A Defense for Joseph Conrad： An Impartial Re—Reading of Heart of Darkness

Wu Yanpei

【Abstract】Joseph Conrad is an important modernist writer at the turn of the 20th century whose work Heart of Darkness has earned him great fame as well as criticism. Heart of Darkness is welcomed for the marvelous description of a sailors experience on the sea. However， it does earn Conrad the reputation of a misogynist because it is dominated by male characters， seemingly paying no attention to women. This essay endeavors to justify Joseph Conrad as a writer who actually is very much concerned about the situation of women by carrying out an impartial re-reading of Heart of Darkness.

【Key words】Joseph Conrad； misogynist； Heart of Darkness

【摘要】约瑟夫·康拉德是20世纪末的一位重要现代作家。他的作品《黑暗的心灵》为他赢得巨大声誉，也使他受到各种批判。《黑暗的心灵》出色地再现了水手在海上的生活经历，但也因以男性为主要人物，看似无视女人而使康拉德被视为厌恶女人的人。本文秉承不偏不倚的态度重读《黑暗的心灵》致力于为康拉德辩护，证明他是一个关心女性生存状况的作家。

【关键词】约瑟夫·康拉德 厌恶女人的人 《黑暗的心灵》

Ⅰ. Introduction

Heart of Darkness is one of Joseph Conrads most ambiguous and difficult stories， and it has become extensively influential after its first publication in 1899. In the preface of this novella， Conrad confessed that， Heart of Darkness was inspired by his journey to Congo in 1890. Just as the narrator Marlow in it， he too went to Congo with the help of one of his influential aunt and the whole story was based on this experience. This confession， however， makes readers believe that Conrad is equal to the narrator Marlow， and that the latter speaks for the former.

A first glance at Heart of Darkness shows Marlows account of a journey up Congo in a hard search for Kurtz， a trader with eloquence and hypnotic personality， dominates the brutal tribesmen around him. Full of contempt for the greedy traders who exploit the natives， the narrator Marlow cannot deny the power of this evil figure who calls forth from him something somewhat labeled as reluctant loyalty. After reading the novella， most readers would agree that Marlow and Kurtz are the central figures.

It has to be admitted that compared with numerous male characters， there are only five female characters in this novella： Marlows aunt， two doorkeepers of the trade company， Kurtzs European intended， and his native Mistress. They make very brief appearances and are given only a passing mention in Marlows narrative. There are so few words to describe these five women that readers may ignore their existence.

Therefore， since the appearance of Heart of Darkness， it has invited many critical reviews. Many critics especially feminists tend to stereotype Conrad as a novelist whose main concern is the male world and who is hostile to women. They charge Conrad of writing mainly for men， and dismiss his feminine creations as secondary and generally ineffective.

It is true that only five female characters exist in Heart of Darkness， and the descriptions of them are not always positive. However， this is because of the wrong first impression readers have at the first glance of the novella. Conrads experience as the other makes him care about the situation of women， and the narrator Marlow in it can not speak for the real author Joseph Conrad.

Ⅱ. Joseph Conrads Experience of Otherness

Joseph Conrad had a clear feeling of Otherness and a great sensitivity of Otherness because his whole life is always in a marginal position. On the one hand， Conrads homeland Poland experienced partitions and was totally engulfed by the invaders. Because of his fathers participation in the patriotic movement， the whole family were sentenced to exile to Vologda， a far-off Russian province. Therefore， Conrads early life as an exile had given him a sense of Otherness.

Then Conrad left Poland and served in French ships and at last jointed the British Merchant Service when he learned that its members would “soon come back to seek an identity and vocation in its traditions.”1：8 Finally Conrad became a Polish immigrant in England with the second language being English. This terrible experience and embarrassing identity contributed his sensitivity to the marginalized and oppressed groups.

As an exiled Pole and seaman who later became an English citizen and writer， Conrad is well aware of the role of an outsider and the isolation imposed on and felt by women. Though 12-year exile experiences strengthen his marginal position， they also give him a new perspective on the patriarchal imperialist civilization. Just as Said observes， “Because Conrad also had an extraordinarily residual sense of his own exilic marginality， he quite carefully qualified Marlows narrative with the provisionality that came from standing at the very juncture of this world with another， unspecified but different.”2：44

All in all， the upbringing in a beleaguered Poland， long years at sea when he was first Pole among French and next a Pole among English， an ex-sailor on the land who still casted a nostalgic look at the sea life—all these elements contribute to making Conrad keenly feel marginality and Otherness.

However， instead of being Conrads disadvantage， such sense enables him to think free of the temptations and constraints of Western thought and develop in his work a penetrating insight into Western culture. Whats more， Joseph Conrad is also capable of darting searching questions at some other traditional hierarchical principles. In the same scathing force as he questions and subverts imperialism， Conrad is engaged in the undertaking of challenging and deconstructing patriarchal ideology. Keenly aware of the bitterness of marginality， Conrad shows a sympathetic concern for women， the other marginal group. In contrast to some critics blame of inefficiency in women characters portrayals， Conrad is surely capable of depicting significant women characters， such as those in Heart of Darkness. It is through the female characters Conrad chooses that he proclaims his penetrating skepticism and criticism about the social and political order of Western society.

Ⅲ. The Distinction between Marlow the Narrator and Joseph Conrad the Author

In fact， there is a long distance between Conrad and Marlow in this novella. Therefore， Marlows misconception of women can not represent Conrads attitude toward women.

