And The Ideal In Conrad’s Novels Essay, Research Paper
At every level of his story-telling, Conrad throws together
pairs of opposites, the tension between which (in his best work) seamlessly
progress from the local to the universal. One might consider man and nature in Heart of Darkness where Kurtz is
superficially degraded to the state of a ?wandering and tortured thing?[1]
crawling on all fours. Yet that dualism enters the metaphysical realm with his
jarring and inarticulate cry ? ?the horror! the horror!?[2]
?recalling Shakespearean tragedy such as Lear?s animalistic quartet of howls.[3]
Had Kurtz not been carefully prepared as a mythic figure, its own pretension
might render it absurdly out of place. The graduation is ably handled.This essay shall concentrate on
another key pair of opposites, that of the real and the ideal: the above
example merely illustrating that this is not the only axis of its type running
through Conrad?s work. Using Heart of
Darkness and Under Western Eyes
as exemplars – both use a narrative frame, both concern the meeting of Western
culture with something inimical to it, both include a narrator struggling to
understand the plight of a man under psychological disintegration – it is
possible to discern a common pattern. In the narratives itself, idealism is in
opposition to Suffering, but the narrative merely reveals that the ideal is as
hollow and dark on the inside as the thing that it purports to change or
control. In each case the ideal becomes enmeshed with a figure who is a
grotesque parody of it. Secondly, Conrad tackles the idea
of ?fictionality? head on, using self-reflexivity – an awareness of the novel?s
own artificiality – and undermining the claims of a narrative to present a
lucid, objective portrayal. This blurring of lines and attack on understanding
(as well as subversion of certain literary genres) leads up to a radical
questioning of the foundation of Western values as a whole. The enigma arises -
does a heart of darkness lie at the heart of men like Marlow and the cautious
and nameless teacher of languages? Does a void lie at the core of European
?civilised? bourgeoisie-capitalist culture and all its respectful conventions?The first thing is to identify
the ?ideal? which is to be set against the ?reality.? In Heart of Darkness one of Marlow?s first acts is to specify the
nobility and idealism involved in the imperial enterprise:?It was just
robbery with violence, aggravated murder on a great scale and men going at it
blind – as is very proper for those who tackle a darkness. The conquest of the
earth…is not a pretty thing when you look into it too much. What redeems it
is the idea only. An idea at the back of it; not a sentimental pretence but an
idea; and an unselfish belief in the idea – something you can set up, and bow
down before.? (Heart of Darkness
p.20)It is ironic that even at this
early stage there is the hint of idolatry, a paradoxical and savage metaphor
used to describe what is supposed to be the redemption of savagery – the
civilising influence on Africa. Yet Conrad has established an ideal nonetheless
- manifested in the shadowy Kurtz. Marlow recounts his journey into the jungle,
generally dismissive of the imperialists, but Kurtz is treated differently. He
is the brilliant agent, the best collector of ivory working in the deepest
interior; a reputation that helps to prepare for Kurtz? semi-mystical journal -
?burning noble words?[4]
- and the hero worship of the Russian: ?you can?t judge Mr Kurtz as you would
an ordinary man.?[5]The exposition of this ideal is
found largely in Kurtz? own writings – a particularly impassioned bent on the
standard imperial rhetoric. The white man – with his technology, his wealth,
his power, his religion – can exert an almost divinely powerful will on the
less developed areas of the globe, shaping the land, the people and the
resources in whatever shape he wants. In the right hands, Kurtz feels that this
power can do almost unimaginable good. However, it is worth noting that the
detail remains a subtext for most of the novella (perhaps not to rob the text
of its allegorical, symbolic feel) and just as important are careful
side-allusions, such as the mention of the Roman occupation in the opening
pages. It is the imposition of civilisation on the blank spaces of Marlow?s
childhood maps: primal and undeveloped, shifting starkly from the white of
boyhood dreams to the black darkness into which European battleships lob their
shells.In Under Western Eyes, the ideal is more ambiguous. If Marlow?s
initial treatment of imperialism betrays some inner conflict (reconciling the
great idea and the actual violence) then the narrating language teacher of Under Western Eyes is self-admittedly
lost. It does not help either that the second narrative presence, Razumov, is thrown
almost immediately into a situation where he is crucified by confusion and
