Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad. Marlows lie - Essay Example

? Marlow’s lie Introduction In the novel “Heart of Darkness” by Joseph Conrad, different issues are discussed. A novel, full of symbolism, still is very interesting for contemporary readers and critics. This research paper is focused on Marlow’s lie discussion as an embodiment of a character’s development on the background of darkness. Marlow’s lie is in the focus of further discussion on the example of his interpretations of Kurtz’s phenomenon. He claims that he does not lie, though he confirms that there were three cases when he lied: the station manager, Kurtz and the Intended heard wrong things from Marlow (Stape, 2004). Marlow lies throughout the novel though contextual background of the novel differs greatly. He is thrown back and forth from savage customs identification and civilized behavior distinction. His further ideas and behavior are developed under conditions of blurred borders between noise of savage and civilization: “Yet despite Marlow’s insistence, all binary oppositions collapse in the course of his narrative: colonists prove to be conquerors, the gang of virtue is indistinguishable from the gang of greed, the illusions of women merely echo the illusions of men, and there is no clear distinction between lies and truth” (Kaplan 1997, p. 323). This way, Marlow’s attitude to lie can be interpreted in these frames. Moreover, his acts of lying can be considered on three main backgrounds: his desire to preserve his own ideas about Kurtz, lie as an act of humanity and lie as a means of reality hindrance. Marlow’s lie: lie for what? Generally speaking, Marlow is a complicated and interesting character depicted in the novel. The author intentionally contrasts a human nature to black background. Maybe, Conrad’s intention was to show the darkness of human inner world and not the darkness of African continent: “The monstrous prevails and the human and artistic potential miscarries. There is a downward tug in Kurtz's involvement with the wilderness and he descends into a brute existence” (Billy 1997, p. 26). Madness dominates in the inner world of Kurtz. Kurtz reflects a dualistic human nature. Lights and darkness exist one by one. When darkness starts prevailing, then anarchy exists everywhere. A strange and dualistic nature of human darkness can be defined as “something strange that derives its existence from the hinterland of man's mind, as if it had emerged from the abyss of prehuman ages, or from a superhuman world of contrasting light and darkness. It is a primordial experience which surpasses man's understanding and to which in his weakness he may easily succumb" (Boyle 1964, p. 160). Marlow should not be considered as a liar. He talked about darkness of London in Roman epoch. Romans conquered Britons and Conrad talked about the Belgians conquering Africans. Generally, Conrad intended to show an inner struggle of the self within his inner world. A personified symbolism (Bloom 1987, p. 34) of the ways human soul fights against duality and lie is shown by Conrad throughout the paper. Marlow’s lie is interpreted by Brown (2004) as follows: "Despite his [Marlow's] earlier avowal of a profound aversion to lying, Marlow has already admitted to sacrificing truth to expediency on three previous occasions" (Brown 2000, p. 14). Still, Brown’s arguments are often criticized. It is necessary to discuss what is lying for Marlow in more details. A breakdown of Marlow's character could be seen when he lied to the Intended. Marlow wanted to give a wrong impression about what happened. Marlow’s intention to give a different representation of real facts to public about himself was seen from the very beginning of the novel, when he sat like Buddha. In that case he wanted to show that he takes nothing with him, but peace. Further wanderings and adventures of Marlow revealed real intentions of this character. Therefore, lying accompanies Marlow throughout the novel. In case when he needed more rivets for his boat, he asked the brickmaker about them but did it through lying. The fact that it was lying cannot be denied. Therefore, Marlow appealed for cunning techniques in order to persuade the brickmaker about the necessity of rivets for completion of Kurtz’s hopes. In reality, Marlow did not know much about Kurtz at that time. It was another lying. Then Marlow started to deal with Kurtz’ fate and even realized his cruel intention to cheat people around him. He was pleased by feeling “atmosphere so vile” (Brown, 2000). Nevertheless, some critics argue that Marlow had cruel intentions to lie. For example, when Marlow lied to public through report he did not have to lie to Kurtz. Marlow considered lie with regards to Kurtz as a means of salvation. When he was asked in England, Marlow wanted to protect Kurtz again: “I assured him Mr. Kurtz's knowledge however extensive, did not bear upon the problems of commerce or administration" (Conrad, 122). Marlow’s lie concerning Kurtz has been developed for a long time. During his meeting with Kurtz’s cousin, Marlow continued to claim that Kurtz was not a universal genius as other people considered him. Therefore, Marlow’s intention to protect and idealize Kurtz is often considered as a positive motif and not a cruel lie. Therefore, a spirit of intentionality in Marlow’s lie is