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151 and the example of deep dedication to literary work. From his Uncle who, after Apollo’s death, was so dominant an influence, Conrad imbibed a spirit of skeptical rationalism and severe realism. Zdizislaw Najder comments: “To sympathize with Apollo’s desperate determination to subordinate his whole life to a common cause one had to understand his reasons and to share, at least partly, his beliefs. Bobrowski did not share them and hardly ever tried to discover what had led Apollo to his extreme political views… But if Apollo’s beliefs were seen as nonsensical or capricious, then his whole life, into which he had drawn his wife, must have appeared one of cruel folly. Thus his father’s heritage was for Conrad a cause of strong internal conflict…” The consequent ambivalence was to express itself in numerous ways in Conrad’s fiction: repeatedly a wife or dependant faces challenges because of the high aspirations, dreams or visions of the husband. In “Nostromo”, for example, the theme is doubly emphasized: Goul’d wife suffers for her husband’s preoccupation with the silver which he believes will establish a civilized nation, while Viola’s wife is embittered by Giorgio’s unrewarded obsession with the dream of an independent republican Italy. Qualities of Conrad: Conrad was capricious, sensitive and egocentric, and delicate in health. He suffered migraines, stones in the bladder and possible epilepsy. Indeed, when Uncle Tadeusz eventually acceded to his wish to go to the sea, one of the main view was that sea air might prove useful for his health. Another reason for Conrad’s desire to travel abroad was practical and patriotic. As a Russian citizen by law and as the son of a convict, Conrad would have been obliged to serve for possible twenty-five years in the Russian Army had he remained at home. Third, there was the romantic appeal of seafaring and the prospect of roaming far from a Poland synonymous with defeat and tragedy. Conrad’s Dismay: Conrad learned to his dismay that he had no right to serve on French vessels without permission from the Russian Consul; and since he was liable for military service in Russia, no consent would be coming. He joined the British Merchant Navy, “where there are no such formalities as in France”; and so on June 10, 1878, the apprentice seaman arrived at Lowestoft on the coal freighter Mavis. His beginnings in England could not have been more humble. Inheritance of Money: Conrad received his inheritance of £1600 in 1894 at the death of his Uncle Tadeusz - the year in which his first novel. Almayer’s Folly, was accepted for publication for a £20 outright payment. The book was dedicated ‘To the Memory of T.B.’ In Australia, in 1889, after a one-sided love affair in Mauritius, Conrad resigned his command of the Otago and came back as a steamship passenger to England. The manuscript of Almayer’s Folly accompanied him on his travels for the next five years, including his depressing venture into the Congo. It was ultimately completed in 1894 and published the next year to mixed reviews - some scathing, some enthusiastic. A strangely distinctive writer had emerged. Conrad as a Writer: Conrad’s transition from a seaman to the writing desk was to be gradual and wavering. As later as 1898, with several novels and tales in print, he visited ship-owners in Glasgow in the hope of getting a command. But it was increasingly difficult for him to gain posts commensurate with his qualifications, as he was well qualified and adequately experienced as a master. In turn, the pressures towards a literary career were both personal and circumstantial. First, there was the love of literature imbibed in Conrad from childhood, particularly from those days when CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

152 British Poetry of 19th and 20th Century - II the world of fiction offered a soothing refuge from domestic anxiety and worry. Then, there was the familial example. His father,Apollo Korzeniowski, had gained fame as a poet, playwright and translator, and Uncle Tadeusz had subsequently urged Conrad to use his travels as a material for articles which might be published in Poland. Moreover, there was the example and encouragement of Conrad’s ‘aunt’ Marguerite Paradowska, who lived in Brussels. Employment of Conrad: British imperialist expansion in the nineteenth century had created the conditions in which Conrad could gain employment on ocean-going vessels; it also helped to create the commanding readership for his novels and tales. There was a vast market for factual and fictional accounts of exotic regions, of daring exploration of “outposts of progress.” Conrad saw that the Malay Archipelago might become his own distinctive territory for fictional exploration. A novelist in England in the 1890s could enjoy a particularly fortunate combination of circumstances encouraged by the great expansion of education in Victorian England. Libraries now provided good research facilities. There was a movement for international regulation of copyright, and the first copyright agreement was signed between Britain and the United States in 1891. Then onwards, an author could be paid twice over for the same novel; first by its British publisher and secondly by its American publisher.And a publisher who owned a magazine (Blackwood, for example, or Heinemann) would pay the author for serialization for the work; so would an American magazine. Another factor was that magazine payments were often ample. His novel won him enough money, Almayer’s Folly. Conrad’s career could often give instances of ways in which it would be possible for a writer, when reasonably well established in reputation, to be paid many times for the same manuscript of a work of fiction. And one of Conrad’s roles was that of literary journalist: a contributor of serials, tales, essays, polemics and topical articles to magazines and newspapers. He gained his image as more as an entertainer and communicator, than as an author of profound academic nature for academic exegesis - a man prepared to speak through popular newspapers and magazines. Subsequently, he emerged as an author who was both prestigious and popular, a sage who was an inspiring celebrity. Some time in 1893-94, Conrad met, through a friend, Jessie George who was working as a typist in London where Conrad now lived. He proposed to her in 1895, saying that he had not very long to live and that he had no urge having children. They were married in March 1896, but their married life was not comfortable. Jessie George, however, with her placid and self-contained temperament, was in some ways an ideal wife for a man of Conrad’s genius and nature. They spent the first months of their married life on a rocky and barren island near Lannion, Britany. He face difficulties in writing, bouts of malarial gout and fever, fits of depression, financial crisis and many visits to the continent for relief and relaxation. He was blessed with two sons - Broys (1898) and John (1906). During this period, he wrote “The Nigger of the Narcissus”, “Lord Jim”, “Typhoon” and “Nostromo”. Conrad suffered a complete breakdown in health by the end of 1909. He was given a Civil List Pension of £100. Then, his first best seller, “Chance”, on which he had worked for six years, appeared in 1913. His next work, a short story called Victory brought him a thousand pounds for its serialization rights. The Arrow of Gold was published in 1919. The Conrads were comparatively wealthy now - film rights of his books brought them four thousand pounds - yet Conrad was in financial difficulties. He left this world on August 3, 1924 and was buried at Canterbury. Conclusion: Joseph Conrad was a Polish British writer. He is regarded as one of the greatest CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

153 novelists to write in the English language. He was a master prose stylist thought he did not speak English fluently. He was admired for the richness of his prose and his renderings of dangerous life at sea and in exotic places. To Conrad, the sea meant above all the tragedy of loneliness. He was a writer of complex skill and striking insight. His father, Apollo Nalecz Korzeniowski was a poet and an ardent polish patriot. Joseph served in the British merchant navy for sixteen years. He received a good education in Cracow, Poland and after a trip through Italy and Switzerland. His novel “Heart of Darkness” was serialized in ‘Blackwood’s Magazine’ and soon after, it appeared as a single volume. The structure of the novel is masterfully inventive. After “Lord Jim”, he produced major novels like “Nostromo”, “Typhoon”, The Secret Agent”, “Under Western Eyes”, “Victory” and “Chance”. On the whole, he was recognised widely. 8.2 SUMMARY OF THE NOVEL Introduction: “Heart of Darkness” is novella by Joseph Conrad. It was first published in 1899 in “Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine” and then in Conrad’s “Youth” and “Two Other Stories” (1902). It examines the horrors of Western colonialism, exploring a phenomenon that tarnishes not only the lands and peoples it exploits but also those in the West who advance it. Although achieving an initially lackluster reception, Conrad’s semiautobiographical tale has gone on to become one of the most much analyzed works of English literature. Critics have not always treated “Heart of Darkness” favourably, rebuking its dehumanizing revelation of colonized peoples and its dismissive treatment of women. However, “Heart of Darkness” has endured and today it stands as a Modernist masterpiece directly engaged with postcolonial realities. ‘Heart of Darkness’ is an impression taken from life, of the conquest by the European Whites of a certain portion of Africa. It is an impression in particular of the civilizing methods of a great European trading company face to face with the native blackman. In this novella, human life, both black and white, reveals the myriads of shades of the white man’s uneasy, disconcerted and fantastic relations with the exploited barbarism of Africa; it lies in the acutest analysis of the deterioration of the white man’s morale, when he is let loose from European restraints and planted down in the tropics as an emissary of light, armed to the teeth, to make profits in his trade with the subject races. The weirdness, the brilliance, the psychological truth of this remarkable analysis of two continents in conflict, of the intense gulf between the white man’s system and the black man’s comprehension of its results is expressed in a swift moving narrative. The stillness of the sombre African forests, the glare of sunshine, the feeling of dawn, of noon, of night on the tropical rivers, the isolation of the unnerved, degenerating Whites, the helpless bewilderment of the unhappy savages in the grasp of their greedy conquerors - all this has been vividly depicted. There is no intention in the story, no prejudice one way or the other; it is simply a unique piece of art, fascinating and remorseless, and the artist is determined to present his sensations in that sequence. The meaning of the meaningless of the white man in uncivilized Africa can be felt in its really significant aspects. First Section The first narrator and four others are on board Nellie, a cruising yawl, as it stands at anchor in CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

154 British Poetry of 19th and 20th Century - II the estuary of the river Thames. The other four being the Director of Companies as the captain, the Lawyer, the Accountant and the well-experienced sailor Marlow. The steamboat sails down the river as the tide turns. The wind is calm and the air above the city of Gravesend in the distance is dark. The atmosphere is one of “brooding gloom”. The four passengers ‘affectionately’ watch the back of the Director of Companies, their captain and host, as he stands in the bows looking to seaward. He resembles a pilot, “which to a seaman is trustworthiness personified.” They all share “the bond of the sea” with him. The Lawyer - “the best old fellows” - is lying on the only rug on the deck. The Accountant has brought out already a box of dominoes and is “toying architecturally with the bones,” while Mallow sits cross-legged right aft, leaning against the mizzen-mast. Marlow : Protagonist of the Novella Marlow, the protagonist of the tale he narrates to the company later, is described thus by the first narrator: “He had sunken cheeks, a yellow complexion, a straight back, an ascetic aspect, and, with his arms dropped, resembled an idol.” The company feels placid; they exchange “a few words lazily”. They have all “followed the sea” their lives with a reverential attitude towards the sea. “The tidal current runs to and fro in its unceasing service, crowded with memories of men and ships it had borne to the rest of home or to the battles of the sea. It had known and served all men of whom the nation is proud, from Sir Francis Drake to Sir John Franklin, knights all, titled and untitled - the great knight - errant’s of the sea.” As darkness falls, Marlow, the only person who still “followed the sea”, ‘a seaman’, ‘but a wanderer too’, starts talking of the darkness that once prevailed over Britain when the Romans had invaded and conquered it. (‘And this also”, he remarks, “has been one of the dark places of the earth.”) Nineteen hundred years ago Britain had only “sand-banks, marshes, forests, savages - precious little to eat fit for a civilized man, nothing but Thames water to drink. No Falernian wine here, no going ashore. Here and there a military camp lost in wilderness like a needle in a bundle of hay - cold, fog, tempests, diseases, exile and death - death skulking in the air, in the water, in the bush. They must have been dying like flies here… They were men enough to face the darkness. Lifting one arm from the elbow, “the palm of the hand outwards, with his legs folded before him, he had the pose of a Buddha preaching, in European clothes and without a lotus-flower”. Marlow says that England is no longer the mysterious, incomprehensible puzzle it must have seemed to the Roman conquerors. The grand quality of British - and indeed all European - on the other hand, colonialism is a civilizing mission to the unknown and unexplored parts of the world. He had come back to London and began to look for a ship which was the toughest work on this planet earth. Then his aunt managed to get him appointed skipper of a river steam boat through her good acquaintances. Marlow crossed the channel for an interview with his perspective employers in Brussels. He had to face no problem in locating the office where one fat and one slim women were sitting on straw- bottomed chairs. Marlow found something “ominous in the atmosphere”. A clerk was assigned to escort him for his medical examination. The old doctor examined Marlow’s pulse and asked him if there had been any madness in the family history. He advised Marlow to avoid irritation. Marlow then went to thank her aunt. She exhorted him to behave “something like an emissary of light” and bring the benefits of CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

155 civilization to the natives wherever he went. Marlow was given twenty four hours to “set off for the centre of the earth” on board a French steamer. He has nothing much to do on the French Steamer. He had no point of contact with the men on board. He was altogether isolated on the sea. The voice of the surf now and then was a healthy pleasure like the speech of a brother. The boat was generally paddled by black natives who shouted and sang in perspiration. But they were strong with energy. At one time, there was firing from six-inch guns. Marlow realized that there was no reason for firing but for “a touch of insanity”. Marlow’s crew handed over some letters to the crew of the warship in which men were “dying of fever” at the rate of three a day” and resumed its journey. The steamer stopped at some more places and the voyage appeared to Marlow as tiresome “pilgrimage among hints for nightmares.” Congo River: Marlow saw the mouth of the big river (the Congo) after more than thirty days. The steamer cast anchor at a place which was the seat of the government. He now got aboard a sea-going steamer that would take him thirty miles higher up. The captain of the steamer, a Swede, became friendly with Marlow. He told Marlow of another Swede who had hanged himself there because he had found the sun severely hot in that place or perhaps he had found the country to be unbearable. The steamer then approached a rock cliff with a number of houses built upon a hill nearer to the coast. Marlow got down from the steamer and started walking down towards the houses. On the way, “a lot of people, mostly black and naked moved about like ants. He had reached his Company’s station. He found a path leading up the hill, and saw a boiler lying idle in the thick grass and then some pieces of decaying machinery. Some men were busy blasting a rock with ahead gunpowder. It seemed that they were building a railway line there. Marlow then heard a clinking sound behind him. Turning his head, he saw six black natives walking in a row, with-baskets full of earth on their heads. Each of these six men had an iron collar round his neck; and all were linked together by means of a steel chain. These men “were called criminals, and the outraged law, like the bursting shells, had come to them, an insoluble mystery from the sea.” They passed Marlow within six inches but without looking at him. They moved with the indifference of happy savages. Behind them walked a guard carrying a rifle. Marlow now walked into a sort of grove in order to relax in the shade of the trees. But no sooner had he stepped into the shady place than he felt that he had “stepped into the gloomy circle of some Inferno.” Black shapes lay on the ground, huddled together. Some of them were seen in sitting postures. “They were men” dying slowly… nothing but black shadows of disease and starvation, lyingly confusedly in the greenish gloom.” They were not criminals; they were men brought from all the recesses of the coast in all the legality of time contracts. Marlow did not want to stay in that place any longer. He rushed upwards to the Company’s station. Getting close to the station, he met a well dressed white man, who was the Company’s Chief Accountant. He had been working there for the last three years devotedly. His accounts were as impeccable and flawless as his dress. Besides accounts, everything else at this station was chaotic. Marlow saw a large number of black natives arriving and departing from there. It is from the chief accountant - “a sort of vision” - that Marlow heard of Mr. Kurtz for the first time. He informed Marlow that Mr. Kurtz, a German was an agent of the Company in the interior, and first-class agent at that. Mr. Kurtz was at that time CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

