BA English Literature with History

London, 2005

Melanie Konzett

Textual analysis of following paragraph in Conrads Heart of Darkness

...for there is nothing mysterious to a seaman unless it be the sea itself which is
the mistress of his existence and as inscrutable as Destiny. For the rest, after
his hours of work, a casual stroll or a casual spree on shore suffices to unfold
him the secret of a whole continent, and generally he find the secret not worth
knowing. The yarns of seaman have a direct simplicity, the whole meaning of
which lies within the shell of a cracked nut. But Marlow was not typical (if his
propensity to spin yarns be excepted) and to him the meaning of an episode
was not inside like a kernel but outside, enveloping the tale which brought it out
only as a glow brings out a haze, in the likeness of one of these misty halos,
that sometimes, are made visibly by the spectral illumination of moonshine
(Conrad, 1988: 9).

This extract, which is to be found almost in the beginning of the novel, gives the
reader a theoretical insight into the exceptional way the story is being told. It informs
the reader that this tale will not develop to a simple narrative but a sequence of
impressions.

Therefore these lines introduce an adventure of writing, a self-

conscious articulation of the possibilities of telling stories (Burden, 1991: 53).

The subject of the extract is the untypical person Marlow and his exceptional way
of telling a story. The first narrator, whose voice accompanies the reader in the
beginning and in the end of the novella, refers to Marlows story telling as opposed to
the direct simplicity of the notorious yarns of seaman (Conrad, 1988: 9). Although,
the used figurative terms such as yarns of seaman or the shell of a cracked nut
(Conrad, 1988: 9) are based on traditional narrative skills, the reader is not allowed to
expect a colourful, transparent tale with a beginning, ending and, most important, a
deeper point. Rather, the reader is asked to follow the narrator not to the kernel but
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to an outside understanding of the unseen, which can also be compared to the

vagueness of the sea sensed by the seaman. Thus, the reader will not find a clear
structure resulting in a revealing disclosure towards the end. Quite the contrary, in
the end the reader must try to understand that the whole meaninglies within the
shell of a cracked nut and that Marlows tale is not centred on, but surrounded by,
its meaning (Watt, 1979: 312). Consequently it is the narration itself, which must be
seen as the meaning of the tale.
However, in his novella Heart of Darkness, Conrad uses two narrators who tell the
story in the first person. The language of the narrators is formal, suited to their class
and position with a lack of colloquialism and abbreviations. In this extract Conrad
uses long sentences with several sub clauses. This form complicates the meaning
and acts in the way of obscuring and producing a more complicate picture of reality.
This can be connected to the modernist way of looking at reality, where a clear point
of view is not desired. Kenneth Graham identifies Heart of Darkness standing
opposed to the positivistic, mechanical view of the universe that saw meaning as
objective and single (Graham, 1996: 213).
The tone in this extract is very vague and suggestive and produces a sense of
insecurity and indisposition in the reader. The first narrator is not telling facts but
using metaphors and figurative language to establish his point. Although the image of
the misty halos, that sometimes, are made visibly by the spectral illumination of
moonshine (Conrad, 1988: 9) is almost tangible, it is enclosed by vagueness and
indistinctness. Once more reality is embodied as indefinite, which becomes even
more vague when seen in an uncommonly light. This indefiniteness undermines the
traditional solidity of the world and let the story appear as a sequence of dream like
memories. For that reason the first narrator, who gives this account on Marlows
untypical way of story telling, is starting untypical himself. His voice, who frames the
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novella, links the past memories of Marlow to the present setting on the cruising yawl
Nellie in the same nebulous way as Marlow does. Apart from this framing and
narrative position, the first narrator is also a listener on the Nellie together with the
reader. Consequently he is in the same position as the reader and is also asked to
unravel Marlows tale.
However, another attribute of modernism is the doubtful, uncertain and suggestive
language. This style places Conrad in the vanguard of impressionist and symbolist
writing (Burden, 1991: 45). Ian Watt points out that the distinctive qualities of
storytelling are suggested metaphorically, and maybe roughly categorised as
symbolist and impressionist (1979: 312). For him the abstract metaphor of the
meaning of the story represented by the shell of the nut or the haze around the glow
is symbolist and larger whereas the quality of the metaphor the mist and the haze is
impressionist (Watt, 1979: 312). Therefore the impressionistic interpretation sees the
haze as a more realistic effect than the reality of the glow. This modernist technique
of impressionism and symbolism rather than realism is opposed to the simplicity of
the seamans yarns and the reader is asked to unravel the two narrators suggestive
and symbolic language.
Figurative phrases, such as describing the sea as the seamens mistress, refer
beyond a literal meaning of words and produce distorted images of reality. In the
chosen extract, words like haze, misty, fog, spectral have this attempt to obscure.
These words have the ability to guide the reader to a deeper symbolic landscape. For
Robert Baker it is this use of words, which he regards as Conrads essential subject.
For him Conrad sees words as poetically exploitable, malleable and subtle (Baker,
1981: 337). Thus words do not only have one single meaning but a variety of
possible interpretations and hidden senses.

