I'm doing a heart of darkness assignment for my friend now. I've always been able to identify that Kurtz internalizes his ideals to a point where he believes he embodies them, and thus any action he takes is justified in the name of that ideal. But I've never actually thought of it, and now I realize that many have fallen to such temptations - TT Durai suddenly comes to mind. What Smriti told me about Ghandi cheating in his non-violence campaign too.

Ideals are, thus, dangerous things to play around with and subscribe to. One runs the danger of become self-righteous, of fervently defending one's actions, of being incapable of seeing the self-element in them. Everything we do has an element of selfishness. The realization of these elements is what keeps us grounded, it is what keep us humble. But when one subscribes to an ideal and pours every bit of belief into it, one starts to believe that he IS the ideal - a dangerous belief indeed. I'm sure TT Durai could justify his actions in the spirit of giving, and more importantly, that he would actually sincerely believe in these justifications. It is a trap that one does not even see, and it will come to a point when one starts committing actions that are clearly inimical to these ideals, but seem perfectly in line with them to him. Kurtz's claim to the ivory is selfish - but to him it is upholding justice.