156 British Poetry of 19th and 20th Century - II in charge of a trading post, who was sending to this station as much ivory as all the other agents put together. Marlow had to wait there for ten days. He was given a hut in the yard. Big flies buzzed around in the office and the yard. A sick man was groaning in the office of the Chief Accountant. As his condition worsened, the groans stopped and the buzzing of the flies could be heard. One day all of a sudden, the chief accountant was disturbed by the unruly sounds of a Carvan. He told Marlow that he disliked these savages who were couriers of goods including ivory. He also told him that one day, Mr. Kurtz would reach a very high position in the administration. Marlow Leaves the Station: Marlow next day left the station with a carvan of sixty men. He had to pass through muddy lands on foot and cover a distance of two hundred miles. The whole region was giving a deserted look and abandoned by the people. However, Marlow with his carvan continued with night stay for cooking, sleeping and getting ready for the next day. Sometimes a carrier dropped down dead due to fatigue and undernourished food. On the way, Marlow came across a white man who was camping with his escort. The white man told him that he was there to upkeep the road. But to Marlow’s surprise, there was no road for upkeeping. There was one white man in the caravan of Marlow also. He was fat and could not tolerate the heat and the hard task ahead. But he was doing it for the sake of money. The carriers refused to carry him in a hammock but Marlow’s intervention helped the carvan to cassy his hammock next morning infont of the carvan. But after some distance, the whole concern was wrecked in a bushman, hammock, groans. He was dumped unceremoniously. Marlow was in sight of the big Congo River on the fifteenth day. He was walking limpingly into the central station of the company. He saw a number of white men with sticks coming to him. One of them spoke to Marlow that the steamer which he was carrying was lying at the bottom of the river. However, it was repairable. But Marlow thought that he would have to pull the steamer out and repair. When he met the manager of the central station, his behaviour was rough though men under him carried out his orders. But nobody respected him. The condition of the station was also pitiable. He even infuriated the white men who were working under him. He had a negro boy who was respectful only to him and none else. The manager described Marlow about the situation in up-river stations as serious. There were rumours that a very important station was in jeopardy, and its chief, Mr. Kurtz, was ill. He reiterated that Mr. Kurtz was their best agent. He gave Marlow three months to haul the steamer out of the river, repair it and set it sailing again. Many things happened during the next three months. Marlow set to work the next morning, but he kept thinking what those white men were doing at the station who were strolling aimlessly and carrying sticks in their hands. They appeared to Marlow to be “faithless pilgrims” But everyone uttered just one word - ‘ivory’ - as if they were paying obeisance to that one word. Marlow found everything around him to be unreal. “Ivory seemed to have invaded this place and the Company’s station which was situated here.” One evening a shed full of calico, cotton prints, beads and similar other articles caught fire and everything was burnt to ashes. The flames raised high, keeping everybody at a distance and lighting up everything. The shed was completely destroyed in the fire. A negro was beaten up on the charge of having caused the fire. He was groaning immensely. For several days after, he sat in a bit of CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

157 shade, looking very sick and trying to recover. Marlow overheard two men, one suggesting to the other that they take advantage of the fire. One of these two men was the manager of the Central Stations, who asked Marlow if he had ever seen a fire breaking out in such a manner. He then walked away, leaving the other man behind. This other man was an agent of the Company. Marlow entered into a conversation with him. The man then took Marlow to his room in the main building of the station and lighted a candle. Marlow realized that this man must be privileged because only the manager was entitled to light candles in his room. Marlow came to know that this man was a brick maker. This came as a surprise to him because “there wasn’t a fragment of a brick anywhere in the station. It seems he could not make bricks without something. Marlow soon realized that all the men at this station had been waiting for something. The only real thing was a desire to get appointed to a trading-post where ivory was to be had, so that they could earn percentages. They intrigued and slandered and hated each other only on that account.” These sixteen to twenty 'pilgrims' did nothing at all. The Brickmaker wanted to be ‘sociable’ and talk freely to Marlow, “trying to get a something”. He seemed to be at pains to eke out some information from Marlow. Finding his efforts not useful, he became angry. Marlow then noticed “a small sketch in oils, on a panel, representing a woman, draped and blindfolded, carrying a lighted torch. The movement of the woman was stately.” The brickmaker informed Marlow that Mr. Kurtz had painted it at this very station more than a year ago. Marlow was surprised immensely. Marlow’s Curiosity for Mr. Kurtz: Marlow’s curiosity about Mr. Kurtz was further aroused. The brickmaker told Marlow. “He is a prodigy. He is an emissary to pity, and science, and progress, and devil knows what else.” Such men were sent to the Dark Continent by Europe to spread light; they represented high intelligence, wide sympathies, and a singleness of purpose. He predicted that Mr. Kurtz, who was at that time only the chief of the Company’s best station, would become the assistant manager next year. Marlow realized that his aunt’s influential acquaintances had produced a good impression on the brickmaker, who was convinced that Marlow had a lot of influence in Brussels. He requested Marlow to give a favourable idea of his disposition to Mr. Kurtz whom he was going to see very soon. Marlow, now amused at his false importance in the scheme of things, who aspired to become an assistant manager under the present dispensation, but Mr. Kurtz’s arrival there would upset all their plans. Three of Marlow’s listeners on the deck of the Nellie had by now fallen asleep; only one man was still awake, listening attentively to Marlow’s account of his experiences in the Congo. Marlow continued his narrative. He let the brickmaker “run on, and think what he pleased about the powers that were behind me”. He kept listening to the brickmaker’s description of being “a universal genius”, but even a genius would find it easier to work with “adequate tools - intelligent men.” As for the brickmaker himself, he was not making any bricks as materials needed for making bricks were not available. So he had been helping useful in some way to the manager. Steamer Needed Much Repairs: The wrecked steamer, retrieved out of the bottom of the river, needed extensive repairs, which were becoming more and more difficult because Marlow needed rivets and they were not available at this station. He conveyed many messages for the CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

158 British Poetry of 19th and 20th Century - II supply of rivets, but no rivets were made available to him. Several times a week a caravan came in with such goods as calico and glass beads. But these too brought no rivets. Marlow told the brickmaker to write a letter to the officials to send him the rivets required for repairs to the wrecked steamer, but the brickmaker replied that he would write only from the dictation given to him by the manager, and not on his own responsibility. The brickmaker then changed the subject and spoke to Marlow in a somewhat odd style about a hippopotamus which he said, had become a nuisance to all the people living in that station. However, nobody was able to kill because the hippopotamus who was leading a charmed and comfortable life (meaning thereby Mr. Kurtz). Marlow looked at the wrecked steamer. He saw was the battered and ruined steamer, unfit to sail. Marlow had undergone so much pain and labored so hard on this out of order steamer that he had begun to love it. He then climbed up to the deck of the wrecked steamer and saw a man sitting there. This man was a boilermaker by profession, and a good worker. Marlow slapped him on the back and shouted, “We shall have rivets!” The boiler-maker could not believe his ears. Both of them were highly excited and started dancing on the deck when Marlow informed him that the rivets would arrive in about three weeks. Invasion by Eldorado Exploring Expedition: No rivets, however, came; instead, there was an invasion of the station by people belonging to the Eldorado Exploring Expedition. These people came in three groups during the next three weeks. They were in the company of a quarrelling group of tired and anxious negroes. These people brought with them a number of tents, camp-stools, tin boxes and other miscellaneous goods. The white members of the exhibition kept talking about the purpose of their visit, to which they were sworn to secrecy. It was their desire to get treasure out of this land. The uncle of our manager was its leading person with no more purpose at the back of it. The uncle resembled a butcher in appearance and “his eyes had a look of sleepy cunning. Marlow had, in the meanwhile, given up worrying himself about the rivets. He decided to “let things slide.” He had ample time for meditation, and now and then he give some thought to Kurtz. He wasn’t very interested in him. Section - 2 One evening as Marlow was lying on the deck of his steamboat, he overheard the conversation between the manager and his uncle who were strolling down the coast. They were talking about Mr. Kurtz. The manager was annoyed that Mr. Kurtz had been sent to those parts. The uncle told him that Mr. Kurtz had overpowered the administration to be sent there because he wanted to show them what he could do. But the uncle consoled the manager: “The climate may do away with this difficulty for you. Is he alone there?” “Yes”, replied the manager. If Mr. Kurtz were to die, the manager’s way would be clear. A year ago, Mr. Kurtz had sent a note to the manger that he did not require the assistance of the kind he had been given as such assistants were of more hurdle than help to him. In fact, Mr. Kutz had at first decided to quit the station, but subsequently changed his mind he had even travelled a great distance from his station. Since then, he had been sending to the manager lots of ivory. This had much troubled the manger and upset his plans. Then they swore aloud, and cursed Mr. Kurtz. Marlow was wonder-struck to know what kind of a man this Mr. Kurtz be. Perhaps he was the kind of man who was religiously devoted to his work. If that were so, Mr. Kurtz must be an CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

159 extraordinary person. He was excited at the prospect of meeting Mr. Kurtz very soon, i.e. in about two months, when they left the creek to the bank below Mr. Kurtz’s station. After a few days, the Eldorado Exploring Exploration left the station and went in to the “patient wilderness, that closed upon it as the sea closes over a river.” Long afterwards, news came that all the donkeys of the expedition had died. Marlow’s Interest in Mr. Kurtz: Marlow’s interest in Mr. Kurtz was aroused. The wrecked steamer was now repaired and Marlow’s voyage began again. According to Marlow, “Going up that river was like travelling back to the earliest beginnings of the world, when vegetation rioted on the earth and the big trees were kings. An empty stream, a great silence, an impenetrable forest. The air was warm, thick, heavy, sluggish… The broadening waters flowed through a mob of wooded islands. On many occasions the steamer could not move forward and men on board had to get down into the river to push it forward. There were about twenty natives (cannibals) on board, fine fellows in their own way because they were always willing to do the work they were asked to do. There were some white men on board also, including the manager of the station. The steamer moved very slowly, penetrating deeper and deeper into the heart of darkness. The slow movement of the steamer made the men on board look very small; it made the men feel that they were lost. At night sometimes the sounds of the beating of drums was audible from the internal part of the forest. Whatever these sounds were of war or peace or simply a prayer to the gods, Marlow could not make out. He only realized that he and his men were wanderers on pre-historic earth, or on an unknown planet, the earth itself seemed to be unearthly. Thinking seriously upon the situation, Marlow felt that the mind of man was capable of anything because everything in the world could be viewed in the mind of man. The mind of man contained all the past; it also contained all the future. It contained all the joy, the fear, the sorrow, the devotion, the valour, the rage, and every other feeling and emotion. An intelligent man could even perceive the truth. Only the fool felt helpless. Marlow had to attend to many petty jobs. He had to keep a watch on the firman, who was efficient in his work but there were some hurdles for which he needed some guidance. The river was treacherous and, at places, very shallow. The boiler that the fireman had to feed seemed to be haunted by a devil whom the fireman could not fight alone and by his own mental resources. Some fifty miles before the Inner Station, Marlow and his men saw a hut of reeds on the river bank. They got down from the steamer and went inside the hut. On a wooden board they saw some faded pencil writing which waid, “Wood for you. Hurry up. Approach cautiously. The signature beneath this warning was not clear appeared. Something to be wrong somewhere. Marlow also found a book lying in the corner of the hut. Its title was: An Inquiry into some Points of Seamanship by Tower or Towson, Master in his Majesty’s Navy. Marlow put it into his pocket for future reading. Marlow thought it might prove useful later. The voyage was then resumed after piling the woodpile. The current was more strong and Marlow somehow feared that the steamer might go into pieces at any moment. “It was like watching the last flickers of life. But well still crawled.” It appeared that the manager resigned but Marlow fretted at the futility of it all. They were eight miles away from Mr. Kurtz’s station on the second day. Marlow wanted to push on, but the manager, looking solemn and anxious, advised him to wait till the next morning. CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

160 British Poetry of 19th and 20th Century - II Marlow agreed as “one night more could not matter much after so many months.” The night came, and with it a complete darkness. At about three in the morning, a loud splash was heard as if a gun had been fired somewhere in the distance. It was followed by a loud cry from somewhere inside the forest. This filled everyone on board with a strange fear. All of them were amazed. They felt that there was a hostile tribe somewhere in the forest. They were all scared. One of the natives on board said they would not mind if they could get hold of a member of the attacking people because they were very hungry and would like to eat some human flesh. Marlow wondered why any of these cannibals had not attacked any of the white men on board so far. These cannibals had not been given any provisions at the start of the voyage. They had surely brought some hippo with them, but it had begun to rot after a few days and had to be thrown into the river as it was unfit for consumption now. They had been supplied with some brass wire that they could exchange for some meant in the village along the river bank. They were not able to get any meat in exchange of the brass wire in possession of them. Under the circumstances it was remarkable how the cannibals had put up such self-restraint and not attacked any white members of the crew. Hours later, the fog disappeared. The ship had moved further ahead and was only a mile and a half below Mr. Kurtz’s station. At this point there were two channels into which the river had divided itself because of the islands which stood in the middle. Marlow could not decide which of the two channels he should proceed further. He decided to follow the channel on the western side; it was a narrower channel than he had thought. The forest looked very gloomy. The helmsman, a black, athletic figure, steered with a lot of swagger when Marlow stood near him, but behaved like a thorough coward when Marlow happened to be away. The bald and bearded fireman, however, carried on in his usual manner. Suddenly, the fireman bent downwards and ducked his head as if to avoid being hit by some missile. Marlow saw arrows flying all around the hostile tribesmen were shooting arrows from behind the trees growing on the riverbank. The men on board were now in real danger as the tribesmen had launched an attack on the steamer. A large number of the natives soon gathered at the riverbank. Marlow shouted to the helmsman to steer the steamer straight onwards and not to turn to the right or the left. The men on board started firing their guns on the natives. Marlow was afraid that the arrows fired by the natives might be poisoned. The helmsman had picked up a gun and was shouting at the natives. But suddenly he fell down dead at Marlow’s feet as he had been pierced by a spear thrown by one of the hostile natives. Marlow now took charge of the stearing wheel. He thought of driving away the natives by using another method. He pulled the string of the steamer’s whistles which gave out a howling sound. The natives had fled in fear into the depths of the forest. Seeing the body of the dead helmsman, one of the ‘pilgrims’ got afraid that Mr. Kurtz might have also been killed by the hostile natives by now. This disappointed Marlow; he was disturbed at the thought as he had been very eager about meeting this “universal genius.” He threw his shoes, which had been filled by the blood of the helmsman, into the river. He recollected that Mr. Kurtz had stolen or collected more ivory than all the agents of the company. Apart from collecting ivory by fair means or foul, Mr. Kurtz was reported by everyone to be a very gifted person, one of his abilities being to talk, his skill over words and his gift talent for expression. This gift of being able to talk CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

161 granted to Mr. Kurtz a strong reality. He was overwhelmed by the thought of Mr. Kurtz’s death. He experienced a feeling of desolation as if he had missed his destiny in life. Marlow told his listeners on board the Nellie that he was on the point of tears at the thought of Mr. Kurtz’s death at the hands of the rival tribesmen. “I couldn’t have felt more of lonely desolation somehow, had I been robbed of a belief or had missed my destiny in life?” But Marlow misjudged. He got Kurtz. He was “impressively bald. The wilderness had patted him on the head, and, behold it was like a ball - an ivory ball.” But Mr. Kurtz had ‘withered’, but he spoke as if everything there belonged to him: “My intended, my ivory, my station, my river, my - …Everything belonged to him - but that was a trifle. Marlow learnt that Mr. Kurtz had been partly educated in England and his sympathies, he said, “lay in the right place.” His mother was half-English, and his father half-French. All Europe had contributed to the making of Mr. Kurtz; he had imbibed the culture of all the countries on the Continent. But something had obviously gone wrong with Mr. Kurtz. Having lived for a long time in the Congo, in the interior of Africa, he had developed certain misbeliefs. He had reportedly begun to preside at midnight tribal dances ending with “unspeakable rites.” He had come to be regarded as a kind of deity to whom the natives offered some sacrifices. He had written a report earlier, where Mr. Kurtz argued that the whites must necessarily be treated by the savages as supernatural beings. It was the duty of the white people to try and civilize the savages. Mr. Kurtz was an uncommon person who had the power to charm or frighten rudimentary souls into submission. At the same time, however, the thought of Mr. Kurtz could fill the souls of white traders with bitter doubts and suspicious. He had one devoted friend at his station; he had conquered at least one soul - Marlow. Marlow disposed of the dead helmsman’s body by dropping in into the river. Some of the whites on board felt unhappy at the summary disposal. The black members of the crew were unhappy because they would have liked to eat the flesh of the dead helmsman. When they reached the Inner Station of the Company presided over by Mr. Kurtz, they found a white man waving his hands in zeal and zest at the approaching steamer. The manager reported that they had been attacked by hostile tribesmen. The manager reported that they had been attacked by hostile tribesmen. The white man yelled back, “I know - I know. It’s all right… Come along. It’s all right. I am glad.” He looked like a harlequin to Marlow. The “something funny I had seen somewhere” cautioned Marlow to look out against a suag lodged there and informed the party that ‘he’, i.e. Mr. Kurtz, was up there. He was a Russian, who had been living in the hut from where Marlow picked up the book on seamanship. The secret code in which the book seemed to have been written was actually the Russian script. Marlow returned the book to him. He told Marlow that he had run away from home at an early age hardly at the age of twenty five. The Russian also informed Marlow that the tribesmen who had attacked the steamer were not really hostile; they had attacked the visitors because they did not want Kurtz to leave the place. Section 3 Marlow looked at the Russian, utterly amazed in wonder. He very existence was improbable CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

