Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Heart of Darkness Prompt #12

The story’s structure is makes this story a slow read because so much is going on within the narration.  The overarching story is the main listener, who is one of the sailors, listening to Marlow’s story, with the other sailors interrupting occasionally; the main story is Marlow’s narrative.  All of this confusion within the narrative structure, translation to the reader, and the fact that this is mostly Marlow’s spoken word makes the story’s credibility questionable.  We also have Marlow’s biases, such as his distastes for the pilgrims and natives, his changing opinions on Kurtz, flowery diction, long story which would be difficult to remember for most in terms of accuracy of events, and the fact that he’s a sailor, who are known to fabricate stories for entertainment.  All of these possibilities for inaccuracies mean Marlow could have twisted the truth or crossed the gray lines of truthfulness, which coincide with the themes of corruption and blindness of truth.  Marlow’s picturesque diction and chilling content of his story create a dramatic, effusive tone, which creates an atmosphere that captures the audience – which is probably what he wants.  This emotionally strong storyline among the blurred lines of the story help emphasize the content of the story.

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