Analizing Marlow

Jason Chernenko

Lit 219W, Sec. S1

Essay #1

Marlow and his Confusing and Ever Changing Sides

Marlow is the protagonist in Heart of Darkness and is throughout the novel, mostly the narrator. He takes the place of a riverboat captain who died from a scuffle with the natives. In the beginning of the novel, he does not expect the experiences he was going to receive. Throughout the story Heart of Darkness, the main character, Marlow, demonstrates a range of character traits; he is at first ambitious, adventurous, and curious next he is sexist and outspoken, and finally he shows that he is ambiguous and sympathetic.

Right from the very beginning of the story, Marlow’s curious and adventurous side is apparent. Marlow is a sailor who is employed by an English trading company and sent to an African colony. There he travels up the river, visiting the trading stations who barter for ivory with the natives. On his journey, he hears about a man named Kurtz, whose station is the one furthest up the river, deep in the African jungle. Some talk of Kurtz in awe, others admire Kurtz, but they all seem to fear him. He journeys through the Congo, trying to find the man called Kurtz. However, he becomes obsessed with meeting Kurtz, becoming more curious as he gets closer towards him. As Marlow gets closer and closer to Kurtz he understands that the man has gone insane and is now doing the most horrible deeds. Marlow gets so caught up in the image of Kurtz, even though he didn’t even know him. Marlow begins to lose sight of everyone around him and concentrates on just the illusion and image of a man that he has never even seen. In the very beginning of the story, Marlow begins to talk about his childhood and how he dreams of becoming a captain or a skipper on one of the glorious steamboats. Marlow speaks very heavily about it in such great detail. This causes the reader to believe that he was a captain, even though he was only a young boy at the time. His determination and love seems eternal, and nothing is going to take his dream away from him. At least that is what we believe. Slowly you begin to see the determination side of Marlow slip away into the river along with his childhood vision of being a captain. Marlow soon grows old and so does his dream. You don’t think that something like age would stop Marlow from taking on the challenge. Marlow talks about it so much, it seems only death itself would be in the way of this achievement. As the story progresses, a steamboat captain is killed. T this point Marlow’s fantasy job basically just falls into his lap and Marlow is not about to let another soul take this job away from him.

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Marlow also has unfavorable traits such as his sexist view of women. The representation of gender in the text Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad is a very patriarchal one, seen through the eyes of Marlow. Marlow feels that women should just do there own little house chores and nothing else, for they weren’t needed and basically would just be in the way. He sees them as the weaker sex and believes that they should be kept safe from the harsh factors of reality. In the story Heart of Darkness, Kurtz’s house maid is the only African woman that is introduced in the story. She is looked upon as a different sort of object; she is the object of sexual desire. She is described with animalistic qualities by Marlow: "She walked with measured steps, draped in striped and fringed clothes, treading the earth proudly, with a slight jingle and flash of barbarous ornaments" (Conrad 55). She is not physically described with human qualities, but as more of an exotic beast-like creature.

Another intrinsic part of Marlow’s character is that he is an outspoken individual. He frequently uses terms such as “nigger” throughout the story Heart of Darkness but at the same time he is very sympathetic towards the natives. Marlow’s racism can be seen as a product of Victorian society; he is completely unaware that he is being offensive. Like a typical English gentleman, he regards anywhere but England as practically savages and looks down upon them. The passage he points out well explains this reference: “And between whiles I had to look after the savage who was fireman. He was an improved specimen; he could fire up a vertical boiler. He was there below me and, upon my word, to look at him was as edifying as seeing a dog in a parody of breeches and a feather hat walking on his hind legs” (Conrad 63). This shows that Marlow considers the natives as savages, in a similar tone to what other Europeans supposedly call them “civilizing.”

Not only is Marlow outspoken, but he is also very judgmental. The following holds true when Marlow first meets the stations accountant, “I shook hands with this miracle, and I learned he was the company’s chief accountant … Moreover, I respected the fellow. Yes; I respected his collars, his vast cuffs, his brushed hair. His appearance was certainly that of a hairdresser’s dummy; but in the great demoralization of the land he kept up his appearance. That’s backbone” (Conrad 15.) From the following passage one realizes that Marlow places a lot of importance on appearance and not on action; the fact that he respects the accountant because of his clothes supports that. Also, Marlow’s description of how the black workers are inferior due to their emaciated and appalling physical state, exemplifies Marlow’s belief that European superiority is based on the physical traits (Conrad 14.) Lastly, the philosophy of conquest that Marlow explains is key in supporting the idea that European superiority is based on their appearance and development, “They were conquerors, and for that you want only brute force- nothing to boast of, when you have it, since your strength is just an accident arising from the weakness of others… The conquest of the earth, which mostly means the taking it away from those who have a different complexion of slightly flatter noses than ourselves, is not a pretty thing when you look into it too much” (Conrad 4.) The idea of European arrogance presents this philosophy is based on the fact that physical differences accompanied by a developed society give the right for Europeans to take over the Congolese people.

A last characteristic trait of Marlow is that he is a very sympathetic character. There is something very believable about Marlow, in his observation of ‘darkness’ or ‘evil’ he is sympathetic towards the natives and disapproves of their treatment but at the same time he is reluctant to physically act upon his convictions and stand up for what he truly thinks. Marlow has sympathetic feelings for the natives. In the story Heart of Darkness, Marlow says, “their pure, uncomplicated savagery was a positive relief, being something that had a right to exist—obviously—in the sunshine” (Conrad 98-99). The reader can even interpret this passage as Marlow being sympathetic to the freeing of the natives from Kurtz’s fetters. This passage reminds the reader to the 30 cannibals on Marlow’s ship who had restraint. It is the only time that Marlow recognizes restraint in the natives. The group of natives least affected by imperialism was the group that impressed him. In addition, Marlow says, referring to the Helsman, “had no restraint, no restraint—just like Kurtz—a tree swayed by the wind” (Conrad 86). Conrad is telling his audience that the more people are exposed to imperialism, the more they depart from their traditional restraints. Kurtz and the helmsman are both relying more on instinct than restraint.