162 British Poetry of 19th and 20th Century - II inexplicable and altogether unbelievable. He was an insoluble problem. The Russian seemed to Marlow to be an alter ego of Mr. Kurtz, who had been talking to him of everything. Marlow asked him what Mr. Kurtz had been doing in the region that he did not want to leave. The Russian replied that Mr. Kurtz had been exploring the region and that he had explored many things there, besides a lake. He had been visiting far flung areas in search of ivory. Power of Mr. Kurtz: On one occasion. Mr. Kurtz had threatened to shoot him because he had refused to subdue to him a small quantity of ivory. Mr. Kurtz was so powerful in the region that he could kill anybody without fear. The Russian had made an attempt to overpower Mr. Kurtz to leave the region on account of his illness and go back to Europe but he did not like it. Mr. Kurtz’s hunger for ivory had turned out to be stronger than his desire for anything else. The Russian looked after him during his last two illnesses, now he was in such a bad shape that he was “lying helpless”. The Russian told Marlow, who saw the building that Mr. Kurtz was lying in with his pair of binoculars as it was at some distance. He was amazed to see a number of wooden posts around the building. The heads and skulls of human beings were hanging from the tops of those posts. This confused Marlow, who later learnt that Mr. Kurtz had been doing certain things which had ruined that region from the point of view of the white traders. Mr. Kurtz had shown no restraint in the satisfaction of his many lusts. The essential human quality was lacking in him. He was skilled in his speech and writing, but he was lacking in a certain kind of grace. The Russian told Marlow that Mr. Kurtz was not afraid of the natives who had become utterly subservient to him. They had now pitched their tents round the building in which he lay ill and the chiefs came every day to visit him. They crawled when they wanted to approach Mr. Kurtz. The natives considered Mr. Kurtz to be some sort of a divine being. He had hung the heads of those who rebelled against his authority on top of the posts outside the building in which he lived. The Russian had been doing his best to save Mr. Kurtz’s life during his illness, but he did to have a drop of medicine or a morsel of invalid food to offer to the ailing Mr. Kurtz during the last many months. Marlow then saw a group of men walking through the thick grass; they were carrying a stretcher. They were followed by a number of natives who emerged from the thick forest. They carried all kinds of weapons in their hands. Mr. Kurtz was lying on the stretcher. The natives had made their appearance so as to prevent the white men taking away Mr. Kurtz. The Russian informed Marlow that an attack on the white men could be prevented only if Mr. Kurtz spoke the right words to the natives. As the Russian uttered these words Marlow saw the ailing Mr. Kurtz trying to raise himself on the stretcher and speak to the natives. ‘Kurtz’ in German meant ‘short’. The description was befitting for the man as his body looked really piteous and pathetic. “Through my glasses I saw the thin arm extended commandingly, the lower jaw moving, the eyes of that apparition shining darkly far in its bony head that nodded with grotesque jerks… He looked at least seven feet long … It was though an animated image of death carved out of old ivory had been shaking its hands with menaces at a motionless crowd of men made of dark and glittering bronze. I saw him open his mouth wide. A deep voice reached me faintly. He must have been shouting. He fell back suddenly. The stretcher shook as the bearers staggered forward again.” The white men carried Mr. Kurtz to one of the cabins in the steamer; some of them carried his CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

163 arms and his papers. Marlow was “struck by the fire of his eyes and the composed languor of his expression”, as Mr. Kurtz’s hands “roamed feebly among his papers.” He did not seem to be in pain. The shadow looked satiated and calm, as though for the moment it had its fill of all the emotions.” He told Marlow that he was ‘glad’ to see him. A voice! a voice! It was grave, profound, vibrating, while the man did not seem capable of a whisper. However, he had enough strength in him - factitious no doubt - to very nearly make an end of us.” Just then, the manager entered and drew the curtains of the cabin. Marlow and the Russian left. Dark human shapes appeared in the distance. Two men with spears escorted “a wild and gorgeous apparition of a woman” to the steamer. The magnificent looking woman came abreast of the steamer, stood still, and faced the white men. “Her long shadow fall to the water’s edge. Her face had a tragic and fierce aspect of wild sorrow and dumb pain mingled with the fear of some struggling, half-shaped resolve.” But then, the woman walked away into the forest and disappeared. She, however, got in one day and “talked like a fury to Kurtz for an hour.” Luckily for him. Kurtz felt too ill that day to care, or there would have been mischief… Ah, well, it’s all over now.” At this moment, Marlow heard Kurtz’s still-small voice behind the curtain: “Save me! - save the ivory, you mean. Don’t tell me. Save me. You are interrupting my plans now. Sick! Sick! Not so sick as you would like to believe. Never mind. I’ll carry my ideas out yet - I will return. I’ll show you what can be done.” The manager told Marlow that he had done everything to help Mr. Kurtz and that Mr. Kurtz, on his part, had done more harm than good to the company. He admitted that Mr. Kurtz “was a remarkable man.” He was now as good as dead and ‘buried’ as far as the manager and his companions were concerned. The Russian tapped Marlow on the shoulder and called him a brother seaman” because both of them were sailors that was an intimate and between them. And they were both in favour of Mr. Kurtz, for the Russian, Mr. Kurtz was “one of the immortals.” The manager had said that someone should be hanged in order to serve as a warming to those who supported Mr. Kurtz. The Russian agreed with Marlow and said he would try to slip away silently so as not to face into the hands of the manager. Marlow then advised him to go if he had any friends among the savages. “Plenty”, the Russian replied. He informed Marlow that it was Mr. Kurtz who had ordered the attack by the natives on the steamer as he hated the idea of being taken away. The Russian then got a few cartridges for his gun and a small quantity of English tobacco from Marlow, and departed, saying, “Ah! I’ll never, never meet such a man again. You ought to have heard him recite poetry - his own, too, it was, he told me. Poetry!... Oh, he enlarged my mind!” Everyone had now fallen asleep on the steamer. At midnight, Marlow woke up and looked around as the Russian’s warning came to his mind. He went toward Mr. Kurtz’s cabin to ensure that everything was all right. But he was surprised to find that “a light was burning within, but Mr. Kurtz was not there.” At first, it appeared impossible and Marlow was “completely unnerved by a sheer blank fright, pure abstract terror, unconnected with any distinct shape of physical danger.” He did not raise an alarm. Marlow kept to the track and soon came upon Mr. Kurtz. Marlow wanted to take Mr. Kurtz back to the steamer. He pleaded in a voice of longing, as he recollected his “monstrous passions.” “There was something brutal and something primitive in his nature that bound him to the forest and CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

164 British Poetry of 19th and 20th Century - II its native black dwellers.” Marlow used all his vigour and vitality and brought Mr. Kurtz back to the steamer. The conflict between Mr. Kurtz’s his mind and his primitive instincts still continued as he was carried into the pilot-house “there was more air there.” As the ship sailed away the next day, there was a swarm of natives on the riverbank. Mr. Kurtz kept on looking past Marlow “with fiery, longing eyes. He understood what the natives said”. When Marlow pulled at the string of the whistle on the steamer, some one of deck disconsolately cried, “Don’t! don’t you frighten them away!” The natives broke and ran, dodging “the flying terror of sound.” They ran away from the riverbank in a state of fear and chaos. However, the majestic- looking savage woman still stood on the riverbank without flinching and without the least sign of fear or nervousness. Marlow could not see anything due to smoke. The manager on board the steamer was now feeling relaxed and calm Mr. Kurtz kept talking in spite of the increasing feebleness of his body. He talked rapidly about his ‘intended’, his career, his ideas; his plans. “Kurtz discoursed. A voice! a voice! It rang deep to the very last. It survived his strength to hide in the grand folds of eloquence the barren darkness of his heart. Oh, he struggled! He struggled… Sometimes he was contemptibly childish.” This went on for several days. One morning, he handed over Marlow a packet of papers and a photograph - “the lot tied together in a shoe-string” - and asked Marlow to “keep this for me” as “the noxious fool” (the manager) was capable of prying into his boxes while he was not looking. The papers contained plans “for the furthering of my ideas. It’s a duty.” The photograph was of the woman he intended to marry on his return to Europe. One evening, Mr. Kurtz told Marlow, “I am lying here in the dark waiting for death.” As he looked at the dying Mr. Kurtz, Marlow wasn’t moved he was fascinated. Marlow blew out the candle and left the cabin. As they were dining in the mess-room, “Suddenly, the manager’s boy put his insolent black head in the doorway, and said in a tone of scathing contempt: “Mistah Kurtz - he dead.” All the ‘pilgrims’ rushed out to see the dead Mr. Kurtz. But Marlow remained seated where he was. The voice was gone. What else had been there? But I am of course aware that next day the pilgrims buried something in a muddy hole…And then they nearly buried me. Marlow had become immensely attached to Mr. Kurtz’s memory. He could not, however, give any reason for this attachment and his devotion to Mr. Kurtz. Perhaps it was his destiny. Life was something strange, he said, and something funny because of its meaningless logic that had no. The most one could to get from life was some knowledge of oneself, but even this knowledge sometimes came too late. Mr. Kurtz had summed up his experience of life and his judgement of the world in his last two words: “The horror!” These two words were an expression of some belief. They revealed the man’s candour, his conviction; they had a vigorous note of revolt in them - the appalling face a truth he had glimpsed, “the strange commingling of desire and hate.” Mr. Kurtz had “stepped over the edge,” while Marlow had been “permitted to draw back my hesitating foot.” Mr. Kurtz’s last words were “an affirmation, a moral victory, paid for by innumerable defeats.” His business in the Congo was over. So Marlow returned to “the sepulchral city” of Brussels from where he had commenced. The people were full of “stupid importance” and Marlow had some CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

165 difficulty “in restraining myself from laughing in their face.” He settled his affairs. Several people visited him asking for the packet of papers Mr. Kurtz has handed over to him. Marlow did not really know how to dispose of the papers. Death of Kurtz’s Mother: Mr. Kurtz’s mother had recently died. The picture of the woman Mr. Kurtz had ‘intended’to marry struck Marlow “as beautiful - I mean she had a beautiful expression.” Marlow decided to go to her and give her back her picture and the papers. The lady was still in mourning. “She came forward, all in black with a pale head, floating towards me in the dusk... she seemed as though she would remember and mourn forever. “She was not very young”; she had “a mature capacity for fidelity, for belief, for suffering… She carried her sorrowful head as though she was proud of that sorrow, as though she would say, I - I alone know how to mourn for him as he deserves.” She asked Marlow whether he knew Mr. Kurtz well. “And you admired him. It was impossible to know him and not to admire him.” “He was a remarkable man”, Marlow replied unsteadily. But the lady said she knew him the best. She wanted to know Mr. Kurtz’s last words. Marlow did not wish to sadden her. Although Mr. Kurtz’s last words were “The horror! The horror!” he lied to his fiancé, saying that the last words spoken by Mr. Kurtz had been her name. On hearing this, the Intended hid her face in her hands and began to wail, “what a loss to me - to us!... To the world… I have been very happy - very fortunate - very proud… Too fortunate. Too happy for a little while. And now I am unhappy for - for life.” Marlow found that the lie he had uttered would always remain a source of consolation, comfort and joy to her. He reassured her that Mr. Kurtz “died as he lived” and that “his end was in every way worthy of his life.” His narrative over, Marlow sat apart and silent, “in the pose of a mediating Buddha.” Nobody moved for a time. The tranquil Thames were flowing somber leading to the recesses of darkness. Conclusion: “Heart of Darkness is the story of an English seaman, Charles Marlow who is hired by a Belgian company to captain a river steamer in the recently established Congo Free State. As soon as he arrives in Congo, Marlow begins to hear rumour about another company employee Kurtz. He is stationed deep in the interior of the country which is hundred of miles up the Congo river. The second half of the novel reveals Marlow’s journey upriver and his meeting with Kurtz. But Kurtz dies on the journey back down to the coast though not before Marlow had a chance to glimpse “the barren darkness of his heart.” The coda to Marlow’s Congo story takes place in Europe questioned by Kurtz’s “Intended” about his last moments, Marlow decides to tell a comforting lie, rather than reveal the truth about his descent into madness. The novel suggests that Europeans are not essentially more highly evolved or enlightened than the people whose territories they invade. 8.3 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TITLE Introduction: The title “Heart of Darkness” is significant and suggestive of the content of this novel by Joseph Conrad. The title has two meanings. One is the literal meaning and the other is the symbolic meaning. Literally, the title refers to the dark continent of Africa, especially the territory known as the Congo. The phrase “Heart of Darkness” means the inmost region of the territory which in those days, still in the process of being explored, and the inhabitants of which still led CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

166 British Poetry of 19th and 20th Century - II primitive lives. Marlow here describes his experiences of the interior region of the continent which was known as the Dark Continent. The most significant events of the story take place in the Congo and on the river of that name. The most important portion of the novella deals with a white man called Mr. Kurtz who falls under the influences of the savages living in the interior of the country called the Congo. The savages really belong to the heart of darkness. The title in fact alludes to the physical darkness and moral darkness present on the river. The darkness refers to the dark civilization of Africa and heart symbolizes the very core of the African nation where people are savage, inhuman, uncivilized and fully ignorant. Symbolically, the title deals with the unexplored story and history of civil and uncivil spirit in nature and human heart. It was Henry Morton Stanley who gave the name the Dark Continent to Africa. “Heart of Darkness” means the inmost region of the territory which at that time was in the process of being explored. The natives led primitive lives and the white man took it upon himself the task of ‘civilising’ them. Imperialism had come to have a purpose, unlike, as Marlow points out, the Roman Conquerors nineteenth hundred years ago, who had only wanted to annex England. The Romans, he says, were mere “colonists; their administration was merely a squeeze, and nothing more, I suspect. They were conquerors… They grabbed what they could get for the sake of what was to be got.” By the time Conrad went to the Dark Continent in the 1890’s, many parts of it had been explored, but Africa was still known as a dark continent. And “Heart of Darkness” largely records Conrad’s own experiences while exploring the region. In the novella, Marlow describes his own “inconclusive experiences” in the Congo, the most significant part being Mr. Kurtz who falls under the influence of the savages living in the heart of darkness in the Congo. Descriptions of the Novel: “Heart of Darkness” is replete with descriptions. In fact, he gets a chance to go to the Congo because one of the captains of the Company had been killed in a scuffle with the natives from a misunderstanding over “two black hens”. The captain found he had been wronged somehow in the bargain, so he “whacked the old nigger mercilessly” till the old chief’s son attacked him with a spear and killed him. Marlow found passage to the heart of darkness on a little seagoing steamer and lands at the Company’s station where he sees the humiliation and the indignities the natives are subjected to. He has to wait there for ten days before he sets out with a carvan “for a two-hundred mile tramp.” When he reaches the Central Station, Marlow learns that his steamer is now a ruined one and is lying at the bottom of the river. Marlow waits for three months before he can set sail again in his repaired steamer. The atmosphere is certainly characteristics of the heart of darkness when night comes suddenly and strike Marlow blind. The Natives: The natives are an integral part of this darkness. So is well known Mr. Kurtz, “a remarkable man” everyone keeps talking about. When the natives launch an attack on Marlow’s steamer, he listens to a muffled rattle, then a very loud cry, as of infinite desolation. The cry is like a clamour, giving rise to a feeling to fear in the hearts of all the white men on board, the steamer and they get ready to challenge the attack. When the attack by the natives begins, Marlow sees arrows flying everywhere in the darkness and the white men shooting, randomly at the natives. Marlow’s presence of mind however, saves the situation as he continues blowing the whistle. The terrifies the natives and they run away in confusion. Marlow uses this device on a number of times to repel the CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

