Conrad’s Charlie Marlow : A New Approach to “Heart of Darkness” and Lord Jim

This study argues that Conrad portrays Marlow and his relationships with a psychological depth that is unsurpassed in literature. In Youth , Heart of Darkness and Lord Jim , he is a continuously-evolving character whose thoughts, feelings, and behaviours are expressions of his personality and experience. Whereas Marlow has usually been discussed as a literary device who is of no special interest in himself, this study argues that Conrad portrays Marlow and his relationships with a psychological depth that is unsurpassed in literature. In "Youth," "Heart of Darkness," and Lord Jim, he is a continuously-evolving character whose thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are expressions of his personality and experience. Understanding Marlow's motivations newly illuminates the formal complexity and thematic richness of these works, for his inner conflicts profoundly affect the structure of his narrations, his interactions with his auditors, and the elusive meanings of his tales Front Matter....Pages i-xi Introduction....Pages 1-7 Front Matter....Pages 9-9 Young Marlow....Pages 11-18 The Journey to the Inner Station....Pages 19-36 Marlow and Kurtz....Pages 37-54 Marlow the Narrator....Pages 55-71 Front Matter....Pages 73-73 Conrad’s Jim....Pages 75-85 Marlow’s Initial Response to Jim....Pages 86-99 Marlow Becomes Jim’s Ally....Pages 100-110 Marlow’s Inner Conflicts....Pages 111-127 Jim as a Mimetic Character....Pages 128-144 Marlow on Jim in Patusan....Pages 145-159 Where does Conrad Stand in Lord Jim?....Pages 160-168 Back Matter....Pages 169-173