A sudden outburst of yells wakes him, but the loud noise immediately subsides into a rhythmic chanting once again. He is unnerved, but he does not raise an alarm, and instead decides to leave the ship to search for Kurtz himself. He finds a trail in the grass and realizes that Kurtz must be crawling on all fours.
Marlow runs along the trail after him; Kurtz hears him coming and rises to his feet. They are now close to the fires of the native camp, and Marlow realizes the danger of his situation, as Kurtz could easily call out to the natives and have him killed. Kurtz tells him to go away and hide, and Marlow looks over and sees the imposing figure of a native sorcerer silhouetted against the fire.
Marlow asks Kurtz if he knows what he is doing, and Kurtz replies emphatically that he does. Despite his physical advantage over the invalid, Marlow feels impotent, and threatens to strangle Kurtz if he should call out to the natives. Kurtz bemoans the failure of his grand schemes, and Marlow reassures him that he is thought a success in Europe. The steamer departs the next day at noon, and the natives appear on the shore to watch it go. Three men painted with red earth and wearing horned headdresses wave charms and shout incantations at the ship as it steams away.
Marlow places Kurtz in the pilot-house to get some air, and Kurtz watches through the open window as his mistress rushes down to the shore and calls out to him.
The crowd responds to her cry with an uproar of its own. Marlow describes his developing relationship with Kurtz in terms of intimacy and betrayal. I agree with Samantha and T'Nia because even though it may seem like Marlow is obsessed with Kurtz due to his constant talking about him and how bad he wants to hear his voice, I don't necessarily think he is obsessed with Kurtz as an individual, but instead with his actions.
Marlow breaks down his obsession for us by refining his obsession to one particular thing; Kurtz voice, which I think symbolizes courage and hope for Marlow. I think that Marlow's obsession with Mr. Kurtz is his way to "justify" or find the reason for all the things that he saw in the Congo. Marlow saw a lot of horrific things being done in the Congo and the only way that he can ask the question why is through Mr. However, when he meets with Mr.
Kurtz, he found out that what's happening in the Congo can never be justified. Sunday, February 7, Why is Marlow so obsessed with Mr. Read and Comment. Kurtz as he was traveling along the river bank with the manager and pilgrims. Before this chapter, I didn't recall an incident where Marlow was this transfixed on the idea of meeting the chief. I even reread a few sections to see if this desire had been growing throughout the novel.
Nevertheless, whether it had or not, Marlow grew desperate to "hear [the chief's] voice" after he had eavesdropped on the manger and uncle in the beginning of the chapter. Fear him? You tell us. He sure doesn't. This whole love me-love me not melodrama should be simple: Marlow admired Kurtz right up until he found out that the man put heads on sticks, at which point he stopped admiring him.
Let's all pack up and go home. Er, not so fast. If you go home now, you'll you'll miss out on what makes Heart of Darkness just so darn awesome and powerful: Marlow is just like Kurtz. Yep: our protagonist, our loveable, sympathetic Marlow, is just like the crazed, cult-inspiring, heads-on-sticks-owning devil-man. Oh, the horror! So, here's another million-dollar question for you: is Marlow ultimately able to differentiate himself from Kurtz? For the most part, Marlow comes across as a nice guy, if not a particularly ethical one.
He's no saint, or he's a helpless one, as he does nothing about the horrible scenarios of black slavery he encounters. But he does do little things that show compassion. He attempts to give a biscuit to a starving slave. He treats his own cannibals decently. When the helmsman dies, he makes sure he won't be ignobly eaten by the native Africans on board. So, on the surface level, Marlow is a decent guy who, as a product of his times, isn't about to start a civil rights movement in the late nineteenth century.
But, like most things in Heart of Darkness , it's really not that simple. What causes Marlow to feel such compassion for the native Africans? How does he see them in relation to himself? How does his foray down the Congo change the way he thinks? Well, let's start by looking at his first word.
We found these words so compelling that we underlined, highlighted, and circled them, as well as dog-earing the page and putting three sticky notes on the top. In case you weren't quite so over-zealous, we'll tell you straight-up that his first words are: "And this also has been one of the dark places of the earth" 1. This is the part where we all say, "Oooh. Marlow is about to tell the story of a dark and primitive Africa which the Europeans are so kindly "civilizing.
From the start, Marlow takes this whole noble imperialism bit with a boulder of salt, telling his listeners that "strength is just an accident arising from the weakness of others" 1. He also notes that "This conquest of the earth, which mostly means the taking it away from those who have a different complexion […] than ourselves, is not a pretty thing" 1. He also questions everyone's use of words like "criminal," "enemy," and "rebel" in talking about the native Africans 3.
We know that Marlow isn't quite so comfortable with viewing the world in black and white. Things get even more complicated when he starts becoming like a "savage" himself.
When he's talking to the manager at the outer station, Marlow is treated like a native African man—not offered a seat or any food. His response? Rather than civilizing the "savages," it seems, Marlow is becoming like them. Once he's underway, Marlow's attitudes get even fuzzier. When he looks at the native Africans dancing and howling, he doesn't see them as strange creatures.
Instead, he says that they're "not inhuman" 2. Why not just say, "human"? Well, this is a nifty little device called " litotes.
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