167 attack of those people on the steamer. In this heart of darkness, the character of Mr. Kurtz who, instead of ‘civilising’ the natives, has himself become a barbarian. He has become to identify himself with the savages by presiding over their midnight dances and taking active part in their “unspeakable rites” like cannibalism. He has given a free outlet to his monstrous passions and lust in the wilderness, and has been experiencing “abominable satisfaction”. He has become a part and parcel of the heart of darkness, an embodiment of the superstition and the evil that is part of the unexplored land. The natives have begun to regard him as a man-god, as a sort of deity. Dark Region of the Mind: At another level, “Heart of Darkness” is a story of symbolic journey to explore the ‘dark’ region of the mind, the subconscious. The human mind may be considered as a dark continent that has not yet been explored and understood. The exploration of the human mind is even more difficult than the exploration of the Dark Continent. Marlow’s journey into the Congo is thus a psychological and anthropological night-journey. It is essentially a solitary journey involving a deep change in the voyager. It is a descent into the earth, followed by a return to light; it is a mystical journey. Marlow also says indirectly at one point that, by paying attention to the reality of the story and the external details, we would be able to arrive at an inner meaning: “yet to understand the effect of it on me, you ought to know how I got out there, what I saw, how I went up that river to the place… It was the farthest point of navigation and the culminating point of my experience. It seemed somehow to throw a kind of light on everything about me - and into my thoughts. It was somber enough, too - and pitiful - not extraordinary in any way - not very clear either. No, not very clear. And yet it seemed to throw a kind of light.” Marlow says that it is not possible for any man to convey to others the life sensation of any period of his existence. “We live, as we dream, alone”, he says. According to him, the mind of man is capable of anything and everything because everything is in it, including the past and the future. In order to endure the stark realities of human life, man should posses an inner strength. What man essentially needs is a deliberate belief. He speaks of the effect on his mind of the savage sight of human skulls hanging on tops of the posts outside Mr. Kurtz’s residence and onwards his reactions to Mr. Kurtz’s arguments on slipping away into the jungle from the steamer that is to carry him to Europe. Marlow projects the working of his own mind towards the end when several persons approach him in Brussels, claiming Mr. Kurtz’s papers and the photograph of the Intended and his decision to go and hand over the papers and photographs to Mr. Kurtz’s fiancée. Finally, his lie that last words Mr. Kurtz had spoken were the name of the Intended, and not “The horror! The horror!” He consoles himself by saying, “The heavens do not fall for such a trifle.” This is the “immense darkness” of the human mind; it is the unknown; it is the subconscious; it is a moral darkness; he mystery of the human existence that Conrad’s “Heart of Darkness” seeks to find out in this vacuum. Conclusion: Marlow’s exploration of the dark country is accompanied by an exploration of the depths of his own mind or soul. The human mind may also be regarded as a type of dark continent. The exploration of this dark continent is perhaps even more difficult than the exploration of a dark country like the Congo. The novella describes a physical journey but at the same time, it is a psychological and mystical journey. Marlow gives his glimpses of own mind. For example, there CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

168 British Poetry of 19th and 20th Century - II are the feelings of isolation in the steamer like his reaction to the suffering of black men chained with one another and each wearing an iron collar around his neck, the ill treatment of the cannibal crew by the white owner of the ship, his reflections of manager of the central station, Bricknmaker and finally Mr. Kurtz. The novella on the other hand is an exploration of the subconscious state of mind which is also a dark region. So the title is appropriate. The innermost region of the territory is yet to be explored where people led the nomado and primitive way of living. The description of the scenery by Marlow adds something vital to the title of the novel. The geographical search is comparatively easier than the search of one’s self. 8.4 MARLOW’S ROLE AND CHARACTER IN THE NOVEL Introduction: Charles Marlow is a remarkable character that appears as the narrator in Conrad’s “Heart of Darkness”. According to Cedric Watts, he solves “a technical problem” that, Conrad faced in The Nigger of the ‘Narcissus’: “the problem of reconciling the viewpoint of a narrator who has immediate but limited knowledge with that of a narrator who has the reflective scope of hindsight.” Charles Marlow is the main fictional narrator in a work which uses ‘the tale within a tale’ device: an anonymous character introduces Marlow, and Marlow then tells the yarn about his earlier days. Such oblique narration was common at that time. Among Conrad’s acquaintances, it was employed by Henry James, Rudyard Kipling, Cunningham Gradham, Stephen Crane and H.G. Wells. Conrad found the technique particularly befitting. This weathered sea-captain, fluent as a story-teller, romantic in sympathies yet skeptical in opinions, proved to be a fine enabling device: through Marlow’s mask, Conrad could speak freely while reserving options. Marlow is one of the most unique characters of modern fiction. The voice of the first narrator serves mainly to introduce Marlow and to direct out attention to him as a narrator. It is a voice that is distinct from that of Marlow, one that will virtually disappear as Marlow begins to talk. It is a voice that sounds significantly like the one in the Nigger of the “Narcissus” that is no longer of use to Conrad in the journey he is about to undertake: “The Nellie, a cruising yawl, swung to her anchor without a flutter of the sails, and was at rest. The flood had made, the wind was nearly calm, and being bound down the river, the only thing for it was to come to and wait for the turn of the tide……The air was dark above Gravesend, and farther back still seemed condensed into a mournful gloom brooding motionless over the biggest, and the greatest, town on earth.” This voice, somber, romantic, and gloomily picturesque, echoes the descriptions of the Narcissus at berth in Bombay. But as it gives way to Marlow’s narration, we learn that the “sailors” of this story are Marlow’s listening audience, the professional men aboard the Nellie. As the first narrator says, they had all “followed the sea,” but they are identified now only by their roles in the urban, commercial world: the Lawyer, the Accountant, the Director of Companies—The modern descendents, one might say, of the crew of the Narcissus. He serves as a mediator, it seems, between the pastoral world of seamen and the modern world to which his audience belongs. Within this precarious and often ambivalent position, Marlow’s moral perspectives are formed. Marlow’s roles as a storyteller is presented among the first of his ambivalent perspectives, as he seems to be an intermediary between what is familiar and comprehensible and what is tough or CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

169 unknown. “The yarns of seamen have a direct simplicity,” the first narrator says, “the whole meaning of which lies within the shell of a creaked nut.” But Marlow was not typical (if his propensity to spin yarns is 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 visible by the spectral illumination of moonshine”. Conrad claims that the journey Marlow makes and the story he tells will create a new and remarkable dimension to our conception of heroism. This journey will include a moral and ontological descent into the darkness of the self to discover that which is eternal and true. Conrad observes and finds that such a journey can be begun only through conventional means, if not according to an internalized version of the Miltonic epic, then according to a version of a seaman’s yarn whose outcome will be indirect, confusing, according to usual standards. Marlow tries to find some meaning for his experience. His way of talking his physical journey has an explicit metaphorical structure to it. Marlow suggests that his journey into the darkness “seemed to throw a kind of light. The physical aspects of the jungle described by him are laden with symbolic significance. There are certain words like ‘invaded’, ‘contorted’, ‘rotting’ and ‘write’ which carry connotations of moral degeneracy. Descriptions of the European machinery – export intend to exploit the wilderness for economic resources convey ironical meanings Description of wilderness is a place of corruption, a symbolical landscape, a garbage dump for the emblems of western culture. But this wilderness does not become a symbol for the wreckage of civilization. Wilderness in some examples tries to resist the incursions of civilization without any visible change. Marlow, infact, is trying to make an incursion of his own which is of a different kind than those of the Europeans. “Heart of Darkness” is not merely Marlow’s story exclusively. The narrator’s inclusion of Marlow’s story within his point of view appears as a deliberate attempt on his part to frame the concrete world and man’s involvement with this world in a visions which negates the reality of both. It creates for us the visible surface of life but does so in such a way that we never forget that this surface is a lie. It leads us to Kurtz but does so in such a manner that we never accept his idealism at face value. The narrator to place Marlow’s positive; creative journey within, the context of a negating darkness is for him to accept the insubstantiality of the self. It is to accept the fact that man can never transcend the conditional existence of his original, state. It is this acceptance of his own insubstantiality which is the source of the narration. If the company people are “absurd” and “unreal,” and Marlow needs to be “redeemed” from them, the wilderness is even more bewildering because in the wilderness there is “something invincible, like evil or truth,” from which Marlow also needs to be redeemed. It is most of all in response to this evil or truth—that Marlow finds himself in the staking off boundaries in his imagination, in a way that recalls the walls built by Robinson Crusoe, between himself and “the silent wilderness.” Whatever the wilderness contains, it is still “outside” the camp and beyond Marlow’s understanding. Sometime after Marlow leaves the Central Station on the final leg of his journey, he comes across a book in a hut located along the river. The book, a manual of seamanship, will be among the Russian’s “equipment” that Marlow jokes about later. At the time he discovers it, though, Marlow speaks about it with a warm and reverential irony. Kurtz’s use of language seems to differ from that of Marlow in that he uses language as a weapon to dominate while Marlow uses it as a shield to protect himself. Marlow seems to exist for CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

170 British Poetry of 19th and 20th Century - II us and for himself only as he is able to define, distinguish, evaluate and pass judgments. Language for him is an instrument that gives expression to his desire to gain ultimate ascendancy over others and it appears to be his greatest weapon in his struggle with the wilderness too. In the end, Kurt’s fails and his defeat by the wilderness is marked by his cry. “The horror ! The horror” which is the last and incomprehensible whisper of a man who had been genius with words. Conclusion: For Marlow, these are the last words that could possibly have any meaning, and to he grasps at them as if they provide the belief he is looking for. “He had summed up—he had judged. ‘The horror !’ He was a remarkable man. After all, this was the expression of some sort of belief; it has candour, it had conviction, it has a vibrating note of revolt in its whisper. Infact, both Marlow and Kurtz had failed. Marlow seemingly goes far enough to reject the traditional trappings of heroism the glamour, the spectacle, the glossy. In a traditional sense, Marlow is no coward. He is clever, industrious, inventive, he remains cool and calm in the pressures of physical danger. He reacts with poise and determination in defending his boat and scattering his attackers. 8.5 CHARACTER OF KURTZ Introduction: Kurtz resembles the archetypal “evil genius” the highly gifted but ultimately degenerate individual whose fall is the core of the legend. He is important for his style and eloquence and for his grandiose. In this world of malicious people, he attracts much attention to be worthy of damnation. He is lacking in substance. Marlow refers to Kurtz as “hollow” more than once. He is not a fully realised individual. To his cousin, he was a great musician, to the journalist, a brilliant politician and a leader of man; to his fiancée, a great humanitarian and genius. All of these contrast with Marlow’s version of the man. But still Kurtz remains with Marlow and the reader by virtue of his Charisma and larger-than life plans. Kurtz refers to his fiancée as his “intended” and Marlow adopts this terminology to talk about the long suffering woman who has waited years for Kurtz to return to London. The intended’s love for Kurtz astonishes Marlow. Mr. Kurtz is an enigmatic, almost mythical, character about whom Marlow keeps hearing in growing terms ever since he sets foot in the Company’s Station in the Congo. He, however, remains a mysterious character even after, Marlow has seen and met him towards the end of “Heart of Darkness”. He has been delineated in such a charming manner by Conrad that, along with Marlow, the readers also keenly look forward to meeting Mr. Kurtz who, however, remains confusion till his death. When Marlow reaches the Company’s Station before “the two-hundred mile tramp,” he meet the Chief Accountant of the Company at the station, “a white man” who is flawlessly dressed amid the squalid and gloomy surroundings, a “miracle.” He is in charge of trading post, an important one in the ivory-country. Mr. Kurtz’s reputation has already created the jealousy of the manager of the Central Station, Marlow finds out when he reaches the Central Station of the Company. Everyone has come there “to make money, of course.” The manager of the Central Station does not even ask Marlow to sit down “after my twenty-mile walk that morning,” who “inspired uneasiness.” He describes the situation at the Central Station as “very grave, very grave” as “there were rumours that a very CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

171 important station was in shambles and its chief, Mr. Kurtz, was ill.” Marlow’s first reaction as he is feeling “weary and irritable” after the long journey is: “Hang Kurtz.” Manager’s Assurance to Marlow about Kurtz: The manager assures Marlow that Mr. Kurtz is “the best agent” he has had, “an exceptional man, of the greatest importance to the Company.” That reveals why the manager wants Marlow to get to Mr. Kurtz’s station at the earliest despite his wrecked steamer lying at he bottom of the river. He gives Marlow three months to retrieve the steamer and set it sailing on the Congo river. Yet he does noting to help Marlow, whose request for rivets to repair the steamer is never acceded to. The manager’s accomplice, the brick-maker, tries to “pump out” the details of Marlow’s visit to the interior station as he is the manager’s spy there. Marlow asks him, “Tell me, pray, who is this Mr. Kurtz?” The brickmaker answers “sin a short tone, looking away”— “The chief of the Inner Station… He is a prodigy. He is an emissary of pity, and science, and progress, and devil knows what else.” The brickmaker and the manager, feels that Marlow, with his high recommendations, has been sent there to report on their activities and that Marlow must know about Mr. Kurtz and his on-going activities. The brickmaker tries to ingratiate himself with Marlow by telling him about Mr. Kurtz; “Today he is the chief of the best station, next year he will be assistant manager, two years more and…. but I dare say you know what he will be in two years’ time.” There is no material for making bricks at the station. The brickmaker has been acting as the manager’s secretary and he has been reading all the confidential correspondence. Marlow tells him strongly, “When Mr. Kurtz is General Manager, you won’t have the opportunity.” The brickmaker cuts short the interview by saying, “My dear sir, I don’t want to be understood, and especially by you, who will see Mr. Kurtz long before I can have that pleasure. But he refuses to write a letter asking for rivets needed to repair the steamer because, “My dear sir, I write from dictation,” he tells Marlow. Arrival of Caravan: Meanwhile, a caravan reaches the station led by the manager’s uncle. It is called the Eldorado Exploring Expedition and is sworn to secrecy about its purpose and mission. The leader talks only to the manager, his nephew. One evening Marlow overhears their conversation. They are talking about Mr. Kurtz and both of them are against him. Both of them feel that Mr. Kurtz may not survive his present illness because of the climate, as he is alone at the interior station. But the manager concedes that Mr. Kurtz has been sending him “a lot of ivory”, but with an invoice through his assistant. And both of them agree to “clear this poor devil out of the country” on the pretext of his illness. Kurtz's Passion for Ivory: Marlow learns that Mr. Kurtz has a passion for ivory and that is why the others, especially the manager who is apprehensive that Mr. Kurtz may soon supersede him, are jealous. Apart from ivory, Mr. Kurtz’s other passion is his ‘Intended’, the girl he wants to marry on his return to Europe. Having lived for so long in the wilderness. Mr. Kurtz has become possessive of everything around him. He is considered a man-god by the natives, a sort of deity who exercises complete control over them. Marlow considers Mr. Kurtz as an embodiment of evil. He had become a cult figure. Mr. Kurtz (in German the name means ‘short’) has been partly educated in England, and his sympathies, he said, “lay in the right place”. His mother was half-English and his father half-French. CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

172 British Poetry of 19th and 20th Century - II All Europe had contributed to the making of Mr. Kurtz; he had possessed the culture of all the countries on the continent. He had, on one occasion, been asked by the International Society for the Suppression of Savage Customs to prepare a report on the life of savages and be turned out seventeen pages of closely handwritten report. But something had gone wrong with Mr. Kurtz. Having lived for a long time in the Congo, in the interior of Africa, he had cherished certain wrong beliefs. He argued that the whites must necessarily be treated by the savages as supernatural beings who could cause control over them. He had further argued that it was the duty of the white people to try and civilise the savages. Mr. Kurtz was an uncommon man who had the power to charm or frighten rudimentary souls into submission. At the same time, thought of Mr. Kurtz could fill the souls of white traders with bitter doubts and suspicions. After hearing so much about Mr. Kurtz, Marlow is fascinated and dumbfounded: he has become a devoted friend of Mr. Kurtz. As the steamer approaches Mr. Kurtz’s station, there is an attack on it by the natives. In the course that follows, Marlow fears that Mr. Kurtz might have been killed by the hostile natives. This disappoints Marlow; he is disturbed at the thought as he has been very enthusiastic about meeting this “universal genius.” As the steamer reaches the Inner Station of the Company presided over by Mr. Kurtz, the crew finds a white man waving his hands. The white man was a young Russian who looks like a harlequin to Marlow, is glad to see them. He informs them that he has nursed Mr. Kurtz during his previous two illnesses also, but now he is in a critical condition. The tribesmen had attacked the visitors since they did not want Mr. Kurtz to be taken away. The young Russian in motley is also full of praise for Mr. Kurtz. He tells Marlow, “You can’t judge Mr. Kurtz as you would an ordinary man.” But now he is “lying helpless… Oh, he is bad, very bad.” Marlow’s Surprise: Marlow is surprised to see a number of wooden posts around the building where Mr. Kurtz lives; the heads and skulls of human beings are hanging from the tops of the posts outside the building. This puzzles Marlow, who later learns that Mr. Kurtz has been doing certain things which have caused losses in the region from the point of view of white traders. The human heads and skulls hanging from the wooden posts show that Mr. Kurtz has shown no restraint in the gratification of his many lusts; he went to the extremes in order to satisfy ever passion and appetite of his; he essential human quality was lacking in him. But, Marlow comes to the conclusion that Mr. Kurtz is “hollow at the core”. The natives have been completely subservient to him. They have now pitched their tents round the building in which he lies ill and the chiefs come every day to visit him. He has hung the heads of thos who rebelled against his authority on the posts outside the building in which he lives. Amuses Marlow for he finds it an example of cruelty towards the natives. As the white men carry Mr. Kurtz to the steamer, Marlow is amazed the fire of his eyes and the composed languor of his expression as Mr. Kurtz’s hands “roamed feebly among his papers”. He does not seem to be in pain. The shadow looks satiated and calm, as though for the moment “it has had its fill of all the emotions”. He tells Marlow that he is ‘glad’ to see him. Somebody had been writing to Mr. Kurtz about Marlow: then appears the majestic-looking native woman with the helmet- head along with flowers, obviously for Mr. Kurtz. Marlow at this moment hears Kurtz’s voice to save him and the ivory. The woman leaves with the followers. The manager tells Marlow that he has done all he could for Mr. Kurtz. But this “remarkable CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

