Kurtz is described with a negative connotation in this section, as in “-this wandering and tormented thing,” “-utterly lost,” and “…unsteady, long, pale, indistinct like a vapour exhaled by the earth…” The simile “…indistinct like a vapour exhaled by the earth…” allows the reader to see Kurtz as only part of man. He is portrayed as insubstantial before the wholly human form of Marlow before him. Conrad uses that very simile to set the reader up for the conclusion of disunion between Marlow and Kurtz. “Hollow” is another description given to Kurtz, mimicking that of the “indistinct vapour.” While this can be interpreted negatively to mean that he is not worth contemplation to Marlow, it also points to his ability to be a “choice of nightmares” to Marlow. In perspective, Kurtz becomes a sort of cipher, a site upon which other things can be projected. By describing Kurtz’s words as “…far off and yet loud like a hail through a speaking-trumpet,” Conrad effectively uses a simile that gives the reader insight into the fact that Kurtz was possessed by some “Shadow,” once again being used as a cipher for something else.
The primitive and the civilized are illustrated as a dichotomy through Kurtz and Marlow as characters. Conrad has Kurtz speak in a “profound tone” and “raising his voice for that [perfectly] word,” in such an emphatic way, while Marlow merely “whispered” in response. This contrast provides the reader with evidence of such a dichotomy. Kurtz is drawn to the savage, primitive rituals. Leading these rituals is a native sorcerer, a “black figure,” described as “it,” and “fiend-like.” This thing symbolizes the darkness that Kurtz is drawn to. Likely this darkness is the Devil himself, later described as “that Shadow.” Marlow is in potential danger in this predicament annotated by Conrad, not only by the hand of the Natives who could come at Kurtz’s command, but by the power and draw of this Devil, this Darkness. Not the hand of the Darkness, because it is like Conrad has Marlow state: “This clearly was not a case for fisticuffs,” or was not the time for fist-fights. The moral and civilized part of Marlow shows here, although in context it is the only section in which he is not acting with a sort of inner, primal anger towards Kurtz due to his malice and sin. Marlow saves Kurtz, saying “the right thing.” By telling Kurtz he would be “lost,” “utterly lost,” Marlow convinces Kurtz to return to the steamer and eventually what he hopes to be his home. While Marlow easily could have killed Kurtz here, Conrad shows us that he turns to practicality and moral value.
Conrad ends the section with exemplary sentence structure, in “I did say the right thing, though indeed he could not have been more irretrievably lost than he was at this very moment when the foundations of our intimacy were being laid—to endure—to endure—even to the end—even beyond. “ Among the punctuation which lays emphasis with the longevity of the relationship between Marlow and Kurtz, there is also a foreshadow of what is to come of either Marlow or Kurtz, implied with “—even beyond.”
Given these points, one final claim can be made. That is, that Conrad uses the classic “evil villain” archetype, entailing genius qualities and means, but ultimately falling to moral fallacy, as the basis for Kurtz. Just like Hindley Earnshaw of Wuthering Heights and Moby Dick’s Ahab, Kurtz is that classic nemesis, that exists to show the reader both the triumph and prevail of what is considered morally “good,” and the existence of that very evil in our lives.
by
swissshhhh (student)
