The Intended is Kurtz' fiancée who had spent years living away from her husband-to-be. Then when news came of his death, it's of no surprise the poor girl was heartbroken. But to the audience and to Marlow, who have been on this journey through the depths and dangers of the Congo's heart of darkness, listening to the Intended's whining and sobbing seems more obnoxious than sad. She is the perfect representation of Western ignorance towards the horrors of imperialism. I'm sure she admired her fiancé's piece of writing a great deal and probably only saw it from that aspect. Considering what could be interpreted as Kurtz' change of heart towards the African Congo, she still maintains this idea that all there is the Congo is brutes, savages, cannibals, disease, and heretics.
Which brings us to Marlow's last lie. Why did Marlow lie to the Intended about what her husbands last words were? I think several interpretations should be considered here rather than just the obviously clichéd like, he wanted her to keep a good memory of what once was. In the beginning of the story, Marlow describes pretty explicitly his opinions about women who apparently live in a separate kind of fantasy world full of castles and unicorns, and that once sprinkled with fairy dust, even the most horrid of places or things or people becomes (almost) worthy of the Gumdrop Forest. In a way, the lie preserved this supposed female fantasy. Especially since the Intended agreed with him and admitted it's what she expected. Also, in the most simplest of terms, it could be that Marlow decided not to tell her the truth because he would have to go into an elaborate explanation of why "the horror, the horror;" that would also take away from the symbolism of that exclamation. It would ruin the most famous quote of the book and I think Conrad did that on purpose in order to bring more weight and more mystery to Kurtz' last words.
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