173 man” has done more harm than good to the Company. Mr. Kurtz is now as good as dead. There has been a great deal of ill-will among the whites for Mr. Kurtz, Marlow comes to know as he recalls the conversation between the manager and his uncle that he overheard. In fact, the manager had said that someone should be hanged in order to serve as a warning to those who supported Mr. Kurtz. But the young Russian seaman considers Mr. Kurtz as “one of the immortals.” When everyone is asleep on board, Marlow goes to check on Mr. Kurtz. He is amazed to find that Mr. Kurtz is not there. At first, it seems impossible that he has escaped and Marlow is utterly bewildered. He does not raise an alarm. Mr. Kurtz has crawled back on all fours to be among the natives. Marlow uses all his strength and brings Mr. Kurtz back to the steamer. The conflict between his rational mind and his primitive instincts still continues as Mr. Kurtz is carried into the pilot-house; “there was more air there.” As the steamer is about to sail away, the majestic-looking native woman with the helmeted head appears again on the riverbank with her followers. She put out her hands, shouts something all the mob takes up the shout in a roaring chorus of “articulated, rapid, breathless utterance.” Mr. Kurtz keeps on looking past Marlow. When Marlow pulls at the string of the whistle on the steamer, someone on deck disconsolately cries, “Don’t! don’t you frighten them away!” The natives run away dodging in a state of abject fear. Smoke fills the air. Mr. Kurtz talking in spite of the increasing feebleness of his body. He talks rapidly about his ‘intended’, his career, his ideas, his, plans. “Kurtz discoursed. A voice! a voice! It rang deep to the very last. It survived his inner power to hide in the magnificent folds of his eloquence the barren darkness of his heart. Oh, he struggled! he struggled!.... Sometimes he was contemptibly childish.” This goes on for several days. One morning, he gives Marlow a packet of papers and a photograph— “the lot tied together in a shoe-string”— and asks Marlow to “keep this for me” as “the noxious fool” (the manager) is in the habit of prying into his boxes while he is not looking. One evening, Kurtz tells Marlow that he is about to leave this world. He cried out twice: “The horror! The horror!” After sometime he gets the news of Kurtz’s death Marlow has by now become deeply attacked to Mr. Kurtz. Conclusion: Marlow decides to visit Mr. Kurtz’s intended. The lady is still in mourning even after more than a year of his death. She is absolutely devoted to him and says that she has been fortunate to have known Mr. Kurtz. She is proud of his memory. Marlow is moved by her love. When, therefore, she wants to know what Mr. Kurtz’s last words had been Marlow say, “The last word he pronounced was — your name.” He has not scruples about telling this lie because he himself has been charmed and allured by the various facets of Mr. Kurtz’s personality— its varied hues of layers, passions, desires, plans. He is a symbol of the white man in an unexplored territory, his pretentious of ‘civilising’ the primitives, his avarice, sacrifice of ethics and morality in an environment of savagery and brutality “into the heart of an immense darkness.” 8.6 AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL ELEMENTS IN THE NOVEL Introduction: Many of Conrad’s works are based upon Conrad’s own experience in life. The CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

174 British Poetry of 19th and 20th Century - II novel “Heart of Darkness” certainly belongs to the class of autobiographical works. The novel is a record of Conrad’s own experience in the course of his visit to the Congo in 1890. Conrad clearly describes the fascination which the continent of Africa has exercised upon him as a boy. Conrad was only nine years old when looking at a map of Africa of the time; he said to himself: “When I grow up, I shall go there.” In the novel as such, the fictitious character Charles Marlow tells his friends on the deck of a steamboat that in his boyhood he had been much attracted by the African country known as the Congo and that the river Congo flowing through that country had exercised a particular fascination upon him. Conrad was interested in going to the Congo because of the exploits of an explorer named Henry Morton Stanley who had found the missing missionary. Dr. Livingstone, in 1871, and who had explored the jungles of Central Africa and moved right into the heart of the Dark Continent, Stanley’s exploration of Central Africa led the Belgian King, Leopold II, taking control of the region to which was given the name of the Congo. By virtue of Stanley’s exploration, many trading stations and administrative centres flourished by the Belgian Companies in the region. By the time Conrad reached the Congo, it had almost become the private property of King Leopold II and it had begun to be exploited by the Belgian Companies in the name of Christianity and civilization; the colonial exploitation of the Congo had begun. It comprised the vilest scramble for loot and that forever disfigured human conscience and geographical exploration. Like Charlie Marlow, Conrad had to seek the help of an influential and sound aunt to go there. He joined a trading company as the captain of a steamboat that was to take an exploring expedition led by Alexandre Delcommune (like the Eldorado Exploring Expedition in Heart of Darkness) to a place called Katanga in the Congo. It was the realization of his boyhood dreams, much like Charlie Marlow’s. However, Conrad’s experience was highly marred by a quarrel he had with Alexandre Delcommune’s brother. He was functioning as a manager under the same trading company at a trading station on the way. Conrad formed an adverse opinion of the manager as Marlow forms of the manager at the Company’s Central Station. Conrad has recorded his antagonistic experiences on the expedition on his Congo Diary, on which he has heavily drawn in Heart of Darkness. For example, an entry in the diary says that hardly sixty percent of the employees of the Company survived in the Congo for more than six months because of the diseases that overpowered and contracted them. Hardly seven percent of the Europeans, like the manager at the Central Station, could tolerate the hostile climate. The manager in Heart of Darkness is serving his third three-year term mainly because of his robust health, and not because of any intrinsic qualities of leadership or organization. And he often boasts, “Men who come out here should have no entrails.” Conrad, like Marlow, was disillusioned. Moreover, most of the Europeans, like the “faithless pilgrims,” spoke ill of one another, they plotted and intrigued. Like Marlow again, Conrad had to walk over hillside rocky territory, camping at night in the damp and cold, and facing threats of mutiny from the porters in his caravan. Finally, Conrad arrived at the station where the Company’s ships were assembled or repaired, his journey being very much like Marlow’s journey to the Inner Station to bring back the seriously ailing Mr. Kurtz Conrad had to bring back an agent, Klein, who had arrived in the Congo in 1883 and had been placed in command of the Company’s station at Stanley Falls in 1890. Klein, like Mr. Kurtz, subsequently died aboard Conrad’s ship. Klein was the inspiration and persuasion for Mr. CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

175 Kurtz’s character in “Heart of Darkness.” And like Marlow, when Conrad returned home after his Congo experience, he was a broken man. In fact, he never afterwards regained his normal health. At last he had to give up his career at the sea and turn to writing as a profession. Charlie Marlow is largely Joseph Conrad himself; Alexandre Delcommune’s brother is the manager at the Central Station; the Eurpoeans present at the station have been transformed into Marlow’s “faithless pilgrim” and Marlow, like Conrad, is in a state of disappointment with the goings on in the “immense heart of darkness” over the exploitation of the natives by the whitemen and the indignities they are subjected to. Moreover, Marlow experiences the same sense of enlightenment and the same process of maturing through defeat that Conrad himself underwent during his voyage to the Congo. His experiences and feelings are much the same as Conrad’s own. In this sense, “Heart of Darkness”, is an autobiographical work in that Marlow, like Conrad, undergoes immense personal crisis during his exploration. However, Conrad’s own experience have served only to impart the raw material for Heart of Darkness. Marlow’s development from idealism to disillusionment and his higher and superior understanding of life is like that of Conrad’s own experience. Marlow is skeptical from the very beginning of his Congo experience. He feels that he is going not only to the centre of a continent but to the centre of earth itself. Conrad, on the other hand, had gone to the Congo with lively and lovely expectations. But more important than this fact is that Marlow’s projection of Mr. Kurtz’s character does not resemble the character of Klein, who is only a starting point. During his travels to the Congo, Corad had surely gone to rescue the ailing Klein, but he had not found in Klein the embodiment of evil that Marlow finds in Mr. Kurtz. In his diary, Conrad, unlike Marlow, does not dwell at great length on the character of Klein, although Marlow’s outlook on life is much the same as Conrad’s was. We can read Conrad’s own mind in Marlow’s in such utterances as Marlow’s assertion that he hates and dislikes a lie not because he is straighter than other people, but simply because a lie appeals him. We can read Conrad’s mind in such remarks as Marlow makes: “We live, as we dream— alone.” Like Marlow, Conrad was also a lonely figure. Conclusion: The autobiographical element should not be over emphasized. There are certain substantial differences between Conrad’s personal experiences and Marlow’s experiences. Marlow’s portrayal of the character is more important. However, it may be concluded that Marlow’s outlook upon life of his philosophy much the same as Conrad’s own. Marlow is more or less a lonely isolated figure despite the presence before him of four of his associates to whom he tells his story. Conrad was a lonely figure too. In the characters of Marlow and Kurtz, we see one of the greatest of Conrad’s many moments of compassionate rendering. Conrad, however, was also reacting to the humanitarian pretences of some of the looters precisely as the novelist today reacts to the moralism of cold propaganda. 8.7 THEMES IN THE NOVEL Introduction: “Heart of Darkness” has various themes which run parallel to one another. Joseph Conrad has introduced various themes in the novel like imperialism, White Man’s Burden, CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

176 British Poetry of 19th and 20th Century - II lack of truth, Colonisation, exploitation, racial discrimination, alienation and isolation, moral corruption, violence, human greed and deception. Imperialism: Imperialism is one of the major themes of novella “Heart of Darkness”. It is in fact European colonization of countries from African and Asian continents for resources. However, it was hidden in the slogan of spreading civilization. Marlow accepts taking African’s land from the people is not right. Kurtz is in Congo pretending to civilize the people and was engaged in the ivory trade and engrossed in the fear causing ancient rituals of sacrificing humans to appease the native Africans. Marlow describes the ravages of imperialism during his journey to the heart of Africa. Kurtz’s tribalization, can be viewed as a rejection of the materialism of the West in favour of a simpler and more honest way of life. Certainly from the point of view of the African tribesman Kurtz has done nothing abominable in recognizing the virtues of his way of life. And from the point of view of some modern authropologists, who believe that only by becoming a part of another culture can one understand and appreciate it, Kurtz is an enlightened individual, far more advanced than his contemporaries in his thinking about primitive societies. The problem with Kurtz, which Marlow doesn’t realize, is not that Kurtz went native, but that he did not go native enough, for Kurtz perverted the customs of the tribe, making them a means to a deplorable end— namely, keeping the ivory flowing and colonialism a profitable venture for his employers — and he never assumed the positive virtues of the tribe. Thus, the adoption of the tribal way of life is the wrong symbol for Kurtz’ s depravity. Marlow picks it because he does not differentiate between tribal customs and evil practices. White Man’s Burden: Irony of Marlow’s voyage and its purpose is an important theme. He moves towards Congo to meet popular station manager, Kurtz. Though Kipling’s words, “White Man’s Burden” sound his ears reverberately, he sees the opposite. The White Man engaged in killing the natives to plunder the resources. There are heads erected on the poles around the station where Kurtz is staying Marlow believes that his voyage is “heavenly mission” of a white man to spread the enlightenment of Christianity in the darkness. Evil: Marlow gives several descriptions of the dark forces of nature. Evil is present there in dark clouds, dark fog, dark bushes and dark foliage, giving Marlow a feeling that he is travelling back to the earliest beginning of the world where “the earth seemed unearthly.” The steamer toils along slowly “on the edge of a black and incomprehensible frenzy”; they glide past “like phantoms, wondering and secretly appalled”; “cut off from the comprehension of our surroundings, as sane men would be before an enthusiastic out-break in a madhouse.” There is an ominous stillness in the atmosphere; it is something sinister and destructive when Marlow speaks of the thick jungle, impenetrable forest, empty stream— they all suggest evil. Marlow comes across a warship firing aimlessly and purposelessly. At several trading posts, Marlow sees “the merry dance of death and trade…. In a still and earthy atmosphere.” From the steamer of the Swedish captain, he sees groups of naked natives, tied to one another with chains, going about their assigned tasks; they move like ants; pieces of machinery are scattered here and there; senseless blasting of rock continues out of the natives everywhere. Those who are unfit for work are left to dies of starvation and disease in dark pits. There is no image of civilization that the white men profess to bring to the natives; the white men are “hollow at the core”, including the famed Mr. Kurtz. The brickmaker, as the manager at the Central Station is “a papier-mache Mephistopheles”; CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

177 he symbolizes evil at its worst, a veritable devil while the manager has nothing within him to command and run the trading post. Lack of Truth: Theme of lack of truth is also the core theme of the novel and it lies at the heart of the text. All the European powers engaged in Africa are occupying their land and plundering resources as they preach and propagate that several things are left out in his words “away from the truth of things.” The ironic language used from the very beginning shows that Marlow cannot speak the truth. He finally tells anther lie to Kurtz’s fiancee to avoid her disappointment that Kurtz has uttered her name before leaving this world. Mankind has been the victim of this instinct and the cause of evil in the world. Colonisation: The Romans were “no colonists but their administration was merely a squeeze. They grabbed what they could get. It was just robbery and violence. It is linked to madness and passion. Madness serves as an ironic device to engage the reader’s sympathies of Kurtz. It appears that Marlow’s madness is merely relative. Infact, colonization existed since the early period of human civilization. Kurtz is extremely hungry for the power and position, colonises the interior of Africa called Congo. An individual’s passion for possession and pelf and a sever longing to suppress others can create Colonisation. The names of civilization and education are the garb for plunder and pelf. Kurtz has become a corrupted one. Racism: The novel reveals Europeans as superior to Africans while others believe the novel attacks colonialism. Superiority of Africans is based on the foundation of racism. Black narratives are primitive and thus innocent while the white colonizers are sophisticated and corrupt. There is racism as it treats the natives like objects rather than as thinking people. Exploitation: Ivory trade is the main trade throughout the Congo river. However, Marlow does not obviously clarify the quantum of brutal exploitation that happened in the name of trade. It is only criticized in oblique words such as the “horror” and the postscript of Kurtz “Exterminate all brutes”. It leads to the truth about the trade and the people involved. In fact, Marlow is also a part of this exploitation where locals are misled and mesmerized by Kurtz. They are also enticed to onslaught the people not standing in queue with the main agent Kurtz including the attack on the steamer carrying Marlow. These attacks also cause life threat to locals. Alienation and Moral Corruption: “Heart of Darkness” has presented alienation as psychological and social. Marlow’s departure hints social alienation and isolation which tries to rob him to his humanity. Kurtz is the main instance of this alienation. His alienates completes with his final outburst of “horrors” when he realizes the outcome of his actions Marlow’s initial Buddha like posture confirms his alienation and isolation. Moral corruption is also one of the themes where Kurtz becomes a top agent of the company to plunder the locals and export ivory. He is involved in corrupt practices to punish those who oppose him and thus becoming demigod. The same practice is rampant in some other stations. Conclusion: Conrad deals with some important themes in “Heart of Darkness” like colonialism, its effects, a journey to self-discovery, pretenses of coloniatism, and the futility of evil. The adverse effects of the called civilizing mission a story of journey within. Marlow’s and Kurtz’s journey to Congo, and African country is basically a journey to the Congo of our mind. The novel also borders around the futility of evil. Illness is also a major factor of the novel. CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