By exposing various lies and self-contradictory comments in Marlows narrative discourse， Conrad renders him an unreliable narrator and thus challenges his self-assumed God-like authority as well as his ideological reading of women. Meanwhile， through Marlows incoherent and inadequate narrative， Conrad encourages readers to read between lines to uncover the repressed female discourse and the authentic images of female characters from the deep structure of the novella.

At first sight， the whole novella is almost Marlows dramatic monologue， in which he delivers a non-stop speech about his journey to Africa to his four companions in the ship of Nellie. But an attentive reader might perceive that Marlows discourse authority is occasionally interrupted and challenged by one of his listeners who are also anonymous primary narrators. This anonymous primary narrator plays an important role here. He serves to distance and control Marlow through his occasional interruption and mockery of Marlows monologue. His presence as an interlocutor breaks down Marlows mystic qualities and has the effect of destroying the completeness and closure Marlows patriarchal narrative discourse attempts to achieve.

Marlows narrative discourse is permeated with deep patriarchal ideology. His patriarchal value scheme is first and foremost featured by his mode of narration： an endless first-person narration which borders on dramatic monologue. It has become increasingly clear that the way a story is told is as important as what is told in the story， for the mode of tale-telling is highly suggestive of the underlying value scheme. By means of dramatic monologue， Marlow attempts to construct an exclusive and closed patriarchal narrative discourse. Through this controlling monologue， Marlow outpours his subjective comments that aim to belittle or patronize women. Meanwhile， Marlow muffles womens and his narratees voices， so women in his narrative either remain silent or “speak the myths men could have them speak”.3：178

Whats more， the plot of Heart of Darkness seems to be developed by what Marlow saw and did in Africa， while women characters are set in the course of the journey and each plays an indispensable role in the novel although five women seem to make only brief appearances and are given only a passing mention in Marlows narrative. Marlows aunt appears before Marlow sets off for Africa； the knitters in black in the Company headquarters come up when Marlow enrolls in the Company； the sudden appearance of the African woman starts a riot when Marlow takes Kurtz to the boat； finally， the conversation between Marlow and Kurtzs Intended who is created by the author on purpose brings an end to the novel.

Marlows prejudiced views of women， which have been quite normally shared by men of that time， are questioned by ironies in the text. Marlow， who always claims that women are “out of touch with truth”， depends on his aunt for a job， and therefore her world is also his. Furthermore， Marlow carries out double standards when he lies to the Intended. He always proclaims “I hate， detest， and cant bear a lie”， yet he justifies his lies to women just because he thinks women are ignorant of truth and in need of falsehood supplied by men. The inconsistence between Marlows words and behaviors proves Marlow as an unreliable narrator. His ideas definitely can not stand for the real authors.

Ⅳ. Conrads Real Attitude toward Female Characters in Heart of Darkness

In Marlows narrative discourse， women are frequently absent， passive and voiceless. These are superficial images of women Marlows ideological construction leaves readers with， while Conrads real attitude toward women can be found if readers read out the gaps and absence.

At the very beginning of the story， Marlow says， “Then —would you believe it？—I tried the women， I Charlie Marlow， set the women to work—to get a job. Heavens！ Well， you see， the notion drove me. I had an aunt， a dear enthusiastic soul.”4：7 This prologue seems to show that Marlow feels shameful for asking help from his aunt， and exerts strong discrimination and prejudice against women. However， Marlow also confesses that his men fellows are unable to help him—a fact manifests that women are more capable than men and that they are kinder and willing to help others. Then Marlows seemingly closed male-centered narrative discourse is open to dismantle. His complaining words present the characteristics of women： active， powerful， knowing and surely capable of speech.

In a famous passage in the preface to The Nigger of the Narcissus，Conrad claims， “my task which I am trying to achieve is， by the power of the written word， to make you hear， to make you feel—it is， before all， to make you see.”1：143 Undoubtedly， Conrad means to make the reader see not only the vivid facts of the story he tells but the evasive truth underneath them， of which they are the obscure revelation.

Therefore，treating Conrad as a misogynist or a writer who mainly writes for male is not so fair， and a proper reading of Joseph Conrad is to read between lines and see the real intention he wants to deliver. If approaching Heart of Darkness from a feminist perspective， contenting not only to “see” Marlows physical journey to the heart of Africa as his narrative conveys， but struggling a bit further to “see” the masculine authority which Marlow takes considerable pains to erect， it would be very easy to uncover the evasive truth which both Marlow and most male critics fail to recognize：

Ⅴ. Conclusion

Obviously， the passive attitude toward women is held by normal men at that time. What Joseph Conrad does in Heart of Darkness is deconstructing the masculine mythology through the unreliable narrator Marlow. By interpreting Conrads experience as the other， the distinction between him and the narrator Marlow， his real attitude toward women gets well exposed， and a sound defense of Joseph Conrad is made. In fact， Joseph Conrad is not a misogynist who holds prejudices against women， but a women spokesman who adopts a critical attitude towards the Victorian patriarchal views of women.

References：

[1]Stape，J.H.The Cambridge Companion to Joseph Conrad.Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press，2000.

[2]Said，Edward W.Culture and Imperialism.New York：Vintage Random Books，1993.

[3]Ross C.Murfin，ed.，Heart of Darkness：A Case Study in Contemporary Criticism.St.Martins Press，Inc，1989.

[4]张和龙.黑暗的心灵[M].上海：上海外语教育出版社，2001.

作者简介：吴艳培（1986.8-），女，河南周口人，周口师范学院外国语学院，助教，英语语言文学硕士。主要从事英语教学工作以及英美文学、圣经文学研究。