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Privileging Marlowe (June 2003 Scanned)
Privileging Marlowe (June 2003 Scanned)
English 439AlIvI01
Dr. SusanHuntley Elderkin
16 June 2003
PrivilegingMarlowe
Marlow's skill as a
one. If Smith is correctin her suspicions,shecertainlyoveremphasizes
is more accurateand helpful to imagine Marlow as more intent on using his priviieged position
Marlow's fascinationwith and fear of the power and influence of women is more evident
power, shetells us, "as the masculinenarratorof his story" (Smith I73;emphasisin original),1
split ,n$t,tr/e
allows him to effectively silence,commodify, and belittle the women in his "tale." She argues
I
Hereafter all quotationstaken from pagesnumberedbetween 169 to 183 refer to Smith's essay. All other
quotations refer to JosephConrad's Heart of Darkness.
and 'pacify' women"(170). Considering
Smith'sconceptionof Marlow's intentionsandher
and/orcontestsherthesis.
evidencethatcomplicates
hancilingthe purportedlyhard truthsof reality. Yet the first encounterwe havein the text (orher
knowsthat;g few of the men that comebeforeher will survivetheir experiencesabroad. She
and
,-. U9- convincinglyexplainwhy Marlow,if hemeanfto establishwomenasessentiallyignorant
wouldpermitafigurewhose
hardtruths,
of handling abilityto divinemen's
FateJike
ffip;".apable
'J rr
, -* -r{'
fe d"' futureis neverreallybelittledin thetext. The old woman'scallousattitudetowmdsyoungmen
the men shesees.And it is an attitudethat Marlow adopts,andis delightedto mimic, in his own
him brutallycallous"[87]).
thoughtthatthe pilgrims"considered
remindsus that Marlow portraysthe old womanassomeonewho "'pilot[s] youngmen into the
Intended)(176). Shetells us that in his "farewell visit to his aunt,he usesher feminine lack of
'sentimentalpresence'that canbe
experienceand debasedimperialistrhetoricto consuuctthe
his aunt asonein which he usesher, fails to considerit more asonein which he felt used.
than active,asmore a victim than a victimizer in this scene,andto judge his cutting aftef-the-
' and
Certainly it is an encounterin which his aunt's influenceandpower in the Companv
|l"t
potentiallyover him is madeclearto Marlow, andit is alsoonein which his aunthasboth the A'fo.".?ll
feelsuncomfortablein her presence(27). This rebukeis his aunt's responseto Marlow feeling a
authorityover him, we cannotbe sure. His quibblewith her and/orher views, if we tr':st
nature. Instead,he might have beencarefully attemptingto contesther authority without inviting
upon himself a humiliating lecture. That is, he might have moderatedhis delivery more out of
fear of reprisalsthan for any other reason. As it turns out. for his miniscule display of
impudence,he is patronized,lecturedat, told to "wear flannel, [and to] be sureto write," and
afterwards,likely owing to thesehumiliations, he is left still feeling "queer" (27) and uneasy.
l,rt
Marlow's after-the-factcommentaryon the supposedfbsurd nature of women is evidence
retroactivecompensation,as if he were still trying to counterthe authority his aunt once had over
him. His assertionsof female weaknessare thereforetainted,and are hardly ideal for the project
Smith imaginesthat they are intendedto serve. Marlow cannot arguewell for separatespheres
Not only doesMarlow not manageto "sta'oiiizeiiis riiasculinity" in the prescuusof liis
aunt, his aunt, more than the old woman, continuesto "bewitch" (38) his existencein Africa.
motivations behind imperialistic efforts privileges him in someway. But even in Africa it is
and it is Marlow who recognrzeshis aunt as the sourceof his (Marlow's) inflated reputation.
Marlow tells us that he "let the young fool t. . .1believeanythinghe liked to imagine as to [his] [.
. .l influences [. . .], [but that he also] t. . .1therebybecamein an instant as much of a pretenceas
the rest of the bewitched pilgrims" (42). And it is possiblethat the reasonhe compareshimself
to the bewitchedpilgrims is that, despitehis denial that there was anyone"behind" (43) him, he
knows that his aunt's influence over him is real, substantial,and offers tantahzingbenefits.
