Characters
As we first begin, there is a strange writing format used. The writer introduces a sort of preface with the men on the boat (Nellie) at the beginning, and then he has one of the men tell a story through all the text. It's a little awkward and I feel kind of bad for him since he has to do all the quotations and things. But it's also an interesting mode because then we can see the character telling the story's thoughts. I kind of like it, actually. Then again, this format does leave out a lot of important details and only tells about Charlie's view.
Speaking of which, characccctterssss.
Another character was Fresleven. He was the previous captain of the steamboat that Marlow is to captain. How ominous is it that he died and now Marlow is supposed to captain this same ship? Like, literally everything is trying to keep Marlow off that boat. The boat also needs rivets and is falling apart. Something wants Marlow to stay off that boat. It's probably the universe. (Also Fresleven sounds pretty freaking dumb to fight over two hens. So let's just pretend his stupidity never happened and he is happily alive piloting a different steamboat.)
Then we have the two women which I marked in my book as the fates. They are pretty much knitting away and introducing people to this crazy world.
Next is the freaking weird doctor who measures Marlow's head and is super creepy and Marlow is like wtf is up with this man. I know something is up with this dude, like there's obviously symbolism, but I'm not sure exactly what it is. Thoughts?
We talked about the accountant below.
The brickmaker is pretty much my favorite character at this point. Like, I hate him, but I also think he's hilarious. He's the classic worker who's aspiring to be a manager. Literally the only reason he's staying in this job is to be a manager. He doesn't even have the material to make bricks and he pretty much just sits around scheming all day. He also reads private correspondences and thinks that Marlow has something special about him (but Marlow has no idea what this is about until he thinks hard and remembers his aunt).
and then lastly Eldorado Exploring Expedition came in at the very end of part 1. Their main goal is "to tear treasure out of the bowels of the land...,with no more moral purpose...than there is in burglars breaking into a safe." (pg. 27) They sounded really annoying and they were just taking things from the land and they were kind of disgusting to me. I know they're supposed to be, but maybe we'll hear more about them later.
Basically everyone so far is out for themselves. There isn't anyone there who is there only to serve others except for the natives. And they are being forced to do so. Everyone is just mining the land and the people.
Marlow
Charlie Marlow is the narrator of the story (after that first dude on the ship). He's super interested in Africa. This is because he's an explorer and got an urge to go to Africa and pilot a steamboat. So his aunt pulled some strings--without telling Marlow exactly what she did--and he got to go. However, once he got there, everything wasn't exactly how he'd pictured it. He's pretty idealistic and he also thinks that he knows just about everything. He's always judging the other characters--either in good ways or bad--and he believes himself to be the sole source of adventure and exploration in this group. He literally calls others coming in "infestations." He's also pretty gosh darn racist. He comments on the natives as if they aren't people, uses language he shouldn't (although that was apparently common), and is generally wary of the natives. He's also super sexist and oppressive to to the native culture.
Exhibit A:
- "His starched collars and got-up shirt fronts were achievements of character. He had been out nearly three years; and, later, I could not help asking him how he managed to sport such linen. He had just the faintest blush, and said modestly, 'I've been teaching one of the native women about the station. It was difficult. She had a distaste for the work.' Thus this man had truly accomplished something." (pg. 15)
Exhibit B:
- On page 10 there is this paragraph that talks about how women have stupid ideas and "how out of touch with truth they are."
Exhibit C:
- "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." (pg. 15)
I mean, does your appearance really matter so much to you that you'll cause demoralization just to keep up a facade of your prim and proper self in a land that is decidedly not prim and proper? What kind of bass ackwards logic is that?
Marlow's journey is also pretty interesting. He's constantly trekking through Africa on dirt roads and with people to carry all of his things. he thinks he's "on an adventure." He doesn't realize that his adventure is at the expense of others. [also I feel like the staves represent something, but I'm not sure exactly what?] Also, anytime any native person dies every white person regards it as gross or a good thing. Specifically, there was one point in which they see this white guy on the side of the road and a couple of miles away they also see a native with a shot through his forehead. Marlow says he was upset because he had to step over him. Siiiigh.
But overall, the journey is filled with death and dryness and it's like he's journeying into a land of death and despair. Which he is. I also find it interesting that the only cool place is the shade trees where the natives go to die.
And the Buddha thing has Marlow as a symbol of a god or a higher being. He's also imposing his wisdom on others on the ship and Buddha is a symbol of wisdom.
Important Lines
- "The conquest of the earth, 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. What redeems it is the idea only. An idea at the back of it; not a sentimental pretence but an idea; and an unselfish belief in the idea--something you can set up, and bow down before, and offer a sacrifice to...." (4) commentary on imperialism
- There is a juxtaposition on pages 14-15 that show the shaded area with all the natives. It then moves, on page 15, onto a white lit, dry area that has only white people in dominant positions. The descriptions of each are as would be expected.
- And then there was also this really strange line that I don't know if it's just the language translating weirdly (the 1800s, man) or if Marlow has something going on. But, at one point, on page 21, Marlow is talking to the brickmaker and says "It was very pretty to see how he baffled himself..."
- There are really great pieces of conversation throughout the novel. Conrad is wonderful at typical conversation.
- About the brickmaker: "...this paper-mache Mephistopheles, and it seemed to me that if I tried I could poke my forefinger through him, and would find nothing inside but a little loose dirt, maybe." (23)
Beautiful Lines
- "We looked at the venerable stream not in the vivid flush of a short day that comes and departs forever, but in the august light of abiding memories." (2)
- "Light came out of this river since..." (3)
- "...Afterwards he arose and went out--and the wilderness without a sound took him into its bosom again." (20)
- "Beyond the fence the forest stood up spectrally in the moonlight, and through the dim stir, through the faint sounds of that lamentable courtyard, the silence of the land went home to one's very heart--its mystery, its greatness, the amazing reality of its concealed life." (23) Conrad talks about silence a lot as a sound and I really like that. All of his descriptions are really realistic and I feel like I'm experiencing it.
- "I listened, I listened on the watch for the sentence, for the word, that would give me the clue to the faint uneasiness inspired by this narrative that seemed to shape itself without human lips in the heavy night air of the river." (24)
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