In reality the book is about much more than that. Marlow is the narrator and throughout the novel his visions and thoughts about himself change greatly as he endures the journey of self-discovery. In the beginning Marlow feels lost in his life; the main focus in life to him was being a sailor on the steamboat. Marlow is very naïve and has not seen as much of life as he should be seeing in order to expand his overall knowledge of the world. Marlow describes the ship and the ocean as if it was the
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When Marlow talks of London being a dark place‚ the theme of civilization versus savagery comes into play. Marlow’s aunt believes he is an emissary of light‚ being sent into the darkness. Marlow sees this darkness through the placing of heads on poles‚ for a man named Kurtz. All of this makes Marlow change his inner feelings of himself‚ which relates to the theme of the journey of the inner self. Marlow talks of when the Romans first came to Britain‚ and how they had actually brought some light into
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Charles Marlow. The unnamed narrator thinks about the long history of British exploration and conquest with fondness as he looks over the river. After two or three small paragraphs the point of view shifts to Marlow‚ who becomes the main narrator of the rest of the novel. He observes to several friends that this land was once a place of darkness‚ an uncivilized wilderness. This reflection leads him to remember an incident in his past‚ when he commanded a steamboat on the Congo River. Marlow explains
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unknown - of the sea while the banks of the Thames remind Marlow that they have also been "one of the dark places of the earth". And exactly the word "dark" is the one that defines the setting throughout the whole of the nouvelle‚ varying only in shades. This becomes crystal clear from the moment Marlow begins to speak and he speaks through the whole of the nouvelle except the few introductory paragraphs. Going further to describe the setting Marlow begins his story about his journey in the Congo region
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the novel‚ Marlow spends his time obsessing over his eventual meeting with Kurtz. However‚ these two characters differ in one aspect: their humanity. Kurtz does not see the natives as anything more than animals under his direct control. Marlow‚ on the other hand‚ views the natives as human when he states‚ “No‚ they were not inhuman…but what thrilled you was just the thought of their humanity-like yours-the thought of your remote kinship with this wild and passionate uproar” (43). Marlow wants to think
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particular men stand out; Marlow and Kurtz. Who is the hero; Marlow or Kurtz? Clearly both Marlow and Kurtz are the protagonists of the story; however‚ protagonist and hero are not always synonymous. Marlow is the hero in the traditional sense of the word‚ while Kurtz is the more modern hero‚ often referred to as the anti-hero. Does it really matter the background of a person to determine whether they are a hero or not? Throughout this paper I will prove to you that Kurtz and Marlow both have aspects the
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narrator sits aboard a pleasure ship called the Nellie‚ along with four other men‚ including Marlow. The five men are held together by the bonds of the sea‚ yet are restless and meditative aboard the ship‚ waiting for something to happen. As darkness begins to fall‚ the men recall the great ships and explorers that have set forth from the Thames on voyages of trade and adventure‚ often never to return. Suddenly‚ Marlow remarks that the very region they had been admiring‚ " ’has also been one of the dark
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continuing its decent and shortly all will be exposed to the utter darkness brought upon with the approach of night. Marlow then begins the journey‚ which will bring the reader into the far reaches of the African Congo. This beginning scene is the first use of the darkness. These images are used to foreshadow the mystery of what lies ahead for Marlow on his journey. Marlow uses the first images of light verses the dark or the civilized verses
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reflection and redefinition. The climactic rise and fall of Kurtz and Nathan Price typifies the destructive‚ insidious force of society’s truth upon the human soul. Signs of Kurtz’ troubled state litter Marlow’s initial days at the Central Station. While admiring an agent’s artifact collection‚ Marlow stumbles upon a small sketch “representing a woman‚ draped and blind-folded‚ carrying a lighted torch” (Conrad 122). Kurtz’ revelatory painting of the “sinister” looking woman engulfed in darkness
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and despair became the manifest themes of the novel. First of all‚ Marlow came face to face with death several times throughout his voyage. Marlow finds out about the death of Kurtz‚ the climax of the novel‚ when the manager’s boy said to Marlow‚ "Mistah Kurtzhe dead" (Conrad 64). Another death occurs when the attack on the steamer leaves the helmsmen dead with "the shaft of a spear in the side just below the ribs" (Conrad 64). Marlow decides to "[tip] him overboard" because "if [his] late helmsmen
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