178 British Poetry of 19th and 20th Century - II 8.8 WOMEN CHARACTERS IN THE NOVEL Introduction: Joseph Conrad’s characters are close to life; none of them, except Mr. Kurtz, is extraordinary in “Heart of Darkness”. “My task”, he wrote, “which I am trying to achieve is by the power of the written word, to make you hear, to make you feel, — it is, before all, to make you see. That — and not more, and it is everything.” This is especially true of the women characters in Marlow’s narration. (i) Marlow’s Aunt: Marlow, a weathered sea-captain, is looking for a freshwater assignment on board a seagoing vessel. He has just returned to London “after a lot of Indian Ocean, Pacific, China Seas” and wishes to lose himself “in all the glories of exploration.” He then begins to show anxiety for his relations and “I tried the women. I Charlie Marlow set the women to work — to get a job.” His aunt, “a dear enthusiastic soul,” offers of help him. She succeeds in getting Marlow appointed skipper of a river skin boat in the Congo and Marlow gets his job with her influence. Then he goes to say good-bye to his ‘excellent aunt” and finds her ‘triumphant’. They have a long calm chat by the fireside over a cup of tea. The aunt has recommended Marlow to “the wife of the high dignitary, and goodness knows to how many more people besides, “as an exceptional and gifted creature — a piece of good fortune for the Company — a man you don’t get hold of every day… to take charge of a two-penny-haf-penny steamboat with a penny whistle attached!” She also tells him that he is also one of the workers. The aunt talks about “wearning those ignorant millions from their horrid ways”. The aunt, Marlow remarks, is like other women. “It’s queer how out of touch with truth women are. They live in a world of their own, and there had never been anything like it, and never can be. It is too beautiful altogether, and if they were to set it up it would go to pieces before the first sunset.” The Savage Women: This native black woman appears on the scene when Mr. Kurtz who is seriously ill, is carried on a stretcher to the steamer. She comes to the riverbank accompanied by her followers, “two bronze figures, leaning on fall spears;…. Under fantastic head-dresses of spotted skins, warlike and still in staturesque repose.” Carrying her head high, this “wild and gorgeous apparition of a woman” walks with measured steps, draped in striped and fringed clothes, treading the earth proudly. Her hair is “done in the shape of a helmet”; she has brass legging on her knees, brass wire gauntlets to the elbow, a crimson spot on her tawny cheeks; innumerable necklaces of glass beads on her neck; bizarre things, charms, gifts of witch-men, that hung about her, glittered and trembled at every step. She must have had the value of several elephant tusks upon her.” This picturesque description of the savage woman is one of the achievement of Conrad’s characterization. She comes abreast the steamer, stands, still, and faces the white men on board the steamer, her long shadow falling to the water’s edge. Her face has “a tragic and fiery aspect of wild sorrow and of dumb pain mingled with the fear of some struggling, half-shaped resolve.” She stands looking at the steamboat’s crew “without a stir, with an air of brooding over an inscrutable purpose.” Then she steps forward. The young Russian friend of Mr. Kurtz, who is already against her, CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

179 growls and he ‘pilgrims” murmur. “She looked at us all as if her life had depended upon the unswerving steadiness of her glance.” All of a sudden she opens her bared arms and throws them up rigid above her head, as though in an uncontrollable desire to touch the sky, and at the same time swift arrows darted out on the earth, swept around on the river, gathering the steamer into a shadowy embrace.” A silence hangs over the scene. Then, she turns every slowly, walks on, following the bank and passes into the bush on the left. This is, really a remarkable piece of characterization. The young Russian tells Marlow that had the savage woman come on board, he would have tried to shoot her. He had been risking his life every day for the last fortnight to keep her out of the house. She, however, got in one day and kicked up a row about those miserable rags. At least it must have been that, for she talked like a fury to Kurtz for an hour, pointing at me now and then. At that moment Marlow hears Mr. Kurtz’s voice behind the curtain: “Save me! Save the ivory, you mean. Don’t tell me. Save me”. (ii) Description of Savage Woman: Conrad has touchingly described the savage woman’s pride, dignity and extreme devotion to Mr. Kurtz. She has come to talk back Mr. Kurtz, but better sense prevails and she goes back disappointed and dejected to her wilderness. It is confusing that both the young Russian and the savage woman are devoted to Mr. Kurtz, yet they are against each other. Under her spell, Mr. Kurtz, though he is barely able to walk, crawls out on all-fours at night to follow this savage woman to the forest. Marlow tracks him down and carries him back to the steamer. Marlow cannot his character or his plans. But this savage woman “with helmeted head and tawny cheeks” returns the next morning with her followers, and rushes out to the very brink of the stream. She put out her hands, shouts something and all that wild mob takes up. Mr. Kurtz keeps on looking past Marlow “with fiery, longing eyes. He makes no answer, but Marlow sees a smile. Marlow pulls the string of the whistle on the steamboat, his favourite trick to disperse the crowd of black natives and someone on deck shouts disconsolately: “Don’t! don’t you frighten them away.” There is a commotion, “a movement of abject terror through that wedged mass of bodies. They broke and ran, they leaped, they crouched, they swerved, they dodged the flying terror of the sound… Only the barbarous and superb woman did not so much as flinch and stretched tragically her bare arms after us over the somber and glittering river.” And then smoke fills the air and this is the last we see of this “barbarous and superb woman.” (iii) Mr. Kurtz’s Intended: She is the last female character in “Heart of Darkness”. Marlow meets her when he goes to her house to hand over the packet of papers and the photograph Mr. Kurtz had handed over to him before his death. This is the woman Mr. Kurtz had ‘intended’ to marry and he always referred to her as “My Intended”. Although more than a year has passed since his death, the woman is still in mourning. She is not very young, Marlow deserves, — “I mean not girlish.” She comes across as one who had “a nature capacity for fidelity, for belief, for suffering. The woman comes across as “guileless, profound, confident, and trustful.” She is fortunate and proud to have known Mr. Kurtz and realizes that Marlow has come all the way to hand over the packet of papers and the photograph to her because he admires Mr. Kurtz. When she wants to know what Mr. Kurtz’s last words had bee, Marlow tells her: “The last word he pronounced was — your name,” although Mr. Kurtz’s last words had been a whispered cry, “The horror! The horror!” She implores Marlow to tell her Mr. Kurtz’s words because she says, CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

180 British Poetry of 19th and 20th Century - II “I want—I want—something—something—to—to live with” and Marlow has no hesitation in lying to her. Then, he consoles himself,. He couldn’t speak the truth to Mr. Kurtz’s Intended. World of Illusions: Marlow allows her to live in her world of illusions as she has been totally devoted and dedicated Mr. Kurtz and his memories. She thinks of Mr. Kurtz as someone noble and great and exceptional, whereas the truth is entirely the opposite. He had, during his journey in the interior of the Congo, turned into a savage and become an embodiment of evil. Telling her the truth would have shattered all her illusions. At one level, she is like Marlow’s aunt living in her own world of idealism divorced from reality while at another, she is life “the barbarous and superb women” of the jungle who was probably equally devoted to Mr. Kurtz. The difference between the two in the two different worlds they inhabit— one is primitive while the other is civilized. What binds them together is love and loyalty to one man-multifaceted Kurtz. 8.9 CONCLUSION 8.10 SUMMARY OF THE STORY Summary Joseph Conrad was a Polish novelist born on 3 December, 1857 at Berdyczow in partitioned Poland. His father Apollo Korzeniowski was a highly patriotic person. After the expiry of Apollo, the role of Conrad’s guardian was taken by Apollo’s brother- in-law Tadeusz Bobrowski. Bobrowski earmarked for Conrad half of his own inheritance from a relative Mikoloj Bobrouski from a relative Mikoloj Bobrowski in 1890. He left Poland in 1874 at the age of sixteen. In his novel “Nostromo” Conrad presents an analysis of relationship between idealistic aspirations and material interests. Conrad had imbibed a spirit of skeptical rationalism and severe realism. There was an expression of ambivalence in Conrad’s fiction. He joined the British merchant navy and on June 10, 1878 the apprentice seaman arrived at Lowestoft on the coal freighter “Mavis”. Conrad received his inheritance of £ 1600 in 1894. CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

181 His eagerness from a seaman to the writing desk was a gradual one and wavering. Conrad met Jessie George and married her in March, 1896. His “Arrow of Gold” was published in 1919. “Chance” was his best-seller that appeared in 1913. His major works were “Nostromo”, “Typhoon”, “The Secret Agent”, “Under Western Eyes”, “Victory” and “Chance”. Brief Points of Summary of the Novel “Heart of Darkness” was published in 1899 in “Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine” and then in Conrad’s “Youth and Two Other Stories”. The novel stands as a modernist masterpiece concerned with postcolonial realities. The first narrator and four others are one board “Nellie” a cruising yawl. Marlow, the narrator, sits cross-legged leaning against the mizzen-mast. Marlow is the protagonist of the tale. Marlow says that England is no longer the puzzle. The British consider colonialism as a civilising mission to the unknown. It was an Aunt who helped Marlow to get him appointed as skipper of river steam boat through her good influences. Marlow found something “ominous in the atmosphere.” A clerk was assigned to escort him for medical examination. He advised Marlow to avoid stress. After Marlow’s appointment, he was given twentyfour hours to board on a French steamer. It was driven by black natives. Marlow saw the mouth of the Congo river after more than thirty days and the steamer reached a rock-cliff. Marlow heard a clinking sound behind him and saw six black natives who were called criminals and a guard with gun followed them. Marlow tried to relax in the grove but it seemed to be uncomfortable to him. Marlow met Company’s Chief Accountant dressed in white and he heard of Mr. Kurtz for the first time who was an agent for the company. Marlow had to wait for ten days. Once he heard the sound of groaning and then he heard the sounds of a caravan. Marlow left the station with a caravan of sixty men. Some of them were undernourished and a few left this world. There was one white person in Marlow’s Carvan. He was able to see the big Congo river on the fifteenth day. A white man informed that the steamer was lying at the bottom of the river and it needed repairs. Marlow came to know that Mr. Kurtz was ill. The manager told Marlow to repair the steamer that lust for ivory had invaded this place. There was a heavy fire and articles were damaged. Its charge was a negro who was beaten up. Marlow came in contact with a brickmaker but there was no raw material to prepare bricks. The brickmaker became angry with him due to his unsuccessful attempt to get something from him. CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

182 British Poetry of 19th and 20th Century - II Marlow grew curious to see Kurtz. However, his arrival there may upset the plans. Marlow was narrating his experiences in the Congo. The ruined steamer was taken out of the riverbed for repairs. He wanted rivets for the repairs which were not available. Marlow, however, managed to get rivets. There was an invasion by the Eldorado Exploring Expedition who were talking about the purpose of their visit. Now he gave some thought to Kurtz. Section 2 Marlow overheard the conversation between the manager and his uncle. They were talking about Kurtz who had been sending ivory to manager. So Marlow got excited to see this man who may be an extraordinary person. The steamer was repaired. Sometimes it had to be pushed forward by the people board. In a slow moving stream, the sounds of the drums were heard from the thick of the forest. Marlow became philosophical and realized that mind was much powerful to view everything. After fifty miles before the Inner Station, Marlow and his men saw a hut of reeds. Marlow found a book inside the hut which Marlow took with him. After the resumption of journey, the water currents were strong. After some time, a loud sound of guns was heard and a loud cry. They were perhaps cannibals who had brought hippo meat with them. Now they were near Kurtz’s station Marlow saw arrows flying all around. Marlow was afraid. Marlow started steering the boat and the attackers fled. Marlow was disappointed with a doubt of Kurtz having been killed. Everybody used to praise Kurtz. But he was sad if it was Kurtz who left this world. Marlow came to know that he was partly educated in England who had imbibed the culture o all countries. Kurtz had been on the wrong path. He had started mesmerizing the tribal’s. As they reached the Inner Station of the company being presided over by Kurtz, they saw a white man waving at them. He saw Kurtz who was a Russian Marlow gave the book to him. Section 3: Summary The Russian seemed to Marlow an alter ego of Mr. Kurtz who told him that he was an explorer. Mr. Kurtz was powerful in the region and he had ruined that region. He was lacking in human quality. He was not afraid of the natives. The Russian tried to save Kurtz’s life. He could avert an attack had he spoken in a softer manner. The white men carried Mr. Kurtz to one of the cabins. Marlow saw a magnificent looking woman but soon she disappeared. Marlow heard Kurtz’s still small voice and pleaded to save him and the ivory. According to the Russian, Kurtz was an immortal and it was he who ordered the attack on the steamer. CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

183 Marlow moved towards the cabin of Kurtz but he was not there. Marlow used all his power to bring back Kurtz to the steamer. The manager of the steamer was feeling calm as Kurtz was speaking despite his weakness. When Kurtz was on the verge of leaving, Marlow was not moved, he was fascinated. However, he left this world. Marlow was also much touched by Kurtz’s thoughts. Kurtz’s last words spoke of “affirmation, a moral victory.” Kurtz handed over the papers to him. Kurtz’s fiancée struck Marlow and decided to meet her who was in mourning. On meeting her, Marlow told a lie to her that the last words had been her name. Now, Marlow became silent “in the pose of a meditating Buddha.” Significance of the Title The title “Heart of Darkness” refers to literal as well as symbolic meanings. It means innermost region of the territory. It also relates to physical and moral darkness. It deals with the civil and uncivil spirit. The novella records Conrad’s own experiences while exploring the region. Marlow found passage to the heart of darkness on a little seagoing steamer at the Company’s station. The natives are an integral part of darkness. As Marlow sees the arrows flying, he blows the whistle to disperse the attack. Mr. Kurtz becomes a barbarian instead of civilizing the natives. He becomes a part of superstition and the evil. The novella is a symbolic journey of the subconscious. According Marlow, mind of a person can do anything. One should have an inner strength. Marlow projects the working of his own mind towards the end. Marlow’s exploration of the dark country is accompanied by an exploration of the depths of his own mind or soul. The innermost region of the territory is to be explored. Marlow’s Role and Character: (Summary) Charles Marlow is a remarkable character in modern fiction. His role as a storyteller is presented among the first of his ambivalent perspectives. Marlow tries to find some meaning for his experience. There are ironical meanings in the description of wilderness. The wilderness tries to resist the incursions of civilization without any visible change. The narrator’s inclusion is a deliberate attempt to show man’s involvement in this world which negates the reality of both. A person can never transcend the conditional existence of his original state. Kurtz uses language as a weapon to dominate while Marlow uses it to protect himself. Language is an instrument. The words “The horror! The horror” are the last words of Kurtz. Marlow is not a coward but he remains cool and calm. CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

184 British Poetry of 19th and 20th Century - II Summary: Character of Kurtz Kurtz is highly gifted but ultimately degenerate individual. He attracts much attention to be worthy of damnation. Marlow refers to him “hollow” more than once. He remains with Marlow and the reader by virtue of his chrisma. He remain a mysterious character. “The Intended’s” love for Kurtz astonishes Marlow. Kurtz is the “best agent” and a man of great importance to the Company.” According to the brickmaker, he “is an emissary of pity, and science and progress.” Marlow and the manager feel that Kurtz may not go ahead with his present illness. But Kurtz sends him a lot of ivory as he has a passion for it. He is considered a man-god by the natives. Kurtz’s mother was half-English and his father half-French. But Kurtz cherished certain wrong motifs However, Marlow is fascinated by him. Mr. Kurtz might have been killed by the hostile natives. They young Russian in motley is also full of praise for Mr. Kurtz. Marlow is much puzzled when he finds that Kurtz has shown no restraint to gratify his lusts. Kurtz’s illness is certainly embarrassing. The Russian man tries to save him but to no purpose. Mr. Kurtz keeps talking despite his illness and talks about his “Intended”. He hands over some papers to Marlow and a photograph also. He cried twice: “The Horror! The Horror.” He is a symbol of the White Man in an unexplored territory. Summary: Autobiographical Elements in the Novel Conrad describes the fascination which the continent of Africa has exercised upon him. Conrad had been much attracted by the African country known as the Congo. Like Marlow, Conrad had to seek the help of an influential aunt to go there. Conrad has recorded his antagonistic experiences on the expedition on his “Congo Diary”, on which he has heavily drawn in “Heart of Darkness”. Conrad arrived at the station where the company’s ships were assembled or repaired, his journey being very much like Marlow’s. Like Marlow Conrad was a broken man after he returned home. “Heart of Darkness” is an autobiographical work like Marlow who undergoes immense personal crisis during his exploration. However, Conrad’s own experiences have served to impart raw material for the novel. Mr. Kurtz’s character does not resemble the character of Klein, the embodiment of evil that Marlow finds in Kurtz. We can read Conrad’s mind in Marlow’s remarks: “We live, as we dream-alone.” There are certain substantial differences between Conrad’s personal experiences and Marlow’s experiences. Summary: Themes in the Novel Imperialism is one of the major themes of the novel. Marlow describes the ravages of imperialism during his journey to the heart of Africa. CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

