“Heart of Darkness and The Secret Sharer” by Joseph Conrad
In preparation for the dvd Apocalypse Now, which follows my recent reading on the Vietnam war, I sought out Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, booked with “The Secret Sharer”. I always find it weird to read a story I “know” but haven’t yet read. I had similar experiences with Dracula, Jane Eyre, and Frankenstein. The books were familiar in the famous details, but surprising in their complex wholes.
I was reminded of Henry James’ Turn of the Screw, which I read earlier this year. There is a detailed framing narrative, and much psychological detail about ugly aspects of human nature. HoD is narrated by Marlow, to a ship’s crew. Marlow was sent to Africa, where he encountered, mostly by hearsay, a man called Kurtz. The details of Kurtz’s behavior are deliberately vague, and thus more creepy. This also serves to put the characters’ psyches in sharper focus. The tale has many interpretations, among them the dichotomy between good and evil, or the characters as analogs to Freud’s concepts of id, ego and superego. What I noted, though, was Conrad’s penchant for emphasis by repetition. Marlow is described many times as a Buddha in the telling of his tale. I believe this implies an acceptance of all of human experience, not just the pleasant, socially accepted ones.
all that mysterious life of the wilderness that stirs in the forest, in the jungles, in the hearts of wild men. There’s no initiation either into such mysteries. He has to live in the midst of the incomprehensible, which is also detestable. And it has a fascination, too, that goes to work upon him. The fascination of the abomination–you know, imagine the growing regrets, the longing to escape, the powerless disgust, the surrender, the hate.
Heart of Darkness is a difficult read because of its racism, and its synonymous use of “dark” for “evil” and “primitive,” for example. But it’s a short tale worth reading for its examination of the nature of all people. “The Secret Sharer” is also worthwhile, a short story of a new skipper who takes on a stowaway wanted for murder. Through repetition and psychological details, the character of the skipper grows, both to himself and to the reader.
Added later: Heart of Darkness is in production as an opera. My favorite comment from a member of the test audience? “Too dark.”