Nicole Jones 4th Period

Darkness of Man

In life one faces many experiences that alter our view and conception of the world. In many cases, it alters our state of mind and changes our opinions on trivial matters. A viable question would be as to why or why not people go to such measures to lose themselves or altruistically enhance their previous mentality to accommodate those things that have happened to them. In Conrads novel Heart Of Darkness, the main character, Marlow, is the center of an ideological escapade that forms a question as to whether why and how he acts towards women is an act of an archaic sense of chivalry brought on by previous societal notions or an attitude based in moral correctness being intertwined with a somewhat sexist attitude. This most prominent case of this issue is when Marlow lies to the intended. Critics have pondered over this and the ultimatum is that Conrad uses the bypasses of female intuition as a path for Marlow towards a somewhat ritualistic, moral idea of manhood. But in investigating further, one must consider both sides of the story; was Marlow saving the intended from self-incrimination and keeping her in a sound state of mind, or did he simply believe her womanly mind would keep her from understanding the true horrors and she would be unable to fully comprehend the meaning of his words? When scratching the surface of the connotation meant by Conrad, it seems the way Marlow presents his final answer is to parallel it to bridging a gap in the closing Victorian era and the beginning Modernistic era. These two modes of thinking straddle the fence between idealism and realism as it

correlates to Marlows life and why he lies to the intended. But in reality, the reason why is double meaning that holds sway in both directions on the scale. On one side we see Conrad incorporating women as a means to infiltrate the plot and enhance the meaning of darkness in a mans soul. The women in the novel seem to bear enormous moral pressure on right and wrong but also bring a responsibility to conformity of social values and beliefs, and ultimately and change in mind for someone who has experienced the darkness of man, like Marlow. Time and again, Conrads females seem to have formidable control over their male counterparts which leads to the idea that Marlows action of lying was a mere sense of chivalric attitude foundered in his previous positions and by his Aunt. With this said, it is possible to stretch this conclusion to include Conrad himself as to the reason why he chooses Marlow to lie in that he created Marlow to parallel himself and his beliefs and his struggle to grapple with the female presence in life. Although not exactly an act of chivalry, the basic idea that it formed itself from Conrad and his usage of the stronger female types may have influenced this notion that Marlow simply wished to help and keep the intended from knowing a sad, but truthful and grueling last encounter with her fianc. On the opposing side of the argument, one could say Marlows attitude is based in society morals and sexism. Marlows belief of the female person is portrayed very early on when he states, 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. Some confounded fact, we men have been living contentedly with ever since the day of creation, would start up and knock the whole thing over (Conrad 16). This proposes that Marlow believes women live in their own type of fantasy world, limited in their abilities and learning capacities. This supports the notion that Marlow lies to the intended merely because he believed her fragile, far from the truth mind, could not handle it. Many believe Conrad had Marlow conforming to social fragmentation at the time as there were many social and cultural revolutions

occurring during the time the novella was being written. Although these outside influences may have had an ultimate effect of the storyline and the meaning to the novella as a whole, their intentions by Conrad in voicing the female characters is not as strong except in the African woman Kurtz befriends and dates while managing the company outpost in the Congo. This idea; formulated on the reference of the jungle to a woman, had caressed him ... taken him, loved him, embraced him, got into his veins, consumed his flesh (Conrad 49), is used to explain once again how society viewed all women at the time, as soft creatures with no true understanding of or need to understand the real world. Pushing deeper, look at Marlows Aunt and how he perceives her as an annoying prick who doesnt know the true meaning of life and death and who is very shallow and talks too much. This coherent response instigates, once again, how Conrad molds Marlow into a sexist male filled with the typical stereotypes common in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. While expressing his true intent on why Marlow lies to the intended, Conrad also uses the African princess as a significant parallel to darkness and softness. Although not a matter of chivalry or sexism, the African woman helps to portray women in the stereotypical manner prevalent at the time, and formulates how Marlow is being presented in the novella. And in the hush that had fallen suddenly upon the whole sorrowful land, the immense wilderness, the colossal body of the fecund and mysterious life seemed to look at her, pensive, as though it had been looking at the image of its own tenebrous and passionate soul (Conrad 60). This quote shows how Conrad uses the woman to symbolize the ferocity of the African jungle and how he uses to correlate it into the strong-willed mind of a woman, somewhat ironic to that previous notion that women are soft and gentle. This is why many consider the view of women on the novella as sexist as obsolete because it does not analyze the why and how of the other stronger female presence that Conrad seems to use. In its perverse intentions, the ultimate conception of Marlows breaching of the jungle is a sexual allegory of male penetration, but

with the African woman, it is this inclusion of thought that he is in fact immersing himself deeper into this nightmare because he had so confidently placed the female apart from darkness or evil. In the Heart Of Darkness, Conrad uses a stringent man on the verge of a loss of true self after a run-in with the true meaning of darkness and deterioration of a kind soul, to compose a confounding and alternating view on women in the novel. Is Marlow there to enhance the overall figure of women in that they ultimately need protection in a chivalric manner and not because they are of any lesser status, or is he a constant reminder to the social norms set forth in the time allocated? These ideas suggest a strength and conformity of Conrad in his own view of women and his own confusion, but also allow readers, critics, and any of those who study and analyze literature a way into seeing and understanding true darkness and a constant battle of the good and bad.