Passage Analysis: "I laid the ghost...for their own"

In this passage, Marlow at first speaks about the unknown "girl" in Mr. Kurtz's life and then abruptly changes the subject to Mr. Kurtz's issues with possession, especially where ivory is concerned. The girl presumably never experiences the Congo and thus never gains the understanding that the men gain from seeing the reality of the river and the stations -- exemplified by Marlow's line "she was out of it completely." It also seems as though Marlow thinks Mr. Kurtz has replaced the girl with nature and nature now fills her roles because he does not seem to be concerned with sharing his feelings about her. Also, Marlow alludes to his blatantly sexist idea that women live in dream worlds of their own and if they venture into reality, they corrupt, in some unstated way, the sanctity of man's world. Mr. Kurtz apparently dubs the girl "My Intended", giving her a "name" that subordinates her to him and places her in a perpetual limbo of intentions, also proving his disability with possession because he considers her to be his own. With very little transition, Marlow shifts the conversation to Kurtz and the "ivory ball" that is his bald head, the thing that controls and consumes every aspect of Kurtz. A connection is drawn from the ivory ball to its sealing of Kurtz's soul "by the inconceivable ceremonies of some devilish initiation." Marlow suggests that the ivory controlled Kurtz, quite opposite from the previous sentiment that Kurtz is almost omnipotent because he dominates the ivory circuit. Also, there is a lot of reference to "my" and Kurtz's supposed possession of everything. Marlow's conclusion is that Kurtz should have spent less energy trying to determine what he owned, and more trying to determine the "powers of darkness" that would like to claim his soul after death.