Étude de l'oeuvre Heart Of Darkness de Marlow (document en anglais)

Heart of Darkness by Conrad recounts the story of Marlow, a European man who travels to Africa as a steamboat captain to work in the ivory trade. His mission is to penetrate the jungle and meet with a man named Kurtz.

As he sails on the Thames with his friends, he begins to tell them about his experiences abroad and details his journey up to the Congo River. In the textual extract to be analysed his ship is attacked by the mysterious native inhabitants of the land, who fire arrows to protect their territory.

The battle and its consequences are not only significant because they represent a struggle over land, but also because they represent other concepts and crucial issues that are key to understanding the novel as a whole. It is thus interesting to study this scene and to understand how Marlow is affected by its consequences.

Through an analysis of the clash between the characters and the notions of superiority and inferiority, we can further understand the difficulties encountered by the protagonist and the deeper thematic struggles they signify.

The two groups of people are in clear conflict, represented by Conrad’s use of lexis to signify the differences and oppositions between them: we were being shot at (l.11), Winchester (l.27). At the time of the novel’s publication, black people were considered as inferior to white. When Marlow talks about black people he only uses a personal noun once(l.31)and never employs personal pronouns. The black people are assimilated into vegetation when they are described: bush (l.18.31), twigs (l.19), or compared to trees (comparison l.23). The narrator qualifies them by synecdoche, naming parts of the human body: naked breasts, arms, legs, glaring eyes, human limbs (l.18). Savages are reduced to animals, and consequently to primitiveness. Conrad makes use of adjectives such as fierce (l.16) or of metaphors like a reined horse (l.14), and the verb to howl (l.31) signifying the savage wolf sound. In the same way, the mouth of the poleman foamed like that of a rabid animal would do. When the attack erupts, he doesn’t drop the pole but kept hold on it as dog would do with a bone. So, savages are reified. The fact that they only have wooden weapons, and thick (l.7) inefficient arrows upholds the idea of their inferiority: they wouldn’t kill a cat (l.31). Moreover according to Marlow they are only wood-cutters (l.31), which is a derogatory term in this context. Consequently natives are not depicted as human beings, but are alienated and even dehumanized.

The issue of European superiority is thus raised. The captain of the boat is a white man with a crew of Black people under his control. In this excerpt he treats them as inferior people: have ordered (L.23). Insults can be found peppered throughout the text: That fool-helmsman (l.12), confound him! (l.14), the fool-nigger(l.34).Exclamative sentences also prove that Marlow is the chief. He renders the poleman a slave. He held his head rigid, face forward (l.21) as if frightened by Marlow’s injuctions.The latter yelled at him (l.35) as he would yell at his dog: Keep quiet! (l.23).The use of the comparison like a reined-in-horse (l.14) enhances the fact that the helmsman is not free. The pronoun « our » diminishes the natives’ autonomy and puts them firmly in the whites’ possession. The rhythm of lines 13,21, 22 which describe the black man’s behaviour produces an effect of systematization, inciting an exhaustive pattern that seems to annoy Marlow. The use of in a fury (l.23) highlights this. Finally Europeans posses Winchesters (l.27) and iron while the natives fight with wood.

However we can also remark on the reversal of the traditional vision and interpretation of primitiveness and civilization in this extract. White people are not more superior or human than savages. Even Marlow placed himself on the same level as them: (l.16). The situation is totally out of European’s control. The hypotactic style used from l.15 to 20 offers a panoramic view of natives and their world, and the synecdoche l.18 marks the fact that white men can not distinguish them. Consequently unseen savages manage to shoot them : We were being shot at (l.11)the arrows came in swarms (l.30). The sentence and the rhythm of lines 24 to 35 enhance the overwhelming nature of their attack. Conversely, the white men equipped with guns are unable to target the Black ‘others’: were simply squirting lead into that bush (l27). They are incompetent and represented as almost ridiculous, whereas the natives are presented as warriors: warlike whoop (l.32), the fool-nigger (…) let off that Martini-Henry (l 34). The natives are dehumanized by Marlow: feet (l.24), voice (l.25). The crew’s interests are self-centred whereas the savages fight for the safety of their land. The Whites take no effective steps towards achieving their goal: Can you turn back? (l.25). The attack creates agitation among them: a great scuffle (l.24), confused exclamations (l.25). On the contrary natives remain calm and steady (l.16). The repetition of the adjective quiet and the use of the adverb perfectly (l.9) reiterate this.

Because of the efforts of the natives, it is difficult for Marlow to travel up the river and penetrate its mysterious environment of unspeakable secrets. The captain encounters challenges and so can only stay on surfaces. However he does not give up his quest.

For Europeans, the Congo River is a key to Africa. It allows them to reach the ‘Heart of Darkness’ without trekking across the jungle. The personification of the natural environment l.31, the bush began to howl, demonstrates that it acts as a human being, trying to expel the Whites. It hinders their progression with its complicated form: there was a snag in the fairway (l.7). Both the river and the jungle present obstacles as Marlow travels towards Kurtz. The smoke created by the natives and the arrows literally prevent Marlow from seeing, he is represented as almost blind. All the while, nature remains impassive, nothing can disturb it. Its silence is oppressive and the use of dashes l.9 underlines this fact. The savages and the jungle seem merging symbiotically, the adjectives glistening and bronze colour (l.19) characterize both of them and thus bind them. The jungle is harmonious, represented by the repetition of the /S/ sound, and the syndeton l.19, which is onomatopoeic and lyrical: The twigs, shook, swayed, and rustled. The asyndeton l.9, the river, the shore, the woods, and the ternary rhythm of the two last sentences have the same effect. All the elements are on the same level, there is no hierarchy and so they seem too balanced and harmonious. The mechanic sound and noises made by the Europeans contrast with the sounds of nature: heavy splashing thump, the patter (l.10), confused exclamations,screamed (l.25).The repetition of the plosive consonant

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