perfectly seen and focused lie of Marlow cannot be denied. He concluded his lie in the report he wrote to the Intended. Marlow wanted to underline the advantages of Kurtz and the Intended supported his story-telling eagerly. Marlow wanted to preserve his beloved from all cruelties of the real story about Kurtz. In this sense, his lie is an attempt of a real man to protect his woman from an imperfect real world (Brown, 2000). The archetype of shadow represents suppressed, dark, wicked, and bestial side of a person. Shadow contains socially unacceptable sexual and aggressive impulses and amoral thoughts. Marlow began to realize influence of primitive past when he was travelling again up the Congo River. "Going up the river arms was like traveling 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, and impenetrable forest. The long stretches of the waterway ran on, deserted, into the gloom of the overshadowed distances" (Conrad, 168). Marlow could feel how nature awakes a primitive man inside his civilized covering. This primitive self began to control Marlow and others because they were “accustomed to look on the shackled form of a conquered monster, but there [the Congo River in Africa] you could look at a thing monstrous and free" (Conrad, 167). Marlow’s lie to the Intended can be compared to his lie to his Aunt. Women for him are fragile and tender creatures who need to be treated in a special manner. Truth was for Marlow “too dark” and too cruel for the Intended. To keep her in the darkness is a perfect way to protect her from the cruel real world. This strategy was approved and acclaimed by Marlow as the only justified strategy. Nevertheless, he considered this strategy relevant not only to women, but also to other people. By lying, Marlow wanted to reshape social human consciousness about “those devious political and commercial interests who are keeping the middle-class consciousness from apprehending the European exploitation of Africa for what it is: a cultural, economic, and geographical rape” (Mcclauchlan 1983, p. 4). Therefore, Marlow is like a man who reshapes and idealizes a cruel reality. Marlow follows his line in a complete darkness and the story is finished up in the darkness: “The offing was barred by a black bank of clouds and the tranquil waterway leading to the uttermost end of the earth flowed sombre under an overcast sky – seemed to lead into the heart of an immense darkness” (Conrad, 76). On the one hand, Conrad shows that darkness (lie) absorbed Marlow completely and he did not have more chances to get rid of lie and darkness and became “dark” himself. Conclusion Nature and human beings are deeply connected because a man is a child of nature. It was noticed that nations differs by character depending on territory they live. Inhabitants of mountains are considered to be more severe than people of seaside who are more romantic and cheerful. But when a person is surrounded by wild nature he begins to display his real essence like it was with the protagonists of Heart of Darkness. In civilized environment people usually hide their dark side pretending better than they are but in extreme situations they are not ashamed to show who they really are. In Conrad’s novella, it seems that the further Marlow goes into the jungle, the deeper he understands himself. Using symbolic language Conrad shows both the good and bad sides of mankind (Brown, 2000). Therefore, Marlow’s lie should be considered not as vice, but as a means to idealize realities around him. His lying helps the Intended to feel dedicated to her idol Kurtz. A gradual perfection of Kurtz by Marlow through lying “is equivalent to the death it euphemizes, a lie that rests at the heart of the death it originally causes. In short, such faith in moral super men breeds the death of its own heroic avatars in their all too human incarnations” (Garrett 1980, p. 330). Marlow’s lie on the background of darkness can be considered as an integrative part of darkness itself. Therefore, unintentional seeds of Marlow’s lie in the beginning of the novel resulted in a dark harvest of imagined and perverted reality. Works cited 1. Billy, Ted, 1997. A Wilderness of Words: Closure and Disclosure in Conrad's Short Fiction. Lubbock, TX: Texas Tech University Press. 2. Bloom, Harold, ed., 1987. Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness. New York: Chelsea House. 3. Boyle, Ted. E., 1964. “Marlow's “Lie” in “Heart of Darkness”. Studies in Short Fiction 1 (2): 159-163. 4. Brown, Tony C., 2000. "Cultural Psychosis on the Frontier: The Work of the Darkness in Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness." Studies in the Novel 32:14. 5. Conrad, Joseph, 1981. Heart of Darkness and The Secret Sharer. New York: Bantam Classic. 6. Garrett, Stewart, 1980. “Lying as Dying in Heart of Darkness”. [online]. PMLA 95: 319-331. Available at: [Retrieved 08 June, 2011]. 7. Kaplan, Carola M., 1997. "Colonizers, Cannibals and the Horror of Good Intentions in Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness." Studies in Short Fiction 34:323. 8. Mcclauchlan, Juliet, 1983. "The 'value' and 'significance' of Heart of Darkness" Conradiana 15 (1): 3-21.  9. Stape, J. H., 2004. ""The Dark Places of the Earth": Text and Context in "heart of Darkness"." The Conradian: the Journal of the Joseph Conrad Society (U.K.) 29:144+. Read More