Heart Of Darkness By Joseph Conrad
Joseph Conrad’s The Heart of Darkness is essentially the story of Charles Marlow’s journey into the center of Africa. The first person narration, however, is not provided by Marlow; an unidentified fourth person traveling on the cruising yawl Nellie provides background information and infrequent commentary as the group of friends waits for the tides to turn so they may embark on a journey down the Thames to the sea.
Marlow tells his story in the first person, describing the events that he witnessed and experienced on his journey. As a storyteller, Marlow is straightforward and descriptive. As he tells his tale, he refrains from making judgments about the people he meets. Rather, he tells his story in a way that allows the reader to draw his own conclusions about the characters Marlow meets and the situations that he encounters.
With Marlow on the boat are the Lawyer, the Accountant, the Director of Companies who was also the captain, and the unnamed narrator. The narrator provides us with context – the scenery on the Thames, the lights of London (light …show more content…
The trip to Spain to fish and attend the bullfights are the only real plans he makes, but even those plans have a certain quality of happenstance. Mostly he just goes about his day to day life in an aimless sort of way. This “take each day as it comes” quality of his is both appealing and frustrating, but his voice is so objective that you cannot fault him for it. Rather, the reader learns to appreciate the serendipity that Jake finds in his days – he seems to take pleasure in the simple things in life, noticing small details like “the flower-women…coming up from the market and arranging their daily stock” (Hemingway 43). Jake is truly present in his daily life, unlike many of us who are constantly chasing whatever comes next, and that is one of his most admirable
Marlow tells his story in the first person, describing the events that he witnessed and experienced on his journey. As a storyteller, Marlow is straightforward and descriptive. As he tells his tale, he refrains from making judgments about the people he meets. Rather, he tells his story in a way that allows the reader to draw his own conclusions about the characters Marlow meets and the situations that he encounters.
With Marlow on the boat are the Lawyer, the Accountant, the Director of Companies who was also the captain, and the unnamed narrator. The narrator provides us with context – the scenery on the Thames, the lights of London (light …show more content…
The trip to Spain to fish and attend the bullfights are the only real plans he makes, but even those plans have a certain quality of happenstance. Mostly he just goes about his day to day life in an aimless sort of way. This “take each day as it comes” quality of his is both appealing and frustrating, but his voice is so objective that you cannot fault him for it. Rather, the reader learns to appreciate the serendipity that Jake finds in his days – he seems to take pleasure in the simple things in life, noticing small details like “the flower-women…coming up from the market and arranging their daily stock” (Hemingway 43). Jake is truly present in his daily life, unlike many of us who are constantly chasing whatever comes next, and that is one of his most admirable