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Although these words may veil a transparent meaning they at least offer various
different symbolic points of view. On the one hand the haze is seen as the symbol for
the tale, which embodies the kernel of the story. On the other hand the haze can be
seen as a symbol for the screen of moral values, prejudices and principles some
readers eyes may cover. For Conrad, the central point is not an objective meaning
but his essential aim is to evoke a subjective understanding. He sees his task as an
author by the power of written word, to make you hear, to make you feel it is,
before all, to make you see (Conrad, 1997: Preface). Consequently, the first
narrators attempts to make the reader see, cannot be categorized as objective. He
demonstrates that personal experiences and prejudices change the way in which one
sees the world as a whole (Watt, 1979: 316).
The text passage suggests that a traditional seaman can be compared to a
traditional reader. For both, a casual stroll or a casual spree on shore suffices to
unfold the secret of a whole continent (Conrad, 1988: 9). The traditional reader and
the seaman do not have the desire to obtain more than a glimpse of reality. Even this
is more than enough and sometimes not even worth knowing. Whereas in a
modernist point of view the reader is more interested in finding his whole personal
objective reality, which of course does not exist. This contradiction with its various
impressions starts in the chosen text passage and can be found in the whole story.
Consequently a fuzzy and alienating effect is introduced which opposes every
transparency.
In addition, the breaking down of traditional stylistic conventions can be
experienced in these lines. Conrad lets the reader jump, without any linking sentence
or visual distinction, from one thought to a different one. There is no division between
the thoughts of a seaman or a traditional reader and their superficial existence and
the theoretical effort to introduce a new experimental method of telling a story. Only
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this dreamlike story telling chains past impressions and nebulous facts together. The
revealing of the narrators memories and reflections is Conrads task for the reader.
In exercising this process the reader increasingly strives to reach the kernel of moral
and truth and can hardly accept the absence of it. This manipulation of the reader
through such alienations can be seen as another characteristic of modernist writing.
Although, with his account on Marlows story telling, the first narrator gives the
impression as if he has detected the right way of understanding and resolving the
tale, he himself is captured in its nebulous effects. His point of view does not detain
himself to seek an underlying moral understanding neither does it detain Marlow.
Marlow actually accepts the existence of a deeper connection between himself and
Kurtz, his shadowy other self. After all Kurtz is the central focus and the motivation
for the storytelling (Burden, 1991: 53). The reader and all listeners on the Nellie
including both narrators have to find out that in point of fact, Conrads narration
moves rather to final dissolution than to a universal revealing or resolution. This is an
important revolutionary characteristic of the novella and another distinguishing mark
that signifies modernism.
The chosen extract, which can be seen as a hint for the listener, should point
beyond these words of veiling to a way out of the darkness. Since every culture has
its traditions and moral attitudes also the non-traditional reader might have difficulties
to see. However, there is a chance of disguising Conrads haze and glow. Both
narrators themselves are captured within specific western and English perceptions.
This seeing as a challenge, it is only the reader, who seems attainable to accept just
the tale itself. The reader has the ability to see a tale, which is enveloped in
prejudices and western understanding of subjective narrators and thus far away from
any objectivity. Yet Marlow and the first narrator are not blameable to conceal
modernist ideas, as free words do not exist, not even for the untraditional. Therefore,
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the story is always challenging the idea of a single meaning, an objectivity, a

modernism.
The way Conrad treats ideas of reality requires a modern thinking and the courage
to deal with experimental methods. The play with words and reflections, the use of
the dream sensation, symbolism and suggestions produces this new feeling of
disillusionment and intended manipulation. Marlows complex montage of images,
symbols and series of events intensifies the readers world of feelings and
understanding and thus creates an apparent lack of structural coherence and
transparency of reality. The task of the passage right in the beginning is not to alert
the reader but to request his full open-minded interest and even his willingness to
overstep traditional boundaries. The text requires a reader, who accepts innovative
methods and is willing to delve into all its experimental ways of expression.

Textual Analysis
Winter term 2005
Mark: B

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References:
Baker S.R. (1981)

Watts Conrad. An extract of Contemporary Literature 22.

In: Conrad J, Heart of Darkness: An authoritative Text,
Background

and

Sources,

Criticism.

Third

Edition.

Kimbrough R. (ed). W.W. Norton & Company Inc.

New York.
Burden R. (1991)

Heart of Darkness: An Introduction to the variety of

criticism. Macmillan Education ltd. Houndmills.

Conrad J. (1997)

The Nigger of Narcissus. Penguin Classics. London.

Conrad J. (1988)

Heart of Darkness: An authoritative Text, Background

and Sources, Criticism. Third Edition. Kimbrough R. (ed).
W.W. Norton & Company Inc. New York.

Graham K. (1996)

Conrad and Modernism. Joseph Conrad .

Stape J.H (ed). Camebridge University Press.
Camebridge.

Watt I. (1979)

Impressionism and Symbolism in Heart of Darkness. An

extract of Conrad in the Nineteenth Century. In:
Conrad J, Heart of Darkness: An authoritative Text,
Background

and

Sources,

Criticism.

Third

Kimbrough R. (ed). W.W. Norton & Company Inc.

New York.

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Edition.