also heavily affects the psychological nuances that the characters in the story go through. Now, linking the psychoanalytic elements of the novel to the Freudian division of personalities, the characters of Marlow and Kurtz draw a parallel mainly with the superego and the i...... middle of paper ......also try to tell us that, like Kurtz, some men can move so far away that it becomes impossible to go back. Thus, in this novel, the characters of Marlow and Kurtz are once shown to have been dominated by their superego, growing up in British society believing in the white man's burden. Then, both characters travel through the jungles of Africa, where they confront horrors and struggle to remain human and civilized. While Kurtz completely surrenders to his Id and becomes an inhuman barbarian, controlled by his needs and desires; Marlow does not give up as completely as Kurtz but remains psychologically affected by his experiences. Finally, through this intense struggle between the characters' personalities, Conrad tries to tell us that the human personality is indeed very fragile and can be compromised without restrictions..