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Fromnarratortonarrateeandfromauthortoreader:Conradandhisaudience
19
tell.Significantly,hegoesontorefertotheRomansnotjustasconquerorsbutalsoas
sedentarytravellers,measuringthedarknessofBritainagainstthebrightnessofim-
perialRome.Moreover,notjustreferringtothedarknesswhichtheRomansencoun-
teredinBritain,Marlow’sgeneralizedstatementalsoincludesaprolepticreference
tothenarrativeheisjuststarting,thusestablishingalinkbetweentwovastlydiffer-
entgeographicalareasandtwoerasseparatedbynineteenhundredyears.Suggesting
asymmetricalstructuresuspendedintime,andrevolvingroundthreecentresofpow-
er(Rome,London,andthesepulchralcity),Marlow’sremarkevokesacomplex
blendoftravelsnorth,south,up-river,andreturn.Alreadystartingtoshapearhetoric
designedtoimpressandpersuade,italsosignalshistendencytogeneralizefromin-
dividualexperience.Aswesympathizewithsuchaninclination,thischaracteristic
featureofMarlow’snarrationbecomesanothersubtleinvitationtotheauthorialaudi-
ence.
Employinganarratorisadistancingdevice,andConradhereaccentuatesthisdis-
tancingprocessbyemployingtwonarratorsratherthanone.Moreover,theuseof
anarrator,andinthiscasetwoverydifferentones,isoneofthewaysinwhichthe
novellaisgenericallydifferentiatednotjustfromthetwonon-fictionaltextsConrad
wroteintheCongoin1890–“Up-riverBook”and“TheCongoDiary”,bothimpec-
cablyeditedbyZdzisławNajder–butalsofromalargenumberoftravelnarratives
fromthesecondhalfofthenineteenthcentury.Exploitingtheframenarrator’scon-
ventionalityandordinarinessinordertomakeMarlow’sstorymoreengrossing,
Conradalsosuggeststhathismainnarrator’sunderstandingoftheeventshede-
scribesis,andindeedhastobe,inadequateandpartial.This,Iargue,isalsoaninter-
pretativesignal.AndyetMarlow’sprocessofdisillusionment,spirallingdownwards
towardsacentreassumingtheformofablank,emptinessorvacuity,constitutes
apainfullearningprocess.PromptedbyMarlow’striptotheCongo,thisprocessof
learningmakeshimseeimperialism–andespeciallyitsnegativeconsequences–in
anewlight.ItispartofthetextualintentionofHeartofDarknessthatoncethe
readerhasreachedtheendofthenarrative,heorsheisinclined(asauthorialaudi-
ence)toshareMarlow’sinsight.
MysecondexampleillustratesConrad’spresentationofthispainfulinsight–
akindofinsightwhoseunpleasantconsequencesandimplicationswetendtoresist
orsuppress:
Blackshapescrouched,lay,satbetweenthetrees,leaningagainstthetrunks,clingingtothe
earth,halfcomingout,halfeffacedwithinthedimlight,inalltheattitudesofpain,abandon-
ment,anddespair.Anothermineonthecliffwentoff,followedbyaslightshudderofthesoil
undermyfeet.Theworkwasgoingon.Thework!Andthiswastheplacewheresomeofthe
helpershadwithdrawntodie.
Theyweredyingslowly–itwasveryclear.Theywerenotenemies,theywerenotcrimi-
nals,theywerenothingearthlynow,–nothingbutblackshadowsofdiseaseandstarvation,
lyingconfusedlyinthegreenishgloom.(118)
