Why Marlow Lie to Kurtzs Fianc - Essay Example

Why Marlow lie to Kurtz's Fianc "We know that art is not truth. Art is a lie that makes us realize truth, at least the truth that is given to us to understand. The Artist must know the manner whereby to convince others of the truthfulness of his lies" (Picasso). In fiction, writers have power to create disbelief and hold the reader into a satisfactory understanding of the plot so that they feel the vehicle of fiction is being driven by capable driver. Readers are puppets in the hands of a writer and could be manipulated with their ability and creativity to move in and out from scene to scene and from plot to plot. In "Heart of Darkness," considered as a travelogue and true life experience of Conrad, readers are exposed to tricky situations and are carried away in the steamer of Conrad's imagination (2000). The character Mr. Marlow, or to say the narrator, in the beginning of the story is projected as a protector of truth who tells a lie in its ending. Why Marlow decided not to tell Kurtz's fiance about her betrothed's final degradation require much in-depth knowledge about human psychology. The readers may be sympathetic towards Mr. Marlow as he was to rescue a resourceful person, Mr. Kurtz, who was ill in the dark forest of African Congo, but failed in his mission. At the same time arguments will arise about Marlow's hypocritical behavior when confronting Kurtz's fianc. Although, there may exist contradicting views about Marlow's behavior, it will be interesting to analyze the compulsions before him and interpret human nature in the outlook of Conrad. All the fictions are imaginary creations of literary artists, and writers have power to create disbelief and hold the reader into a satisfactory understanding of the plot. Though Heart of Darkness is termed as a travelogue, the element of imagination and literary creativity is also present in it. A good fiction offers the reader an exposure to good and bad characters that may have resemblance of people they know or come across in their own lives. Fiction makes sense when a writer tells a good truthful lie, and it successfully reproduces an event perfectly, which has never occurred to the reader. Once a writer is committed to tell the whole true lie and nothing but a completely true lie through their characters they can shape words to animate and convert into figures of people. For a successful writer readers are puppets in his hands and easily manipulated with their ability and creativity of white lies. Conrad has been successful in creating such elements in Heart of Darkness and it emerges a short but thrilling experience to the reader. The "Heart of Darkness," is considered as a travelogue and true life experience of Conrad, who was himself a navigator for many years. The readers are exposed to tricky situations and are carried away to illuminating mythological situations and dark inhuman activities with the skillful writing of Conrad. The story begins depicting Kurtz as an upstanding European who has been transformed by his time in the jungle-away from his home away from familiar people and food, and away from any community moral support that might have helped prevent him from becoming such a tyrant. Marlow is assigned to rescue this resourceful and knowledgeable person from the clutches of dark Africa. The factors compelling Marlow to decide not to tell Kurtz's fiance about her betrothed's final degradation requires much in-depth knowledge about human psychology. Marlow project himself as a protector of truth and hated world of lies. Marlow makes his feelings about lying explicitly through his words "You know I hate, detest, and can't bear a lie, not because I am straighter than the rest of us, but simply because it appalls me. There is a taint of death, a flavor of morality in lies, -- which is exactly what I have and detest in the world-what I want to forget. It makes me miserable and sick" (p.49-50). These words show that Marlow does not approve telling lies and it makes him miserable. His harsh words "not because I am straighter than the rest of us" show another element of his disregard for lies. (p.49). He believes that what is wrong with the world is mainly because of resorting to telling lies and he felt miserable after telling the lie to Kurtz's fiance Despite these approaches Marlow actually commits the very offense to Kurtz's intended. When Kurtz's fiance asked what his last word was, Marlow replies "The last word he pronounced was-your name" (Conrad 2000. P.123). It was a lie, and the last words were "He cried in a whisper at some image, at some vision he cried out twice, a cry that was no more than a breath-'The horror! The horror!" (Conrad 2000. p.112). Marlow hates to tell lies at the same time he relies on it to hide truth from a person whom he considers modest and having reliance to human values. Where Marlow himself was a witness to the last words of Kurtz, and had exposure to his pathetic condition, it is necessary to analyze the compulsions before him for telling a lie to Kurtz's fiance. In another situation his reaction was "my heart stood still, stopped dead short by an exulting terrible cry, by the cry of inconceivable triumph and of unspeakable pain"(p.123).This terrible cry and unspeakable pain clearly reflects his agony after committing the crime of telling a lie. Though he declares to lying and the pain he experienced from it, he simultaneously identifies the success he got from his action, the "inconceivable triumph." It reflects Marlow is a born hypocrite, and manipulator of situation. It also establishes his double standard of contradictory belief and action. What he trusts is that he should not have lied and at the same time his belief has not stopped him from doing so. Readers shall be sympathetic to Marlow as it seemed to him "that the house would collapse before I could escape, that the heavens would fall upon my head." (p.123). This shows Conrad put Marlow in a critical situation to tell a lie which is sacrificing his moral belief to uphold truth. Critically it may argued that Heart of Darkness illustrates Conrad's ideas about how we all must be protected from the savagery inside us, just as Marlow protected Kurtz's fiance from the ugly truth about the decline of the man she intended to marry. It may also be argued that it is the striking moment of weakness, when Conrad just couldn't bear to keep telling the novel's heavy story. It derives that the darkness of the landscape led to the darkness of social corruption in Mr. Kurtz. A logical analysis may show that Marlow lied to avoid the unpleasant situation, based on the universal law that what ought to be done in any situation depends on the consequences that may produce from it. If we apply this standard of avoiding difficult situations by telling lie no one would trust anything said by somebody. According to Immanuel Kant (1993), "morality of a decision, like Marlow's, given that his motive was to protect Kurtz's intended from a potential emotional trauma." Kant gives at least three specific reasons why Marlow should not have lied, such as: "a lie, regardless of intent, is always harmful, although not necessarily in immediate view; lie always harms another; if not some other human being, then it nevertheless does harm to humanity in general; whoever tells lie, regardless of his intentions may be, must answer the consequences resulting there form" (Kant 1993. p.426-427). Depending on this reasoning Marlow should not have lied. Marlow's reason for lying contradicts with his own actions. In this context words of Samuel Johnson are very relevant. It states "I deny the lawfulness of telling a lie to a sick man for fear of alarming him. You have no business with consequences; you are to tell the truth" (Picasso). It clearly states that whatever be the consequences we all are bound to tell the truth and refrain from lies. Thus, all literature, regardless of genre, should be an attempt to be absolutely true, recognizing that all written works are crippled by structure and doomed by the vagueness of language. When a person tells the truest lies he/she will please a multitude, because people want to hear good news. In the absence of prior knowledge or evidence to arrive at a universal conclusion that can produce the correct decision for all such situations we cannot put the blame on Marlow, or Conrad for preferring a lie to answer the question of Kurtz's fiance. Works cited Conrad, Joseph. (Reprint). Heart of Darkness with The Congo Diary. Hampson, Robert. London: Penguin. 2000. Kant, Immanuel. On the supposed Right to Lie because of Philanthropic Concerns. James W. Ellington. (Trans.) Cambridge: Hackett Publishing Company. 1993. Picasso, Pablo. Famous Quotes. 12 Dec. 2007 . Read More