Page 392 - DENG404_FICTION

Fiction

Notes trees make Marlow feel very small. The earth appears “unearthly.” The men are monstrous
and not inhuman. This scares Marlow greatly. He believes the mind of man is capable of
anything.
They creep on towards Kurtz. The ship comes across a deserted dwelling. Marlow finds a
well-kept book about seamanship. It has notes in a language he cannot understand. Back on
the boat, he pushes ahead.
Eight miles from Kurtz’s station, the Manager decides they will stay put for the evening. No
sounds are heard. As the sun rises, “complaining clamor” with “savage discord” fills the air.
Everyone fears an attack. One of the black crew members says that the attackers should be
handed over to them and eaten. Marlow wonders why he and the other white crew members
have not been eaten, for the cannibals could easily overpower them. The Manager insincerely
worries that something might have happened to Kurtz. Marlow does not believe there will be
an attack because the jungle and fog seem impenetrable. No one believes him. Some men go
to investigate the shore. A pattering sound is audible: flying arrows! The helmsman on the
ship panics and does not steer properly. The crew fires rifles into the bushes.
A black man is shot and lies at Marlow’s feet. He tries to talk but dies before he can get any
words out. Marlow supposes that Kurtz has perished in this attack. He is exceedingly upset,
for talking to the mythical man has become his major point of interest. In a fit of distress,
Marlow throws his shoes overboard. He tells the listeners on the Thames ship that the privilege
of talking to Kurtz was waiting for him. Marlow relates that Kurtz mentioned a girl and noted
that his shanty was busting with ivory. Kurtz now has taken the position of “devil of the
land.” Originally he was well-educated, but he has become entirely native to Africa, participating
in rituals and rites. Kurtz is anything but common.

Back in the battle, the helmsman is killed. Marlow throws the body overboard. After a simple
funeral, the steamer continues moving. Miraculously they see Kurtz’s station, which they had
assumed to be lost. They see the figure of a man whom Marlow identifies as a harlequin type.
This man says that Kurtz is present, and he assures them that they need not fear the natives,
who are simple people. He speaks with Marlow, introducing himself as a Russian. The book
Marlow holds is actually his, and he is grateful to have it returned. The Russian says the ship
was attacked because the natives do not want Kurtz to leave with the crew, for he has broadened
everyone’s mind there.

Analysis

Even in this chaotic jungle, there exists a twisted sense of morality. As the Manager and his
uncle discuss Kurtz, they are willing to do anything that will get him or his assistant the
Russian hanged, so that the trading field might be leveled to their advantage. They can consider
this plan because “anything can be done in this country.” They both still retain a sense of law,
but the most base components of their personalities control their intentions. For them, the
civilized law of the European continent has been discarded in favor of vigilante justice.
The revealing of these men’s predatory nature points to the theme of inchoate savagery.
Conrad suggests that there are integral connections among mind, body, and nature, which
underlies the issue here: the lines between the civilized and the savage are blurred. The two
men propose a very savage solution to a seemingly civilized problem of economic competition.
The Congo has a metamorphic effect on the Europeans, at least in mind and perhaps also in
body. Marlow sees the evil uncle “extend his short flipper of an arm for a gesture ... that
seemed to beckon with a dishonouring flourish before the sunlit face of the land a treacherous
appeal to the lurking death, to the hidden evil, to the profound darkness of its heart.” This is

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