English Conrad - Heart of Darkness PDF

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Passage Three (Conrad): "His was an impenetrable darkness. I looked at him as you peer down at a man who is lying at the bottom of a precipice where the sun never shines. But I had not much time to give him, because I was helping the engine-driver to take to pieces the leaky cylinders, to straighten a bent connecting-rod, and in other such matters. I lived in an infernal mess of rust, filings, nuts, bolts, spanners, hammers, ratchet-drills -- things I abominate, because I don't get on with them. I tended the little forge we fortunately had aboard; I toiled wearily in a wretched scrap-heap -- unless I had the shakes too bad to stand. One evening coming in with a candle I was startled to hear him say a little tremulously, 'I am lying here in the dark waiting for death.' The light was within a foot of his eyes. I forced myself to murmur, 'Oh, nonsense!' and stood over him as if transfixed. Anything approaching the change that came over his features I have never seen before, and hope never to see again. Oh, I wasn't touched. I was fascinated. It was as though a veil had been rent. I saw on that ivory face the expression of sombre pride, of ruthless power, of craven terror -- of an intense and hopeless despair. Did he live his life again in every detail of desire, temptation, and surrender during that supreme moment of complete knowledge? He cried in a whisper at some image, at some vision -- he cried out twice, a cry that was no more than a breath: 'The horror! The horror!' (p 69).”

During this section of Heart of Darkness, the narrator, Charles Marlow, along with Mr. Kurtz and the crew are returning from their mission. While this is happening Kurtz’s health continues to dwindle. The steamboat breaks down and they have to set camp for a couple of days to make time for repairs. During this Kurtz gives Marlow his commissioned reports and a photo to safe keep. Kurtz eventually loses his sight as well. This passage shows the dwindling health of Mr. Kurtz and how Marlow is trying to keep himself distracted with repairing the steamboat. The passage eventually leads up to Kurtz’s last words. Conrad uses similes and metaphors to paint a picture of Marlow’s final encounter with Mr. Kurtz. A simile is a comparison using the words “like” or “as.” Similarly, according to the Oxford dictionary of literary terms, a metaphor is a figure of speech in which words or phrases are applied to an object or action to which it is not literally applicable. Conrad uses these to grab the reader’s attention and bring them in. Conrad also uses similes and metaphors to make describing the situation and scene easier for the reader to understand. For example Conrad uses a metaphor to show us what Marlow is seeing; “I looked at him as you peer down at a man who is lying at the bottom of a precipice where the sun never shines” (Conrad 69). Here Marlow compares the sickly Kurtz to a man who is lying at the bottom of a cliff where the sun never shines. This shows the reader the little hope of Kurtz ever getting better and the severity of how ill Kurtz really is. Later in the passage Marlow uses a simile, “It was as though a veil had been rent” (Conrad 69). Here Marlow is comparing the look on Kurtz face to a veil or a mask being rent, or torn. This shows us that as Kurtz’s life comes to an end, there is something that shocks him or almost haunts him, even on his deathbed.

Joseph Conrad uses a metaphor and a simile in this passage to paint a picture of what is happening externally and internally to Mr. Kurtz. The metaphor and simile shape the true meaning of this passage. Without these literary devices it would have been nearly impossible to understand the inner struggle that Kurtz was dealing with. Both the simile and the metaphor show the reader that Kurtz is dealing with external and internal pain, as shown by Marlow’s description of Kurtz’s diminishing presence and eventually his dying facial expression....