This lie would help Kurtz in two ways. Heart of Darkness centers around Marlow, an introspective sailor, and his journey up the Congo River to meet Kurtz, reputed to be an idealistic man of great abilities. These final words could also broadly symbolize the horror of Belgian and European colonialism. By the time Marlow, the protagonist, sees Kurtz, he is ill with jungle fever and almost dead. Does this comparison seem ironic, accurate, or both?
Is Marlow on a kind of journey into hell, or dark Romantic quest of self-discovery? Marlow's boat is attacked by Kurtz's natives, we learn, because "'They don't want him to go'" And at one point Marlow sees "a face amongst the leaves Note how she will be compared to Kurtz's European fiancee, the "Intended. Marlow believes that men must help keep European women like Kurtz's fiancee and Marlow's aunt "in that beautiful world of their own, lest ours get worse" This statement follows Marlows proclaimation: "I laid the ghost of his [Kurtz's] gifts at last with a lie" Consider the relationships among these statements to Marlow's notion of a redeeming "idea," his earlier statements regarding "lies," and their implications for Marlow's actions in the final scene the interview with the Intended in Part III.
Consider the characteristic ways that Marlow describes the African jungle setting--the "wilderness"--in Part II: e. What part does the African "wilderness" play in this novel? Part III Longman pp. Why does Marlow consider the Russian "bewildering," "an insoluable problem" ?
What is the function of the Russian in the novel? What motivates him? What do we and Marlow learn about Kurtz from the Russian?
What is his relationship to Kurtz ? What was Kurtz doing in the "heart of darkness"? What do the "heads on the stakes" reveal about Kurtz ? When Marlow first makes out what he had taken for "attempts at ornamentation," "its first result was to make me throw my head back as if before a blow" But then he explains that he "was not so shocked as you might think" How do you interpret Marlow's response that this "was only a savage sight""being something that had a right to exist--obviously--in the sunshine"--that "pure, uncomplicated savagery was a positive relief"--but from what?
Why does Marlow scoff at the description of the heads belonging to "Rebels! Kurtz lacked restraint What is the "deficiency" that Marlow perceives in Kurtz--the lack of "restraint" that left Kurtz vulnerable to "the wilderness [which] had found him out early, and had taken on him a terrible vengeance for the fantastic invasion" ? Marlow describes Kurtz repeatedly as "a voice"--again see also Part II: theme of voice.
What is the significance of this description? What other terms used to describe Kurtz seem to you particularly important? The African woman, "a wild and gorgeous apparition," appears on p.
Note how she is described, and the characteristic gesture she makes more than once e. What is her significance? The manager judges Kurtz's "method And why does Marlow react the manager with such disgust? I had never breathed an atmosphere so vile" What prompts Marlow to turn, instead, "mentally to Kurtz for relief"--and ultimately pronounce Kurtz "a remarkable man" ?
Marlow observes that he has "at least a choice of nightmares" : what "choice" does he mean? See also pp. My destiny! What is the source of Marlow's feeling of kinship with Kurtz?
What leads him to call himself "Mr Kurtz's friend--in a way" , to declare Kurtz's "'reputation is safe with me'" , and confess that "I did not betray Mr. Kurtz--it was ordered I should never betray him--it was written that I should be loyal to the nightmare of my choice" , and to take into his keeping Kurtz's personal papers and his fiancee's photograph, and to remain "loyal" to Kurtz to the end?
Drum beats and "weird incantation" in the night induce "a strange narcotic effect" upon Marlow's senses, and he discovers Kurtz missing Then Marlow experiences "a sheer blank fright," an "overpowering" emotion induced by "moral shock The sensation lasts "the merest fraction of a second"; then Marlow follows Kurtz's trail into the darkness.
What "moral shock" has Marlow experienced, do you think? When Marlow finds Kurtz, it is the "moment, when the foundations of our intimacy were being laid" Marlow tries "to break the spell--the heavy, mute spell of the wilderness--that seemed to draw [Kurtz] to its pitiless breast"--and understands what "had driven him out to the edge of the forest What is driving Marlow into this terrible "intimacy" with Kurtz?
Here, in the heart of darkness, Marlow proclaims: "Soul! Are the devils in the Congo more dangerous than the devils Marlow has seen before? What role will they play?
Post a new comment Error Anonymous comments are disabled in this journal. Post a new comment. Preview comment. Marlow frequently encounters inscrutable surfaces that tempt him to try to penetrate into the interior of situations and places.
The most prominent example of this is the French man-of-war, which shells a forested wall of coastline. He refers back to this image at a number of key points later in the story. Marlow distinguishes this devil from violence, greed, and desire, suggesting that the fundamental evil of imperialism is not that it perpetrates violence against native peoples, nor that it is motivated by greed.
The flabby, weak-eyed devil seems to be distinguished above all by being shortsighted and foolish, unaware of what it is doing and ineffective. The colonials in the coastal station spend all their time blasting a cliff for no apparent reason, machinery lies broken all around, and supplies are poorly apportioned, resting in abundance where they are not needed and never sent to where they are needed.
Given the level of waste and inefficiency, this kind of colonial activity clearly has something other than economic activity at stake, but just what that something might be is not apparent. Would Marlow approve of the violent exploitation and extortion of the Africans if it was done in a more clear-sighted and effective manner? This question is difficult to answer definitively.
On the other hand, Marlow is appalled by the ghastly, infernal spectacle of the grove of death, while the other colonials show no concern over it at all.
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