The brick maker, after all, likens Marlow to Kurtz (4I). Marlow is imagined by the brick
equal. And while Marlow, so often forced to bite his tongue,finds nothing more appealingabout
Kurtz than his "impudence" (47),2Kurtz can only get away with being impudent to rivals
Kurtz's connectionsgive him a degreeof immunity to reprisals(from rivals at least) so that his
insulting lettersto the Central Station's managerhave not affectedhis star status. Since
permittedhimself to make use of his aunt's connectionshe would likely becomeas empowered
as Kurtz or the person Kurtz directly rebuked,the Central Station's manager,is. However, he is
also awarethat he would owe his statusto his aunt efforts and that this dependencewould make
him pathetic. He would havepower over others,but would conceiveof himself as more his
aunt's cagedpet than a caging patriarch. We know this becauseof the specialinterestMarlow
takesin the manager'sspecial"boy" (37), andby the way in which Marlow characterizesthe
Other than the brick maker, the only personat the Central Station who is favouredby
'boy'--an overfed young negro from the coast," who is to Marlow an
the manageris "his
embarrassingand despicablefigure that "treats the white men, under [the manager's] [. . .] very
on him being the manager's"favourite." And we should not be surprisedthat the manageris in
many ways a compositeof the old woman and, more importantly, of Marlow's aunt. As with the
old woman, as with his aunt, the manageris someoneMarlow isolatesas having the power to
make othersfeel uneasy" (37). (And he tells us, "You have no idea how effective such a . . . a . .
. faculty can be.) Like the old woman, his gazemakesMarlow feel uneasy. It r,vasthe old
woman's looks' "swift and indifferent placidity" (25) that affectedMarlow, while it is the
"trenchantand heavy" (36) natureof the manager's gazethat affectshim. Just as he had
(37)
Like his aunt, the man agerexpects,demands,and other than with Kurrz, receivesdutiful
attendance.And as was true with his aunt, "he paid no attentionto t. . .] [Marlowe's]
explanations"(37).
Marlow comesclose to literally running away from the manager. He saveshis scathing
commentaryof the manageruntil "he flung out of his [the manager's] hut" (38). Running away,
or turning "his back on" (38) thosewho unnervehim is as frequently encountereda responseof
go together. He doesn't fling himself away from his aunt (mind You,as Smith points out, he
travel to the heart of the jungle), but he feels the needto suddenlyinform his listenersthat he was
well "used to clear out for any part of the world at twenty-four hours' notice, with less thought
than most men give to the crossingof a street" (27). As with his reactionto the Central Station
manager,however, he usually doesnot rely on his imaginationto remind himself of his mobility.
distressthat he may have re-experiencedwhile relating his memory of the incident by, in effect,
sinceEngland was herself a primordial land. To seamen,it is the vicissitudesof time which are
unsubstantial,so, too, the attractivenessof the secretsof continents(19). His return to the
his encounterwith the brick maker,Marlow tells his listenersthat he sought"comfort" (44)
onboardhis boat. More than this, he tells us/themof his associationswith "the few mechanics
there were in that station," who, owing to their "imperfect manners,"were "despised"by the
Companypilgrims (aa). He also pals about with a modest,honest,"good worker" (44). Marlow
ta-kesevident pleasurein isolating himself from the Companymen and in both sharingand
identifying himself with the few honestsouls about him. Amongst people too "unimportant" to
more than anything else, a searchfor happinessis what motivatedMarlow's narrative. There is
iio doubt that women trouble Marlow, and that they are constrrredin the narrative as dangerous
in part becauseof the pleasuresthey offer meii. Tirere caii also bs no doubt tha'rire wuulri Ls
Marlow is willing to admit that he "was seducedinto somethinglike admiration" (7I) for the
claims that he is "not preparedto affirm the fellow [Kurtz] was exactly worth the life [a
saddenedto find that "[a]ll that had beenKurtz's had passedof [his] [Marlow's] [. . .] hands"
(90). That is, Marlow, becauseit guaranteeshe will not suffer Kurtz' s fate, is glad that Fate
presentsas arising out of the efforts of comrptible Kurtzs, but implausibly implies that it could
their ambitions and the narrownessof their focus and interests,and who steerclear of power and $*r
prestige(and especiallywith Madow, uncomfortablesituationsas welli) *o kind of colonrzatron
of the savage
is ultimatelyvalidatedin the text. This includesMarlow'scommodification ^ ,
of thesupposed
woman,asit bringsto mind associations insatiabledesireof womenfo. tf,ingi'#4
oL doo. colattiJr,,r p+r*,z q lq^:7
of any
muchasit doestheobjectifyingm ale gaze.And nt herois pre(entedfoi the leadership
displayof male power,but of cowardlyretributioninstead. That is, the Intended,one of the less
Marlow might admireand sometimesimitate the brutality of the hunter,but he prefersto hide.
dot on a boat than the cenueof a potentialsphtr€ of influe,nce.Marlow is too small' too
\
insignificant,too pathetic,in fact, to wairant havingthe privilege of being the subjectof Smith's
critical gaze.a
4
This assertionis an exampleof narrativeexcessandinsensitivityon my part. No oxe is inconsequential:we all
havebeautiful souls. A
Works Cited
1996.
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