Heart of Darkness 9
Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness relates to the reader through several narrational voices, the story of the Englishman Marlow traveling physically up an unnamed river in the wilderness of the Belgium Congo, and psychologically as a journey into one's self. The frame narrator is an Englishman upon the 'Nellie', a yawl on the river Thames, who relates the story as told to him by the separate narrator Marlow. Through the frame narrator, Conrad expresses to the reader the theme of the shifting nature of reality. Marlow's negative views on colonialism and racism (although contradictory) were the new ideologies taken into consideration during the time the novella was set. These views were expected to be adopted by the contemporary reader as evidenced by the frame narrator changing his view of London as "the biggest and the greatest town on earth" to being a "monstrous town... marked ominously on the sky... a broading gloom of sunshine..." It is important to realize, however, that both the frame narrator and Marlow absent information as affected by their own background and white, European upbringing and also personal experiences. Hence negative views on women and (unconsciously) African natives and strong views on colonialism and to
The novella relates the story to the reader through the male authoritative figures of both Marlow and the frame narrator, both of which are white, European males. The representation of the women in the novella is only through these narrators, and hence the ideologies and portrayal of women is considerably sexist. Hence it can be concluded that the confident and mediating narrative account the reader receives from Marlow and the frame narrator Conrad is able to interrogate the theme of corruption and economic motivations behind colonial praxis. It is, however, unconsciously, also made clear that this text, its narrator and its author are products of their time and ideology, as it consistently represents the characters and situations in racist and patriarchal terms, so that the reader is also aware of the Eurocentric and ethnocentric themes running through the novella. Marlow quickly expresses his view on colonialism that "The conquest of the world which mostly means the taking it away from those who have a different complexion or slightly flatter noses than ourselves, is not a pretty thing when you look into it too much." When Marlow arrives at the station he is shocked and disgusted by
Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 806
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)
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