Tuesday, March 26, 2013
Heart of Darkness Prompt #4
Marlow and Kurtz are very similar and different at the same time. Marlow is a happy medium between the two extremes of his life, the rebellion and the evil genius that Kurtz is. Marlow does not have a ton of money and power and he is not always trying to trick people and outsmart others. Marlow is not brilliant like Kurtz, but he has a quality that Kurtz will never possess, he works hard for what he wants. He obviously is not dumb because he knew how to fix his own ship, but there is a definite reason that he looks up to Kurtz. Kurtz is the typical genius who tries to slide through life. The least he has to work and put effort in the better. Kurtz is almost an imaginary figure, a legend of sorts. His fiancee thinks of him as a different way than his cousin does who think of him differently than Marlow does. They are similar because they both are not completely concerned with money as most of society is at this time. They want more in their lives than just inanimate objects. But at the end, Marlow lives where Kurtz dies. Maybe Marlow is just stronger than Kurtz, or maybe it represents their different personalities.
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I rather like your concluding point, there, about the end results of Marlow and Kurtz’ lifestyles. It reminded me of the Tortoise and the Hare. I hadn’t thought of the two characters in such a light: I tended to forget entirely about Marlow, since he rarely said anything about himself and it seemed to me like the novel was dominated by talk of Kurtz. But I like your characterization of the two, especially how you described Kurtz. He does indeed seem to be a Sawyer-esque individual in that manner, lazing up a storm but still getting by on natural ability. Quite insightful!
ReplyDeleteI like how you described Kurtz and Marlow as the Tortoise and the Hare. I see the symblism of the two as the tthe two characters. I do agree with you of somewhat forgetfulness of Marlow not entirely enough about him to not lose track.
DeleteWhile Kurtz is originally presented as an upholder of European ideals. He is an expert at the ivory trade; he paints; he writes. The biggest difference between the two characters might be that Kurtz is dynamic and our idea of him shifts during the story, while Marlow remains as constant a storyteller and observer as the progression of his ship into the heart of darkness. Kurtz breaks away from our idea of him when we are shown his very non-European relationship with the natives. Marlow although aware of these developments remains aloof. Kurtz in the end of his life gives a definite statement of his viewpoint, "the horror."
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