Marlow's Contradictions

p. 57 ("I am not disclosing...") to p. 58 ("the last ten nights")

This passage on p. 57-58 reveals the conflicting emotions that Marlow encounters regarding Kurtz. On one hand, he worships Kurtz and is eager to get down the river so that he can talk with him. He seperates Kurtz from the other white men in the Congo that he encounters, which he calls flabby devils, lazy and passive. In this passage however, he connects Kurtz with "lusts" which he described on p. 16 as one of the active devils that drive men, just as Kurtz is driving Marlow down the river. However, Marlow then goes on to contradict himself by drawing a parallel between Kurtz and these so-called "flabby devils" when he describes Kurtz as "hollow at the core". He thus labels Kurtz as another "hollow man", two of which he has already described to us- the brickmaker (p. 26) and the Manager (p. 22). These conflicting descriptions reveal that, although Marlow worships Kurtz and makesKurtz the sole object of his life, he does not admit this to himself, continually assuring everyone that "Kurtz is no idol of [his]" (p. 58). They also contribute to the overlying themes of the novella, indeterminancy and indeciherability.

Danni Greig