Abstract:
This article offers a Panoptical reading of the characters Kurtz and Jack of Heart of Darkness
(Conrad, 1902/2006) and Lord of the Flies (Golding, 1954) respectively. It discusses how the
circumstantial detachment from human civilization and seclusion of these characters led them
to their moral degradation. In his writing “Discipline and Punish” (2001, 2004), Michele
Foucault proposes that European civilization is a Panoptical one, i.e., resembling a prison.
He suggests that through the means of knowledge, power, surveillance, fear and physical
domination, an authoritative figure can subjugate the weaker ones. A close reading of the
characters of Kurtz and Jack discloses how they have exercised power to exploit the natives or
the weak by using the means of surveillance and panoptic vision and other terms proposed
by Foucault. Though, both the texts deal with the theme of the exercise of power differently-
Kurtz uses his knowledge and power to subjugate the natives of Congo whereas Jack and his
disciples try to dominate the little children only to prove their authorities- the implication of
Foucault’s terms in these texts is apparent. This research will be conducted through the use of
several secondary sources mainly focusing on the terms used by Foucault.