185 Kipling’s words “White Man’s Burden” sound his ears. The white man including Kurtz has been engaged in killing the natives to plunder the resources. Marlow gives several descriptions of the dark forces of Nature. Evil is prevalent everywhere. Theme of lack of truth is also the core theme of the novel. Colonisation is another theme of the novel. Kurtz is extremely hungry for the power and position, colonises the interior of Africa called Congo. The novel reveals racism where Europeans are superior to Africans. Exploitation is the theme of the novel through ivory trade. Alienation and moral corruption are at the root of the novel. These are presented as psychological and social problems. Moral corruption is one of the themes where Kurtz becomes a top agent of the company to plunder the locals. Summary: Women Characters in the Novel Marlow’s aunt is a “dear enthusiastic soul” offers to help him to get a job. She is just like other women. The Savage woman comes to the river bank accompanied by her followers. She puts on brass leggings on her knees. Conrad has touchingly described the savage woman’s pride, dignity and devotion to Kurtz. Kurt’s Intended: Marlow meets her when he goes to her house to hand over the packet of papers and the photograph which Kurtz had handed over to him. She comes across as “guileless, profound, confident and trustful.” Marlow allows her to live in her world of illusions. 8.11 KEYWORDS/ABBREVIATIONS 1. Harlequin: variegated, droll, buffoon 2. Candour: openness, frankness 3. Prying: look at 4. Feeble: weak 5. Rapacious: grasping, materialistic, greedy 6. Grinning: giggle, smile broadly 8.12 LEARNINGACTIVITIES 1. Discuss Marlow’s character and role in the novel “Heart of Darkness”. CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

186 British Poetry of 19th and 20th Century - II 2. Critically assess the character of Kurtz. 3. Discuss the novel as a journey into the interior of Africa and a journey within man’s psyche. 8.13 UNIT END QUESTIONS (DESCRIPTIVE, SHORT AND MCQS) (A) Descriptive Questions 1. Critically evaluate the summary of the novel “Heart of Darkness”. 2. What are the various themes of the novel “Heart of Darkness?” Discuss. 3. Account for the autobiographical elements in the novel. 4. How far is it correct to say that “Heart of Darkness” is the account of Marlow’s journey into subconscious? Discuss. (B) Short Questions and Answers 1. What does darkness represent in “Heart of Darkness”? Ans. As a description of human condition it has deep implications. Failing to see means failing to understand the individual and failing to establish any kind of sympathetic communion. It also represents the inherent evil in humanity. The real behaviour of colonizers presents the darkness. The colonizers think the black people, their continent and society as darkness. 2. What does the Congo river symbolize in “Heart of Darkness”? Ans. The Congo River resembles the idea and the snake symbolizes the idea of temptation and evil. The river leads Marlow and other Europeans into the heart of the continent where temptations signify too much for many of them. Marlow’s journey on the river represents a journey into one’s inner spirit. As Marlow moves further up the river in his search of Kurtz, he begins to learn more and more about himself. 3. How does Conrad depict Africans as different from Europeans? Ans. Conrad portrays the Africans as dark savages and brutes, cannibals. They are dehumanized a animals. Kurtz says to exterminate the brutes. But the Europeans are portrayed as almost an Aryan race. Conrad depicts them as very proper and well groomed which is utterly opposite of his description of the savages. 4. Who is the “Intended” in the novel? Ans. The “Intended” is Kurtz’s naïve and long suffering fiancée whom Marlow goes to visit after Kurtz’s death. Her unshakable certainly about Kurtz’s love for her reinforces Marlow’s belief that women live in a dream world away from the world of reality. 5. What is the message of the novel? Ans. The novel “Heart of Darkness” conveys the message that every man must make something to come out of the darkness of the heart within — the uncivilized man. If this is not carried out, there will be chaos. It also gives us the message that imperialism leads to madness. CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

187 (C) Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs) 1. Which of the following gets report of Kurtz? (a) Marlow’s aunt (b) Kurtz’s Intended (c) A representative of the Company (d) A journalist 2. The Company trades mainly in: (a) Gold (b) Slaves (c) Ivory (d) Fruit 3. Most of Marlow’s adventures take place in: (a) Kenya (b) Russia (c) Congo (d) None of the above 4. What one thing Marlow needs to repair his wrecked steamer? (a) Steel plates (b) A new boiler (c) Tools (d) Rivets 5. Who is ultimately responsible for the attack on the steamer? (a) The general manager (b) Kurtz (c) The Russian trader (d) Marlow 6. Who helps Marlow to get a job in the company? (a) Kurtz (b) The Director of Companies (c) His father (d) His aunt Answers: 1. (b), 2. (c), 3. (c), 4. (d), 5. (b), 6. (d) 8.14 REFERENCES 1. Greiner D.J (1989): Heart of Darkness: Out of Africa some new thing merely comes: “Journal of Modern Literature” 15 (4) 461-474. 2. Cheng Y.J. (1995) Madness and Fiction in Conrad: Woolf and Lessing. Michigan UMI Company. 3. myenglish65blogspot.com/2016/11/short questions 4. www.sparknotes.com/lit 5. www.risenotes.com.heart of darkness CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

188 British Poetry of 19th and 20th Century - II UNIT - IX EM FORSTER : THE NOVELIST STRUCTURE 9.0 Learning and Objectives 9.1 Life and Works of E.M. Forster 9.2 Meeting with Florence Barger 9.3 Meeting with Buckingham 9.4 Death of Alice Forster 9.5 Novel in Forster’s Times 9.6 Forster’s View as a Novelist 9.7 Style of Forster 9.8 Conclusion 9.9 Summary of the Unit 9.10 Keywords/Abbreviations 9.11 Learning Activity 9.12 Unit End Questions (Descriptive, Short and MCQs) 9.13 References 9.0 LEARNING OBJECTIVES After going through this unit, the students will be able to do the following: They will be able to describe the life and works of E.M. Forster who was an English novelist, short writer, essayist etc. They will be able to describe the status of novel in E.M. Forsters times. Describe E.M. Forster as a novelist and his style. CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

189 9.1 LIFE AND WORKS OF E.M. FORSTER Birth and Education etc: Eduard Morgan Forster was an English novelist, short story writer essayist and librettist who was born on the first day of 1879. His grandfather was an Irish clergyman and his father was an architect. His family, belonged to the ‘intellectual aristocracy’ of the British middle class. Forster created a fictional world of abiding richness and fascination. Forster’s father died of consumption soon after he was born, leaving him to be raised by his mother and paternal great a more. Liberal and somewhat irresponsible background, Forster’s home life was rather tense. He was raised in the household of Rooksnest, which inspired ‘Howard’s End’ Education: He was sent to Tonbridge School. But he hated the British Public School system as it spread narrowness and class disparities. The impressions of his school day are embedded in his “The Longest Journey.” He joined the King’s College, Cambridge in 1897 of which he became a fellow. At Cambridge, he came into contact with several important members of the Bloomslury Group including Lytton Strachey, Virginia Woolf, Maynand Keynes, Bertrand Russell, Roger Fry, etc. However, Goldsworthy Lowes Dickinson influenced him the most of whom he wrote a most sympathetic biography in 1934. He was appointed Clark Lecturer at Cambridge in 1927. He was made Doctor of literature in 1931 by Aberdeen University. He was also honoured with the Berson Medal of the Royal Society of Literature in 1937. He was one of the members of the Committee to examine the law of Defamatory Libel in 1939. His subject on that occasion was his friend the late Mrs. Virgunia Woolf. In 1954, he was made Companion of Honour. The university of Leyden of also honoured him with a doctorate for his, well reputed novel ‘A passage to India’. During World War I, he was engaged in civilian war work in Alexandria. He returned to London after the war as a journalist. He also visited India in 1912 and 1921 which helped him begin and complete has since been read as an important early document of post-colonialism. He also collaborated with Eric Cozier on the libretto for Benjamin Britten’s Opera ‘Billy Budd’ (1951) and though he refused permission during his life, enormously popular films were made of his books after his death. Some of His Travels He left Cambridge in 1901. Thereafter, he travelled to Greece, Italy and Germany. Visits to India. He visited India thrice— In 1911-12 with Dickinson and R.C. Trevelyan for the first time. In 1920-21 for the second time. This time, he was deeply involved with Sir Tukoji II, the Maharaja of Dewas. He became his private secretary and later wrote his biography, “The Hill of Devi” in 1953 which was based on the letters he sent from Dewas. In 1945 Forster visited India for the third time to address the PEN Annual Conference. CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

190 British Poetry of 19th and 20th Century - II About His Work E.M. Forster wrote in Edwardian Literary tradition. His novels serve as an important documentation of the colonial social milieu along with its political and cultural aspects. His works, especially novels are an assessment of the age and religious dogmas and the evaluation of cultural codes and conducts in the panorama of rationalism and materialism. His novels reveal a broad vision of human experiences and add an important milestone in the realm of world literature. He has the craftsmanship to articulate various socio-cultural problems though he is conscious and attentive to upkeep the value of entertainment. So his novels are popular in the modern period also. The analysis of his novels is an endeavour to peep into the roots of various modern tendencies. His novels are: 1. Where Angels Fear to Tread (1905) 2. The Longest Journey (1907) 3. A Room With a View (1908) 4. Howards End (1910) 5. A Passage to India (1924) 6. Maurice (1971) The novel ‘Maurice’ was published after the death of Forster and possesses a different thematic thread. ‘Howards End’ brought a great popularity in his life and raised his personality as a novelist and author of eminence in 1911, he composed six of his short-stories in a volume ‘The Celestial Omnibus and Other Stories’ and began a new novel ‘Arctic Summer’. After several chapters, he abandoned the novel as he could not focus his writings because he was upset and perturbed By the violence and democratic movement in England. It is said about Forster that he was a victim of homosexuality. So he male associations that affected his writings. He also attempted to write a play entitled ‘Heart of Bosnia’ but never produced since he believed that he had not given justice to the rules of drama. He realised that writing drama was not his cup of tea. 9.2 MEETING WITH FLORENCE BARGER E.M. Forster met Florence Barger in 1912 who was the wife of his Cambridge classmate. She became his close confident friend and a source of inspiration and courage. She remained devoted to him until her death in 1960. He also began a long-lasting friendship with the well-known novelist Forrest Reed while writing a fan-letter, a practice that he continued all through his life. He visited India in 1912 and cherished the company of Indian friends which ignited a spark in him to write an Indian novel. After some months, he came back and started his work on an Indian novel. But after a few chapters, he found that he could not complete the novel because he needed one more visit to India to understand Indians. So he decided to visit India again. After his return to England in 1919, he became increasingly active as a critic of imperialism. He became conscious of his ability as a writer. He became a literary Editor of ‘The Listener’. In 1921, he received an invitation from ‘Maharajah of Dewas Senior to serve his Private Secretary for six months in India. He soon accepted the invitation as it would help him to create the reunions with Mohammad el Adl and Syed Ross Masood. CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

191 He visited various places and became conversant with Indian religious, cultural, social, geographical and historical atmosphere which proved an impetus for him to complete his well-known novel ‘A Passage to India’. 9.3 MEETING WITH BUCKINGHAM In 1930, Forster met Buckingham, twenty-eight year old constable. They forthwith created a bondage that continued until Forster’s death in 1970. Their relationship, survived even after Buckingham’s marriage in 1932. The author gave regular book talks on the BBC and served for several years as President of the National Council for Civil Liberties. Throughout this period, he became England’s foremost exponent of human values he became famous. In Auden’s beautiful sonnet ‘To EM Forster’ served as a dedication to the Auden-Isherwood journey to a War. Even during the war, he responded to the fascist thread and attacked racial consciousness and intolerance. In 1936, he issued ‘Abinger Harvest’ a miscellany of some eight essay which was named after Abinger Hammer, the Surrey village, where he and his mother had lived since 1924. 9.4 DEATH OFALICE FORSTER Alice Forster died in 1945 at the ripe age of ninety which was a great blow to the author. In 1946, he left Abinger since the lease of his house had expired. Luckily, he received an invitation from King’s College, Cambridge to reside in the college as Honorary Fellow. So he gladly accepted the invitation and he made his home in Cambridge. In 1951, he co-authored Benjamin Britten’s Opera ‘Billy Bud‘ and also collected his second miscellany of essays and reviews ‘Two Cheers For Democracy’ in 1951. He also published ‘The Hill of Devi’ in 1953, an account of his Indian visits. Afterwards, he wrote his aunt’s biography ‘Marianne Thornton’ in 1956. Forster’s final years were spoiled by a number of setbacks as his grandson died in 1962 and Joe Ackerley died in 1967 In 1952, he had accepted appointment as Companion of Honour from Oxford. On his ninetieth birthday in 1969, he was awarded the Order of Merit. On June 7, 1970, Forester left this world in Coventry at the home of Bob and May Buckingham. Forster’s life was influenced by different movements, friends places, writers, books, relatives, surroundings and contemporary theories they played significant role in forming his personality as an author. He spend most of his time in the company of his mother. He and his mother resided at Rooksnest form 1883 to 1893. His encounter with Ansell created respect and sympathy for the lower classes. He experience of his public school life provided him with two main visions of life like a hatred of the conventional values that were taught there and the recognition that the Public School System was responsible for the characteristic weakness of the English. middle class. He wrote in his book, ‘Marianne Thornton : A Domestic Biography (1956) where he mentions the names of Oscar Browning, Nathaniel Wedd and Galsworthy Lowes Dickinson who moulded and shaped Forster’s personality G. Lowe’s Dickinson’s ‘The Greek View of Life’ was popular at that time CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

192 British Poetry of 19th and 20th Century - II which aroused Forster’s interest in Greek literature. J.K. Ackerley and W.J.M. Sprott, the psychologists influenced him a lot’ to think about self in fiction. The other writers like Siegfried Sassoon, Forrest Reid and G.E. Moore deeply influenced him. His group of friends life John Maynard Keynes, Leonard Woolf, Lytton, Starchey, Desmond McCarthy, Roger Fry, Alfred North, Whitehead and Bertrand Russell who were known as Bloomsbury Group. They played significant role in the life of Forster and became a mature writer by virtue of their company. His first publications in the form of articles and short stories were in a Bloomsbury Group, journal called ‘The Independent Review’. E.M. Forster’s selection to the discussion club known as ‘The Apostles’ had great influence on him which encouraged him to introduce modern European literature. He also responded to an invitation to deliver Clarke Lectures at Cambridge in 1927 which resulted in his book ‘Aspects of the Novel’. Forster was also influenced by Edward Carpenter, a leader of working class and pioneer in the earlier gay liberation movement. He lived with Carpenter’s working class where he had praised him for several years. He modeled his character in his well-reputed novel ‘A Room with a View’ as Mr. Emerson and Maurice in ‘Maurice’. He stated in his ‘Aspects of the Novel’ that his analysis of the novel will be historical because his concern is not with the facts and personalities connected with the novel but with the nature of its form. He believes that the novel should possess certain inspiring formal properties. It should isolate, analyse and evaluate these properties. Being an idealist, he attached immense importance to the spiritual self. He is conscious that human condition is time bound and cannot be entirely transcended. There is also the difference between the people in novel and the people in real life. There is difference between the characters of history and novel. There are two types of characters – the ‘flat’ and the ‘round’. Round characters are full of spirit and try to live their own lives and are engaged in disloyalty against the main theme of the work. The flat characters are humorous and caricatures, sometimes normal and useful because they are easily recognized. According to him, the novelist should present main facts of human life. He also talks about the Point of View which depends upon the relation, whom the novelist chooses to have between the narrator and the story. He talks about the plot also which is the heart of the novel which unfolds mystery and requires a suspension of the time sequence to appreciate of the time sequence to appreciate it. He also deals with Fantasy and Prophecy which deal with the theme of the novel. Every word on action in a Plot ought to count whereas Fantasy and Prophecy deal with the theme of the novel. These provide mythology to the plot of the novel. Forster also talks about the pattern of, the novel which represents the novel’s movement in the direction of painting and architecture rather than music. It is nothing more than visual design of the plot. It is achieved at the vitality of characterisation. He connects Pattern with atmosphere and values. He also states that all novels should demonstrate the detachment of religion. He believes that literature should present ethical version of life. He intends to present human behaviour. Human happiness is central to Forster’s ethics. Infact he belongs to the liberal tradition and his involvement in it enriches and enshrines his creativity. 9.5 NOVEL IN FORSTER’S TIMES English novel gained a new dimension in Forster’s time. There was treatment of common life CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

