pgs.56-57 passage analysis (beginning with "I had..." to "...eternal slumber.")

This passage holds a perfect example of delayed decoding as Marlow eventually discovers that there are heads on the stakes, not anything else one might initially suspect. His uncertainty as he tells his story causes the reader to feel shocked when the truth comes out, and also creates a level of suspense that adds to the eeriness of the book. On pg. 57 when Marlow says, "Then I went carefully from post to post with my glass, and I saw my mistake," he allows for the reader to imagine wisualizing one thing, and then to realize another which also makes the reader go through the same process that he does when he is actually in the moment in real life. It is almost as if Conrad chooses to make Marlow retell his thought process just so that the reader can really feel that mysterious and questionable reality surrounding Marlow. Later on pg. 57, Marlow speaks of his encounter visually with the heads lacking any expected emotion. Calling them "symbolic," he appears to be interested instead of nervous or disgusted even as he retells his coming across of them. His growing interest in Mr. Kurtz seems to directly impact any of the thoughts he might normally have. The Russian looks up to Mr. Kurtz so highly and obsessively demonstrating the way that the idea of Mr. Kurtz can be consuming, and Marlow looks as if he is beginning to enter that trance as well.