guilt. As Razumov is dispossessed, the reader is left to wonder whether his
faith in Russian autocracy is just a matter of trying to establish some
identity and past ? a form of idealism.What can be easily identified is
the reality – Conrad in his author?s note mentions the ?formula of senseless
desperation provoked by senseless tyranny.?[6]
The reality of Russia is bleak, discernible in Razumov?s wanderings in the
slums of St. Petersburg, the language teacher?s Western attitude to the
country, or the atmosphere of fear, secrecy and violence which pervades the
opening part of the novel. The psychology of the orphaned Razumov lead the
reader to see all of Russia?s pain and turmoil in Razumov?s pain and turmoil:
as the young student points out at one stage, he is Russia, his identity lies in being a Russian.Thus the ideal is basically
Russia?s future, as opposed to Russia?s tormented present. Razumov?s hopes for
solid reform are politicised into his five-pointed manifesto; yet there is also
the revolutionary idealism seen in Haldin, Nathalia and the radicals gathered
in Geneva. Ironically enough, Razumov is able to embody them all, for in both Under Western Eyes and Heart of Darkness, the climax of an
ideal is in hollow and suffering parody. As a double-agent, Razumov ably
serves this purpose as a parody for both ideals. If the culmination of Heart of Darkness recalled Shakespearean
tragedy, then the early stages of Razumov?s narrative are bizarrely indebted to
Shakespearean comedy with its catalogue of confused identities. Haldin comes to
Razumov?s rooms in the mistaken assumption that he is a political thinker, and
after Haldin?s arrest, Razumov begins to assume a formidable reputation among
his fellow students. When in Geneva, the revolutionaries treat him with a wary
deference: his identity is so secretive that not even leading figures like
Ivanovitch and particularly Sophia cannot fathom him. Razumov himself notes the
parodic element of this comedy of errors: ?the fantastic absurdity of it
revolted him because it seemed to outrage his ruined hopes with the vision of a
mock career.?[7] The
idealistic agendas of the revolutionaries are constantly ridiculed (Ivanovitch
and Madame de S- supremely) and only Nathalia?s idealism is treated with any
respect by Conrad.Yet Razumov is also a parody of
the reformist hopes for Russia: a government agent who is wracked by terror and
haunted by phantoms because he informed on a revolutionary, a spy who ends up
confessing his deeds to the very people he is supposed to be spying upon. This
paradox is emphasised by the tension and paranoia Razumov feels in the presence
of officials, and in the figure of Razumov?s nemesis: Nikita, the other double-agent
and sadistic slayer of Gendarmes. In Nikita?s wanton violence and Razumov?s
inner turmoil (note his empathy with the raging waters under the bridge) Conrad
reveals the hollowness of both ideals. The true mark of Russia is not autocracy
or revolution – both are systems of thought compromised by secrecy, egotism and
suffering – but cynicism. Conrad?s double-agents help to point out the
ideological bankruptcy of both and Razumov in particular embodies the
intellectual dispossession of the Russian people: ?who knows what true
loneliness is – not the conventional word, but the naked terror…the most
miserable outcast hugs some memory or some illusion.?[8]In Heart of Darkness, the ?naked terror? is even more palpable.
Opposition between darkness and light is presented bluntly, and at the moment
of confronting Kurtz, Marlow discovers the parody. The implacable darkness of
the jungle flares into a sudden attack, and the Westerners come across
Inner Station, festooned with human skulls. The lure of absolutism has proved
too much, and Kurtz? plans collapse under the pressure of ?brutal instinct?
driving his ?unlawful soul beyond the bounds of permitted aspirations.?[9]
The full horror of Kurtz? acts largely remain unspoken: Conrad allows the
reader?s imagination to wander among the silences and doubts he creates. (Cave
remarks on Conrad?s similar use of voids in Under
Western Eyes: the possible seduction of Nathalia by Razumov, for example.[10])
Yet certain devices – such as
Marlow?s feeling of kinship with the savages, or the brief presentation of the
African woman, or indeed generally sympathetic portrait of Kurtz – cut across
the basic ?fall of Man? archetype in the novel. There is a powerful questioning
of the imperial ideal itself; Kurtz? situation seen as a natural progression
and not as a perversion – this is when the subtle hints of Conrad?s opening
begin to have real resonance. Marlow does not condemn Kurtz, but sees him as a
victor: the emptiness and savagery that the ideal opposes lies at the heart of the
ideal itself, and enlightenment is seemingly remaining loyal to the nightmare.
