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Literary Evaluation Based on the Role of the Narration Technics and the Time Shifting
in Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness
Circular structure
The English novelist, short story and novella writer, essayist, dramatist, Joseph Conrad was
born as Josef Teodor Konrad Nalecz Korzeniowski.
The following entry presents criticism of Conrad's novella Heart of Darkness (1902) from
1985 to 2001. See also, "The Secret Sharer" Criticism and Joseph Conrad Criticism.
Introduction - Plot and Major Characters
Throughout Conrad's career Heart of Darkness remained one of his most popular and highly
regarded works. The novella details the story of the seaman Marlow who, fresh from Europe,
is sent on a boat journey up the Congo River to relieve Kurtz, the most successful trader in
ivory working for the Belgian government. Prior to their personal encounter, Marlow knows
and admires Kurtz through his reputation and his writings regarding the civilizing of the
African continent and sets out on the journey excited at the prospect of meeting him.
However, Marlow's experience in Africa inspires revulsion at the dehumanizing effects of
colonialism, a disgust that culminates when he discovers that Kurtz has degenerated from an
enlightened civilizer into a vicious, power-hungry subjugator of the African natives. Marlow's
journey forces him to confront not only Kurtz's corruption but also those elements within
himself that are subject to the same temptations that affected Kurtz. When Marlow finally
meets Kurtz, the mythical figure is near death, ravaged by disease and dissipation. After
Kurtz's death, Marlow returns to Belgium and is visited by Kurtz's fiancée. During the visit he
lies to her about Kurtz's activities and falsely claims that he called her name before he died.
Critics have debated the motives behind this last deception: some feminist critics view the lie
as an act of condescension; other commentators contend that Marlow wants to preserve his
own illusions about Kurtz; and yet others perceive the lie as a compassionate act that
functions to contrast Marlow's humanity with Kurtz's inhumanity.
Conrad’s story starts and ends with the River Thames. At the beginning of the book Marlow
and his fellow seamen are waiting for the tide to turn, and Marlow tells another story just to
kill the time. Later the Thames flows out to the darkness, just like in the river described in the
Heart of Darkness in Africa.
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The thing is that the River Thames and the River Congo are linked and darkness is
everywhere where there is terror and cruelty and exploitation of man by man.
Another reason for using the time shifting technics is that it has symbolic value. Several
narrators are there, the Swede, the spokesman of Kurtz, Marlow all emphasizing effect- to
strengthen the tension of the bewildering darkness and the wild population.
Over the next few days, the Expedition goes into the wilderness and loses all of their donkeys.
As they arrive at the bank below Kurtz's station, Marlow is excited at the prospect of meeting
him soon. To Marlow, travelling up the river is like going to the beginning of the world. He
sees no joy in the sunshine, however. The past comes back to haunt him on this river.
Real present, as if we were there - A classical narrative function
To tell his story, Conrad uses two narrators, both serving on a small boat, a yawl called The
Nellie. The first narrator, unidentified, is only a minor character in the story. He sets the
scene–a port along the Thames River near London as the sun begins to set–and describes the
captain and the crewmen, one of whom is Charles Marlow, the second narrator.
Marlow takes over as the main narrator and central character of the story when he begins
telling the crew about a journey that took him to Africa and up the Congo River to the “heart
of darkness.” Marlow’s tale continues uninterrupted except at short breaks when the first
narrator describes Marlow’s demeanour or appearance, or informs the reader of the time of
night, as the tale progresses. A literary work with an “outer narrator” who introduces an
“inner narrator” (such as Marlow) is often referred to as a frame tale. The outer narrator’s
story is like the frame around a painting; the inner narrator’s story is the painting itself.
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is a mixture of reality and imagination which is not a problem in a literary work – or
better to say we can regard it as a merit of it.
As a personal evaluation I can confirm the necessity of these technics or in other words
without them. It would be poorer as a literal oeuvre.
One must have a real, historical, or geographical background to believe or to make believe
that things exist.