The
women knitting—like Madame Defarge counting the heads as they fell—count the
number of souls who pass into the trade’s secrets of deception. One (the younger) is described as introducing
and shifting men in while the older recognizes those who have entered,
welcoming them onto the path of corruption and cruelty. I suppose what is deceiving about these ill
omens, is that the building where they are stationed and the pious front of their
duties have such innocent façades. Meanwhile
the manager of “pale plumpness” hardly is acknowledged by Marlow or vice-versa.
Yet this man is singled out by the narrator as a “great man,” a man who holds thousands
of others on a string. I believe his rotundity is meant
to be physically impressive as well as represent the scale at which Europeans could
live outside of the effects of their deeds in other nations in their own white,
“sepulchral” cities.
The characters described in the ivory
company’s office represent the hypocritical nature of imperialism. The demeanor of each of these characters
suggested the attitude of religious effigies though they head a dark
business—just as imperialism used nationalistic pride and spiritual outreach to hide the true horrors colonization. The younger woman was
dressed plainly and kept her eyes downcast, while the older one “wore a
starched white affair on her head”—to indicate nuns. The younger led Marlow to
the “white-haired secretarial head” whose expression was “compassionate” as he
beckoned him “into the sanctuary”—a priest perhaps. These scenes of holiness are tainted with a
hypocritical contrast to the darkness of the company’s yellow heart which encloses the snaking river.
The religious ties to the church in your interpretation is an angle I didn’t consider in this part. Your interpretation also adds to the hypocrisy of the imperialism: the imposing of Christianity is ironic sense many of the actions done by the people act ungodly, but yet the imperialists think they are doing what is right. When interpreting this passage, I thought of the women as the Greek Fates, as Conrad makes use of the word “fate” numerous times in that passage, and the fact that they are determining his destiny and hold strings; If I am correct, the Fates had strings which would be people’s lives, and when it was time for the person to die the string would be cut. However, they are weaving the string, which further emphasizes the “weaving” of Marlow’s destiny.
ReplyDeleteThese "innocent facades" are illusions created to deceive an on looker from across the street. On the outside the company appears to be completely innocent however on the inside it has a tainted heart, a "yellow heart." Perhaps it is a reflection of the hue of different ethnicity such as the blacks or orientals. Maybe this color is a representation of the cowardly nature of the company. The Pilgrims in Heart of Darkness act cowardly even the post manager acted out of character of a lustrous adventurer. It is only Mr. Kurtz and Marlow who act. However it is unclear of the extent of damage or good Mr. Kurts has accomplished in the country. The country may be experiencing warfare or genocide. The illustration of the shelling of the bush and the black chain gang in the story seems to mirror warfare and imprisonment, or social injustice. The Madame Defarge may be an appropriate character to mention. She is recognized as a classic individual in the French Revolution. She acts out of necessity, the necessity for justice is needed.
ReplyDeleteI like how you used the manager’s girth as a symbol of a city, especially one populated by whites. When you take that in your context of the manager holding “thousands of others on a string,” the manager becomes a city (or possibly nation of a single people) which holds power over thousands of others. Just like the power the British had over much of Africa, and especially the area of the company’s influence. It also seems to portray intrinsic British attitudes of the time: they wanted all the natural resources they could get from Africa, leaving Africa as diminished in resources as the Africans under the control of the company were diminished in nutrition and weight. All those resources (or the food) went to Great Britain (the manager), serving as an overabundance of luxury.
ReplyDeleteI hadn’t thought of the manager in such a way before. I’d just characterized him as a greedy individual, there only to show how terrible the whole place was.