Write On The Relation Between The Real

And The Ideal In Conrad’s Novels Essay, Research Paper

At every level of his story-telling, Conrad throws together

pairs of opposites, the tension between which (in his best work) seamlessly

progress from the local to the universal. One might consider man and nature in Heart of Darkness where Kurtz is

superficially degraded to the state of a .wandering and tortured thing.[1]

crawling on all fours. Yet that dualism enters the metaphysical realm with his

jarring and inarticulate cry . .the horror! the horror!.[2]

.recalling Shakespearean tragedy such as Lear.s animalistic quartet of howls.[3]

Had Kurtz not been carefully prepared as a mythic figure, its own pretension

might render it absurdly out of place. The graduation is ably handled.This essay shall concentrate on

another key pair of opposites, that of the real and the ideal: the above

example merely illustrating that this is not the only axis of its type running

through Conrad.s work. Using Heart of

Darkness and Under Western Eyes

as exemplars – both use a narrative frame, both concern the meeting of Western

culture with something inimical to it, both include a narrator struggling to

understand the plight of a man under psychological disintegration – it is

possible to discern a common pattern. In the narratives itself, idealism is in

opposition to Suffering, but the narrative merely reveals that the ideal is as

hollow and dark on the inside as the thing that it purports to change or

control. In each case the ideal becomes enmeshed with a figure who is a

grotesque parody of it. Secondly, Conrad tackles the idea

of .fictionality. head on, using self-reflexivity – an awareness of the novel.s

own artificiality – and undermining the claims of a narrative to present a

lucid, objective portrayal. This blurring of lines and attack on understanding

(as well as subversion of certain literary genres) leads up to a radical

questioning of the foundation of Western values as a whole. The enigma arises -

does a heart of darkness lie at the heart of men like Marlow and the cautious

and nameless teacher of languages. Does a void lie at the core of European

.civilised. bourgeoisie-capitalist culture and all its respectful conventions.The first thing is to identify

the .ideal. which is to be set against the .reality.. In Heart of Darkness one of Marlow.s first acts is to specify the

nobility and idealism involved in the imperial enterprise:.It was just

robbery with violence, aggravated murder on a great scale and men going at it

blind – as is very proper for those who tackle a darkness. The conquest of the

earth…is not a pretty thing when you look into it too much. What redeems it

is the idea only. An idea at the back of it; not a sentimental pretence but an

idea; and an unselfish belief in the idea – something you can set up, and bow

down before.. (Heart of Darkness

p.20)It is ironic that even at this

early stage there is the hint of idolatry, a paradoxical and savage metaphor

used to describe what is supposed to be the redemption of savagery – the

civilising influence on Africa. Yet Conrad has established an ideal nonetheless

- manifested in the shadowy Kurtz. Marlow recounts his journey into the jungle,

generally dismissive of the imperialists, but Kurtz is treated differently. He

is the brilliant agent, the best collector of ivory working in the deepest

interior; a reputation that helps to prepare for Kurtz. semi-mystical journal -

.burning noble words.[4]

- and the hero worship of the Russian: .you can.t judge Mr Kurtz as you would

an ordinary man..[5]The exposition of this ideal is

found largely in Kurtz. own writings – a particularly impassioned bent on the

standard imperial rhetoric. The white man – with his technology, his wealth,

his power, his religion – can exert an almost divinely powerful will on the

less developed areas of the globe, shaping the land, the people and the

resources in whatever shape he wants. In the right hands, Kurtz feels that this

power can do almost unimaginable good. However, it is worth noting that the

detail remains a subtext for most of the novella (perhaps not to rob the text

of its allegorical, symbolic feel) and just as important are careful

side-allusions, such as the mention of the Roman occupation in the opening

pages. It is the imposition of civilisation on the blank spaces of Marlow.s

childhood maps: primal and undeveloped, shifting starkly from the white of

boyhood dreams to the black darkness into which European battleships lob their

shells.In Under Western Eyes, the ideal is more ambiguous. If Marlow.s

initial treatment of imperialism betrays some inner conflict (reconciling the

great idea and the actual violence) then the narrating language teacher of Under Western Eyes is self-admittedly

lost. It does not help either that the second narrative presence, Razumov, is thrown

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