Narrative Technique in Conrad's Heart of

Darkness
The final years of 19th century saw a change not only in theme but also in the technique
of narration. The change in the narrative technique was two fold the distancing of the
author from the text and a scrambling up of the narrative in terms of chronology. Heart
of Darkness, utilizes both these techniques and its narrative technique is in perfect
harmony with the theme of psychological degeneration depicted in the book In other to
prevent Kurtzs moral fall from lapsing into obtrusive judgement of the author, Conrad
presented Kurtz through the eye of at least one other character whom we can guess and
from an opinion about. The story opens as a nameless narrator aboard the cruising
yawl Nellie, anchored in the Thames River in England, begins to relate secondhand the
story of Charlie Marlow's river voyage in the Belgian Congo.
The story in Heart of Darkness is narrated by Marlow, the first person narrator. The
care of the story is almost primitive in its simplicity. Kutrz, an ivory trader from a
European country, ventures into Congo which lies in the heart of the dark continent
Africa. He soon becomes a very efficient agent but in his bid for exploiting the natures
and gradually adopts their savagery, totems and taboos. He wields more power over
them that he refuses to leave their company even when he is fill and needs life-saving
medicines. But ultimately under compulsion by the European he boards their boat only
to die with the words horror, horror on his lips.
The entire tale is narrated by Marlow who is also the narrator in other Conradian novels
like Chance, Lord Jim, and Youth. Initially Marlow, too had been awed by the success of
Kurtz no longer remains the disembodied voice of a genius but a human being to be
judged and commented upon. Marlow had his own system of values and judgment
predominant among them being human discipline__ restraint. Thus while speaking of
the Negro who jumps up when their boat is attacked by tribal and is killed. Marlow
comments on Kurtz:
He had no restraint, no restraint__ just like
Kurtz___ a tree swayed by the wind.

Again the rituals Kurtz participates in are unspeakable rites. Marlow makes his own
exploration of what he feels is the moral fall of Kurtz:
The thing is was to know what he belonged to how many
Powers of darkness claimed him for their own.
If Marlow is the first narrator the second narrator a sailor who hears the tale of Kurtz
from Marlow and provides his own perspective on both Kurtz and Marlow and even
describes his personal reactions. Initially, like Marlow he too, sees everything merged
into one colour but gradually with the unraveling of Marlows tale, the truth becomes
clear. He is, in a way, the audience whom the author is trying to convince.
The verbal nature of Marlows tale makes for yet another narration device- the
disjunction in the true sequence. Although Conrads departure from accepted time
sequence is not as radical as that of Joyce, Faulkner and Woolf, it is nevertheless a
determined step in that direction. The second narrators account is not immediate and
current but refracted by the memory of a past and distant time. This reconstruction of
the past is not linear for there are stray comments about things yet to be realized such as
Marlows future visit of Kurtzs Intended.
Thus we find that the narrative technique in Heart of Darkness involves not only a
dislocation of time but also two narrators__ an immediate witness and a frame narrator
who recounts the heard tale. This serves to give the tale authenticity distances it from
any obtrusive authorial design and provides multiple perspectives on the same
phenomenon or character.
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