    (c) 1991 Bureau Development, Inc.

    File: \DP\0035\00351.TXT         Wed Apr 13 15:55:08 1994
Database: Monarch Notes By Author


$Unique_ID{MON00351}
$Pretitle{}
$Title{Works of Joseph Conrad
Character Analyses}
$Subtitle{}
$Author{Conrad, Joseph}
$Affiliation{Department Of English Education, New York University}
$Subject{marlowe
kurtz
kurtz's
company
jungle
marlowe's
darkness
narrator

}
$Date{}
$Log{}
Title:       Works of Joseph Conrad
Book:        Heart of Darkness
Author:      Conrad, Joseph
Critic:      Weiss, James
Affiliation: Department Of English Education, New York University

Character Analyses

The Narrator:

     He is the fifth man "present" on board the Nellie. As a result of
listening to Marlowe's story he undergoes a moral transformation. As Seymour
Gross has pointed out, the narrator perceives optimistically at the beginning
of the tale: the Thames is flooded in a "benign immensity of unstained light."
At the end the narrator, like Marlowe, understands some of the brute realities
inherent in life and the Thames "seemed to lead into the heart of an immense
darkness." By a kind of rhetorical trick the narrator merges in function with
the reader and he doesn't so much relate the story as he is converted by it.
Unlike the others who disregard the tale as absurd, the narrator achieves
precisely what Marlowe achieved - "some knowledge of yourself."

Charles Marlowe:

     Superficially he is a man of action, a sailor very interested in "doing
his job well." He also understands that sticking to the track means more than
giving the appearance of fidelity. This story can be read as a tale of the
staggering implications of going off the track and of Marlowe's discovery of
his own capabilities for "losing the way."

Mr. Kurtz:

     The superlative product of Western European civilization, he enters the
wilderness with the progressive idea of uplifting the savages. He has not
prepared himself inwardly for the primitive assault the jungle can encourage,
so he responds to it with an unsuspected primitivism of his own. Although he
is "hollow at the core," he is able to estimate truly the emptiness of his
existence. "The horror! The horror!" is his dying summation of what he has
become and what he might have been. His self-divided agony and his moral
collapse are thematic concerns which occupy a great deal of modern literature.

The Manager:

     As company manager in the central station he has somehow "managed" to
survive the oppressions of the jungle. In spite of the fact that he is painted
as an essentially hollow man, he is jealous of Kurtz's success and very
suspicious of his humanitarianism. His machine-like personality is a
counterpoint for the wild idealism of Kurtz and for Marlowe is a poorer
"choice of nightmare."

The Brickmaker:

     A man entirely capable of living a pointless existence-there is not a
brick at the station for him to work with-he conspires with the manager
against Kurtz. Another empty man, he is described accurately-a "papier -
mache Mephistopheles."

The Pilgrims:

     Avaricious employees of the company, they anonymously make their mock
pilgrimage to the interior for the sole purpose of exploitation. Capable of
murder, they are awful perversions of the colonial spirit. These
depersonalized 'furies' have even been referred to as the 'black man's
burden.'

The Manager's Uncle:

     Aptly described as "a butcher in a poor neighborhood," he leads the
Eldorado Expedition in search of plunder.

The Manager's Boy:

     As if to show that chattel takes on the character of the owner, this
"overfed young Negro from the coast" is shrewish and insolent. It is he who
announces contemptuously that Kurtz is dead. It is characteristic of Conrad's
narrative artistry to make so minor a personage deliver such important
information. We are surprised by the sudden flatness of the news- "Mistah
Kurtz-he dead," but it is an altogether fitting termination to an illusion -
ridden life.

The Harlequin:

     Another improbable character, he gives Marlowe two kinds of information
about Kurtz. He relates Kurtz's external activities in the jungle and, also,
by describing Kurtz's influence over him, he provides additional insight into
Kurtz's inner power. Deliberately conceived as a clownish romantic, the
harlequin is an ideal convert to Kurtz's doomed illusions. Aside from his
narrative function of moving Marlowe closer to the inner station, the young
Russian may also serve as a bizarre embodiment of the innocent adventurer who
is willing to risk everything because he hasn't the vaguest idea of the costs
involved. Marlowe recognizes the flimsy character of the harlequin when he
describes him as wearing "pretty rags-rags that would fly off at the first
good shake." By contrasting the insubstantiality of the harlequin with the
solid searching of Marlowe, we are disabused of the notion that Marlowe is
simply glamour-hungry.

Kurtz's Jungle Mistress:

     Bordering on the surreal, she appears whenever Kurtz is in danger of
abandoning her. Conrad never fills in the relation between Kurtz and the
savage woman, but spares no detail when he describes her fantastic and rich
clothing. More statue than woman, she is thoroughly devoted to her "White
God."

My Intended:

     The civilized antithesis to the savage woman, she is ironically dressed
in mourning clothes when Marlowe confronts her. Marlowe decides against
telling her the truth about Kurtz's last words; the illusion of Kurtz will
sustain her even from the grave.

Marlowe's Aunt:

     She is instrumental in giving Marlowe the opportunity of voyaging into
the heart of darkness. She is representative of all women who, because they
are "out of touch with the truth," must be kept from the truth.

The Helmsman:

     A swaggering, boastful man who panics as he steers the river-boat.
Marlowe's shoes fill with the dying helmsman's blood thus symbolizing a
kinship between Marlowe, who is preparing to leave the 'track' and one who
already has.

The Cannibals:

     The primitive crew of Marlowe's ship who exhibit more self-restraint
than the civilized "pilgrims." Even though they are starving, they refuse to
eat their masters, exhibiting to Marlowe a kind of "primitive honour."

The Knitting Women:

     Symbolic guardians of the door of darkness, they act as company
representatives mysteriously endowed with the knowledge of fatefulness. Their
mundane activity belies their Cassandra-like function.

The Company Doctor:

     Along with the knitters, this professional dramatically foreshadows the
threat of the heart of darkness. He measures the skull of Marlowe but is more
interested in what's going to happen inside his head.

The Accountant:

     Marlowe admires this man for doing his job properly and keeping his books
in "apple-pie order." He is one of the few company administrators who
commands Marlowe's respect.

Fresleven:

     The ex-river-boat captain is replaced by Marlowe. He has sadistically
attacked an old Negro and has been killed by a tribal chieftain's son. He
represents for Marlowe the bizarre effects the jungle can have on sanity.

The Swedish Captain:

     Marlowe travels in the captain's steamer to the first company station.
The captain indicates that strange things happen to people who go up the
river.

The Company Representative:

     He is a final emissary of company greed, determined to retrieve Kurt's
writings in the hope they will contain valuable geographical information about
the jungle territory.

Kurtz's Cousin:

He talks with Marlowe about Kurtz's vast musical ability.

The Journalist:

     He tells Marlowe that Kurtz had unlimited political capabilities because
of his forensic powers.

