Importance of Restraint in Lord of the Flies and Heart of Darkness Throughout Lord of the Flies and Heart of Darkness the importance of restraint is greatly stressed. This being the restraint to remain human and maintain sanity. In Heart of Darkness, Marlow was able to remain his restriant despite how difficult it was for him. He was always surrounded by cannibals and constant chaos. On the other hand, Kurtz was unable to keep his restriant, as a result he lost his humanity and sanity, and eventually died because of it. In Lord of the Flies, Ralph is able to restrain restrain, and he therefor