Marlow remarks: ?perhaps all the wisdom and all the truth, and all sincerity,
are just compressed into that inappreciable moment of time in which we step
over the threshold of the invisible.?[11]
Just as Russia?s future is seen to lie in a fatalistic cynicism, the conclusion
of Marlow?s experience is the civilising enterprise is also hollow to the core.This clearly raises, in turn,
larger questions: a radical critique of the idea of civilisation and the
superiority of Western values itself becomes apparent in Marlow?s contempt for
the city-dwellers and greasy merchants with their ?insignificant and silly
dreams.?[12] Are the
reader?s cherished assumptions ?real? or ?ideal?? Is the entire moral framework
the reader is judging the work of fiction with ?real? or ?ideal?? ?Conrad tackles this question by first drawing attention to the
fictionality and lack of reality of his work – typical modernist
self-reflexivity. This is most apparent in Under
Western Eyes, where the language teacher constantly draws attention to his
own incompetence, his crude structural skills, the fantastic nature of the
plot. On one level, this is a ploy to make the actual narrative seem more
credible, but on a different level it simply draws attention to the fact that
this is a novel. Improbably, even
after Razumov?s journal has been closed, the language teacher continues to
narrate Razumov?s inner feelings. Daleski[13]
is one critic who has noted the intricacy of the time shifts that the
supposedly inept language teacher carries off. In Heart of Darkness, too, Conrad emphasises the fact that Marlow?s is
a tale being told – a narrative within a narrative. It is also worth noting
Conrad?s author?s notes, which seal the works? fictionality. This
self-reflexivity blurs the boundary between the real and the fictional.This use of narrative frames is
particularly important when considering perspectives: the essential function of
Conrad?s narrative lies in instability. Both narrators struggle to understand,
and their own values are brought into relief with the values of another. In the
case of the language teacher, the lack is total: ?I confess that I have no
comprehension of the Russian character.?[14]
Tanner[15]
makes the point that the language teacher seems to recede away as an insipid,
unimaginative, neutral character; Razumov?s situation eclipsing it in a rush of
humanity. A similar judgement is extended to Geneva, painted as ?a perfection
of puerile neatness.?[16]
Thus the language teacher both admits he cannot fathom the Russian code of
being, whilst his own (and that of the implied reader) is called into doubt.The same process is at work in Heart of Darkness: indeed Marlow?s
description of civilisation is Geneva intensified by disgust. Yet Marlow at
least struggles to understand. By the end the reader is convinced that (like
Kurtz) Marlow?s Western code, already shaped by the cruelty and brotherhood of
the sea, has become something distinctly different from the world of the Intended
he preserves with the infamous lie. The very act of narration is an act of
comprehension, highlighted by the outburst culminating in the following
passage:?Do you see the
story? Do you see anything? It seems to me I am trying to tell you a dream -
making a vain attempt, because no relation of a dream can convey the
dream-sensation, that conmingling of absurdity, surprise, and bewilderment in a
tremor of struggling revolt? (Heart of
Darkness p.50)It is not only a reprimand to his
listeners, but to the entire myopia of Western culture. Interestingly, as the
language teacher also notes, words are the enemy of the real (thereby bringing
the idea of self-reflexivity full circle.) It?s a conclusion reinforced by both
Kurtz? ineffable cry and Marlow?s shoring up of civilisation with his falsehood
to the Intended. It is interesting that the Intended?s name is never given, it
remains silent, yet that is the crucial lie – surely no accidental move on the
part of Conrad. Language is implicit in the Western code, and complicit in
covering over the voids in the Western code.Conrad helps to fracture the
image language presents (and thereby peer into the void within) by subverting
literary genres. Heart of Darkness is
clearly indebted to earlier imperial romance, whereas Under Western Eyes is basically a spy story. Those two genres
thrive on the predictability of telos
- the adventurers (usually European) show their great courage and tenacity; the
good spies (usually European) defeat the morally corrupt ones. Telos is thrown into chaos by Conrad?s
narrative strategy, resulting in anomy
- a disregard of the law. For example, a heroic epic depends on knowing in
advance who is on the side of righteousness and who is not. The multiple
perspectives in Conradian fiction erode this foundation: the moral situation of
Kurtz and the political situation of Russia are ambiguous and unstable. The
constant presence of ?foreign? elements in the narrative – Razumov and Africa -
in turn present a threat to the Western values which are usually ?taken as
read.? In Cave?s words: ?Conrad?s narrative modes work against the moral
assumptions which seem to anchor the fiction, so that is fiction offers us not
closure but an unending pursuit of knowledge.?[17]Thus Conrad throws real and ideal
into conflict. Idealism itself becomes a parody with violence and fatalism at
its unacknowledged centre, and through careful use of narrative, the reader?s
own ability to assess the events within is brought into question. Images are
constantly destroyed to reveal the blankness and silence within, until
ultimately the assumptions of reason, civilisation and morality threaten to be
nothing more than images created by cultural ideology. Conrad shows the reader
hollow men in order that they may wonder if they are hollow themselves: what is
truly ?real?, he argues, may be the suffering of Russia or the savagery of the
Congo ? a? frightening horror which may
be at the core of Western belief too. ??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? ??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? ??????????????????????????????? [1] Joseph
Conrad, Heart of Darkness p.106 [2] Ibid. p.112 [3] William
Shakespeare, King Lear V.iii:257 [4]Joseph
Conrad, Heart of Darkness. p.83 [5] Ibid. p.94 [6] Joseph
Conrad, Under Western Eyes (Pan Classics)
p.8 [7] Ibid. p.169 [8] Ibid. p.37 [9] Joseph
Conrad, Heart of Darkness p.107 [10] Terence
Cave, Joseph Conrad: The Revenge of the
Unknown (1988) collected in Longman
Critical Readers: Joseph Conrad ed.Andrew Roberts (1998) [11] Joseph
Conrad, Heart of Darkness p.113 [12] Ibid. p.114 [13] H.M.
Daleski, Dispossession and Self
Possession (1977) collected in Cox. [14] Joseph
Conrad, Under Western Eyes p.11 [15] Tony
Tanner, Nightmare and Complacency:
Razumov and the Western Eye (1962), collected in Cox. [16] Joseph
Conrad, Under Western Eyes p.219 [17] Terence
Cave, Joseph Conrad: The Revenge of the
Unknown (1988) collected in Roberts, p.47