193 at a level had come to be preferred which leans towards humour and melodrama. Moreover, there was a deep interest in self-conscious construction, controlled tone and calculated effect. There are writers who have a clear literary continuity with Hardy’s less systematized and more poetic conception of the novel. Infact, it was Henry James who was an innovator and explored in extraordinary subtle terms and reaches of refined consciousness. He developed his particular style of prose in the novel. Joseph Corad is another important novelist of Forster’s period who contributed in the development of the novel. He adds the richness of substance. His economy o style is rigid. Besides, D.H. Lawrence, James Joyce and Virginia Woolf happen to be novelists who made the greatest contribution to novel as art form in this period. Forster has rejected many traditional values. He writes novels to fulfil demands of the society and to document his experience. He is a supporter of reason, intelligence, culture, tolerance and civilization against barbarity and provincialism. He speaks out against the manners and morals of the British middle class in his novels. He presents the Philistine society that has been corrupted by materialism, complacency and prejudice and opposes the values of this society by the values of ‘good heart’. He gifts his novels with domestic humour. A contrast is established between classes or nations and individuals. He is interested in human beings and his novels reveal a mirror for contemporary life. There is a voice of social realism in his novels which capture close observation of existing society. That is why the critic Trilling says about him that “he is the living novelist who can be read again and again” i.e. it was stated when E.M. Forster was alive. His novel, ‘Where Angels Fear to Tread’ (1905) is about a shiftless widow of means who marries a cheap Italian, has a baby by him and then dies. Her brother-in-law Philip Herriton is sent to a small Italian town to demand the baby for its English relations and great comedy ensues. Finally, the baby is stolen, but meets with an unexpected death’ when it is jolted out of the thief’s arms. Lilia, the accessory young woman, shocks everybody by confessing her love for the cheap Italian Gino. The novel has much charm and brims with laughter. ‘The Longest Journey’ followed in 1907. A good deal of this novel is plainly autobiographical whose hero is Rickie Elliot who contracts a dreary marriage with a dreadful woman and has a dreary life of teaching in a dreadful school. He has an illegitimate half-brother, Stephen Wonham, born of Rickie’s mother and a young famer. For this incalculable and savage bore, the author has a mysterious veneration. Rickie dies saving Stephen. The novel throughout displays Forester’s hatred of conventionality. ‘A Room with a View’ which appeared in 1908, is sunnier. Its setting is rustic Italy first and then Surrey. It is a comedy with serious intent. Guests have been given rooms without a view. Kindly Mr. Emerson, a fellow guest, offers to help. Lucy is its heroine, and in her simple, instinctive soul the same kind of good and evil forces that tortured poor Rickie battle for supremacy. ‘Howard’s End’ appeared in 1910 which is the most ambitious and the most satisfying of the five novels. Its atmosphere is quiet, yet aggressive of all the things that matter to Forster. There are the Schlegel sisters, Margaret and Helen and their contact with the Wilcox family procures the plot of the novel. The Schlegels represent humane, liberal culture, the fine civilization of personal communication that Forster himself stands for. The Wilcoxes have built the Empire — they represent the ‘short-haired executive type’ — obtuse, egotistic, unscrupulous, cowardly, spiritually bankrupt, self-deceiving, successful. Margaret is made to marry Wilcox by the author apparently to illustrate and concretise his thesis of how these two opposing currents should meet if a richer and fuller CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

194 British Poetry of 19th and 20th Century - II humanity is to emerge. In ‘A Passage to India’ (1924) Forster appears to have reached the fringe, for the artist here has definitely become a propagandist. The novel is mainly an exploration of the possibilities of friendship between individuals of different races especially if one of these belongs to a dominant ruling race and the other to the subject race. The novel is a crystallization of Forster’s thoughts and emotions after his two long visits to India. Forster’s ‘Aspects of the Novel’ (1927) is an excellent and amusing criticism. There are seven aspects of the novel. Story, People, Plot, Fantasy Prophecy, Pattern and Rhythm. 9.6 FORSTER’S VIEW AS A NOVELIST Forster does not like novels to tell just stories. He wishes the novels to convey something else like melody, or perception of truth. It is passion that usually spins the plot of his tales, and once the plot, is geared for action if moves, sometimes swiftly, sometimes unhurriedly through drama, melodrama, stark violence, sudden deaths to classical finales, brilliantly dexterous in their suggestion of the high gods somewhere at work. Forster has, as the Quakers put it, a ‘concern’ with sudden deaths. Forster’s people are an exotic gallery. His superb elderly ladies are definitely acquiring immortality. Mrs. Moore in ‘A Passage to India’. But Forster seems all too little interested in elderly men. He probably finds them unmanageable. His novel ‘A Passage to India’ possesses “pathos, piety, courage : they exist and so does filth, everything exists and nothing has value. Yet there remains kindness, kindness, and even after that more kindness. It is the only hope….”. Indeed, Forster is a mystic. In his early short stories, he was apt to play with supernatural beings — fauns, dryads, and the good Pan leapt from their brakes and subverted the lives of the human beings. Later, he kept them in their places and started to give human beings their attributes and so we have. Mrs. Wilcox and Mrs. Moore, both demi-goddesses. 9.7 STYLE OF FORSTER Style of Forster has superbness whose neat and exquisite surface is littered with that pervasive wit and the writing appears to speak with delight. It is Forster’s greatest charms, and it is rendered even more charming by the gentle humanistic philosophy that finds expression in it. Wise sayings indeed crowd, his pages but thanks to Forster’s freshness, the wisdom never appears tiresome or labored. It is neat, ready and ever sympathetic — More than fifty years since Forster wrote his last novel but still his novels are being read and read again. 9.8 CONCLUSION Forster did not publish any novels after ‘A Passage to India’ but he continued to write. Short CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

195 stories and essays until his death in 1970. He published several anthologies including ‘The Celestial Omnibus’ and ‘The Eternal Moment’ (1928), two collections of short stories, ‘Abinger Harvest’ (1936), a collection of poetry, essays and fiction and several non-fiction works. The essays by Forster as well as his frequent lectures on political topics established his reputation as a liberal thinker and strong advocate of democracy. Today, many people know, E.M. Forster due to the numerous film adaptations of his work. Titles by Forster that are immortalized not only on the page but also on film include ‘A Passage to India’ (1984), ‘A Room with a View’ (1986), ‘Howards End’ (1991). Many, of the film adaptations of Forster’s work met with widespread enthusiasm and praise, including multiple Academy Award nominations, though Forster himself criticized various attempts to convert written work to stage or film. 9.9 SUMMARY OF THE UNIT Edward Morgan Forster was an English novelist, short-story writer, essayist and librettist. He was born on 1 January, 1879. He was brought up by his mother and paternal great aunt due to early death of his father. He received his education at Tonbridge School and King’s College, Cambridge. He as conferred the Doctorate of Literature in 1931 by Aberdeen University. He was also honoured for his novel ‘A Passage to India by the university of Leyden. E.M. Forster write in Edwardian literary tradition. He wrote the following novels : ‘Where Angels Fear to Tread’ ‘A Room With a View’ ‘Howards End’ ‘The Longest Journey’ ‘A Passage to India’ ‘Maurice’ He also wrote ‘The Celestial Ommibus and other Stories’. His novel ‘Arctic Summer’ was left abandoned. He tried his pen to write the play ‘Heart of Bosnia’. Florence Berger became his close friend, one time wife of his Cambridge classmate. She was devoted to him tell her death in 1960. He visited India several times. He became Private Secretary of Maharaja of Dewas Senior for six month. He developed a close relationship with twenty-eight year old constable Mr. Buckingham. He served National Council for Civil Liberties for several years. He issued Abinger Harvest in 1936-a miscellany of eight essays. Alice Forster died in 1945 at the ripe age of ninety. He, became Honorary Fellow of King’s College. He co-authored an Opera ‘Billy-Bud’ He also collected essays and reviews to write ‘Two Cheers For Democracy’. CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

196 British Poetry of 19th and 20th Century - II He also wrote his, aunt’s biography ‘Marianne Thornton’ in 1956. Oscar Browning, Nathaniel Wedd and Galsworthy Lowes, Dickinson transformed Forster’s personality. Bloomsbury Group played significant role in the life of Forster. He was selected to ‘Apostle’s Club’ that influenced his life significantly. He wrote ‘Aspects of the Novel’ in which he has mentioned the requisites of the novel like characters, plot, fantasy, point of view, pattern, etc. According to him, literature should present ethical version of life. Infact, he belongs to the liberal tradition. Novel in E.M. Forster’s times gained a new dimension. Henry James explored his own style of prose. Joseph Conrad also contributed in the realm of novel. Forster wrote novels in accordance with the demands of society. He is interested in human beings and his novels are a mirror to contemporary life. His novel ‘Howard’s End’ is the most ambitious and the most satisfying of the five novels. A Passage to India’ (1924) is an exploration of the possibilities of friendship between individuals of different races. According to Forster, the novels are not meant to tell stories. Forster’s people are an exotic gallery. His style has superbness and littered with pervasive writing. Many of the film adaptations of Forster’s work met with wide spread fame including Academy Award Nominations. 9.10 KEYWORDS/ABBREVIATIONS 1. exotic : outlandish, stunning 2. Stark : sheer, stringent, 3. dominant : ruling, authoritative 4. ethical : moral 5. milestone : significant 9.11 LEARNINGACTIVITY 1. What do you know about E.M. Forster as a novelist? Discuss. 2. What were the various factors which influenced his life? Elaborate. CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

197 9.12 UNIT END QUESTIONS (DESCRIPTIVE, SHORT AND MCQS) (A) Descriptive Type Questions 1. Discuss the life and works of E.M. Forster. 2. What were the views of Forster about writing a novel? Dicuss. 3. What was the position of novel in Forster’s times? Explain. 4. Discuss Forster’s contribution to novel. 5. Discuss the various key themes of Forester’s novels. (B) Short Answer Type Questions 1. What is the concept of E. M. Forster to write novels? Ans. Forster is not interested to write novels which just tell stories. He wants that novels should convey something else like melody and perception of truth. He intends that the plot of the novel should move swiftly. 2. What do you know about E.M. Forster’s “Aspects of the Novel”? Ans. E.M. Forster’s “Aspects of a Novel” is an excellent and amusing criticism. Forster finds that there are seven aspects of the novel — story, people plot, fantasy, prophecy, pattern and rhythm. It is a book complied by a series of lectures delivered by E.M. Forster at Trinity College, Cambridge in 1927. The author compares the form and structure of the novel to those of symphony. 3. What are the subjects discussed in E.M. Forster’s book “Two Cheers For Democracy”? Ans. “Two Cheers for Democracy” is in a sense the most comprehensive of Forster’s books. Its subjects range from the political climate in the war years to art in general individual artists and places. The book throughout reflects the gloom. He writes at the close of the Preface. “The darkness that tries to degrade us may thin out. We may still contrive to raise three cheers to democracy, although at present she deserves only two.” 4. How did he treat the quality of tolerance throughout his history of life? Ans. E.M. Forster ranked tolerance high among the qualities necessary for the world at large. He explores the means by which citizens of democracies can counter the spread of the kind of thinking that leads to brutal dictatorships like that of Nazi Germany. Their attempts to conquers neighboring nations were inferior. Nazis were the supreme example of intolerance. In his novel, Forster demonstrated tolerance for a number of different groups. (C) Multiple Choice Questions and Answers 1. Forster gives his series of textures on ‘The Aspects of Novel’ at Trinity College at… (a) Princeton University (b) Cambridge University (c) Oxford University (d) Harvard University 2. Which novel of E.M. Forster appeared posthumously? (a) Howards’s End (b) Maurice (c) A Passage to India (d) The Longest Journey CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

198 British Poetry of 19th and 20th Century - II 3. Which Forster’s novel expands his critique of class division to include race? (a) A Passage to India (b) A Room with a View (c) Howards End (d) Where Angles Fear to Tread 4. ‘Where Angels Fear to Tread’ was published in? (a) 1905 (b) 1915 (c) 1920 (d) 1925. 5. Which of the following novels remained unfinished? (a) Arctic Summer (b) Maurice (c) The Longest Journey (d) None of the above 6. When was ‘Billy-Bud’ Written? (a) 1951 (b) 1952 (c) 1953 (d) 1954 7. What is the book written by E.M. Forster which contains his visits to India? (a) Marianne Tornton (b) Hill of Devi (c) Two Cheers for Democracy (d) None Answer : 1. (b), 2. (b), 3. (a), 4. (a), 5. (a), 6. (c), 7. (b) 9.13 REFERENCES 1. Macaulay Rose : The Writings of E.M. Forster Harcourt, Brace, 1938. 2. A.A. Markely : E.M. Forster’s Reconfigured Gaze and the Creation of a Homoerotic Subjectivity: Twentieth Century Literature, Vol. 47; No. 2 Summer 2001. 3. Born Daniel : The Birth of Liberal Guilt in the English Novel : Charts Dickens to H.G. Wells : University of North Carolina Press, 1995. 4. fantasticfunction.com/f/ 5. www.cliffnotes.com>literatine>emforster 6. www.gradesaver.com>e-forster CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

199 UNIT - X E.M. FORSTER : A PASSAGE TO INDIA STRUCTURE 10.0 Learning and Objectives 10.1 Introduction 10.2 Chapter wise Summary of the Novel 10.3 Anglo-Indian Relations in The Novel 10.4 Racial Issue in a “Passage to India” Or Criticism of Imperialism in the Novel 10.5 Significance of the Title 10.6 Religious Symbolism in the Novel 10.7 Themes in the Novel 10.8 Characterization in the Novel 10.9 Forster’s Philosophy of Life in the Novel 10.10 Character Sketch of Fielding 10.11 Character of Dr. Aziz 10.12 Character of Mrs. Moore 10.13 Character of Miss Quested 10.14 Character of Professor Godbole 10.15 Character of Ronny Heaslop 10.16 Summary of the Unit 10.17 Keywords/Abbreviations 10.18 Learning Activity 10.19 Unit End Questions (Descriptive, Short and MCQs) 10.20 References 10.0 LEARNING OBJECTIVES After going through this unit, the students will be able to: Describe the summary of the novel which is divided into three parts namely ‘Mosque’, ‘Caves’ and ‘Temple’. CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

200 British Poetry of 19th and 20th Century - II Describe the possibilities of friendship between individuals of different races. Describe the significance of the title “A Passage to India.” Trace the circumstances leading to the last reunion and parting of Fielding and Aziz. 10.1 INTRODUCTION There is not much of a story here for Forster is merely interested in expressing by means of fiction what he feels to be the truth about the British in India. The novel is a crystallization of Forster’s thoughts and emotions after his two long visits to India. The novel is chiefly an exploration of the possibilities of friendship between individuals of different races especially if one of these belongs to a dominant ruling race and the other to the subject race. 10.2 CHAPTER WISE SUMMARY OF THE NOVEL PART -I : MOSQUE Chapter 1 There is nothing extraordinary about the city of Chandrapore except for the Marabar Caves. It is not a large or beautiful city. By the railway station on the high ground there are people living who are Anglo-Indians. (A) This chapter describes the town of Chandrapore in which the story is going to take place. (B) The city is a small one and is not a beautiful one. (C) The British rulers try to establish order and civilization and they have no urge. But Chanrapore looks lovely as its unattractive parts are obscured by tropical vegetation to see the true nature around. Chapter 2 Young Dr. Aziz hurries to the house of Hamidullah, one of his friends to have dinner. He finds his other friends in the discussion whether or not it was possible for Indians to be friends to an Englishmen. He finds them aware about the changed behaviour of the British people towards the Indians. The English people show themselves superior to the Indians. The have just begun when there comes a summons for Aziz from the Civil Surgeon, Major Callender. Aziz curses him but has to take his bicycle and picks up his way to him. On the way, his cycle fails and he takes a tonga and reaches the surgeon’s bunga-low-but he finds that he is already gone even without drooping message for him. Two English women come out of the house and take his tonga and go away. He feels very confused. To remain at ease, he enters the mosque. In the mosque the meets an English woman Mrs. Moore, the mother of Ronny Heaslop who is the District Magistrate. Both of them become friends to each-other. CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)