Detachment in Heart of Darkness
In the book Heart of Darkness, Marlowe only allows himself to
form only one bond. Marlowe allows himself to form a small "safe"
attachment to Kurtz because Kurtz is already very attached. He does not
form any other bonds. In fact, he uses his racism to eliminate the
possibility of having feelings for about ninety nine percent of the African
population. Marlowe not only looks at the African people as being to
different from him to be normal, but he goes so far as to describe
Africa as being another world, a world containing savages. He would not
let himself become attached to this land, or it's inhabitants. Anytime
he feels himself having a relationship with anyone, he purposely stops
himself from feeling, fearing that opening himself up may result in
rejection and/or heartbreak.
He claimed that he felt a connection with Kurtz this, I believe,
is because he knew that this was "safe." This was "safe" because he
knew that Kurtz would die before any real attachment could be made. He
also knew that Kurtz would not have the same feeling for him as he had
for Kurtz. This is because Kurtz already had two girlfriends, and a
best friend (the Russian). This was something that Marlowe could deal
with because Kurtz was already deeply involved so it held little risk
for intense attachment. This is also shown when the helmsman,
man who steers the ship, gets killed. Marlowe says that he liked that
man because he was reliable, and not mush else. He did not even shed a tear for a man that he worked everyday with for the last
six months. He simply threw him overboard, thinking about it for only a
few minutes and then, he walked away. The Cannibals on the ship were
starving. They had almost no food with them, and were not given the
opportunity to buy food. The helmsman body could have been enough food
for all of them for awhile. Marlowe, acting in character, did not care
about this. He said that it may start a bad chain of events. Because
of this all of the Cannibals went hungry for the rest of the trip.
Going along with his inability to have healthy relationships
with people and his inability to care, is his racism. This racism acts
as a good buffer against attachment. Almost everyone that Marlowe came
into contact with was black. Because they were black Marlowe did could
not care about them. This drastically reduced his chances of meeting
someone that he may care about. Many of the Europeans that lived in
Africa at this time used their racism in this way; they used it to
dismiss the Africans. The British did not understand the Africans, and
therefore thought them to be savages. In fact, Chinua Achebe says that
a British historian and Reguis professor at Oxford believed that African
history did not even exist. This, I would assume, is one of the reasons
why the British felt that it was not only their right but also, their
duty to civilize Africa.
Chinua Achebe writes in his 1977 article Racism in the Heart of
Darkness that "The Heart of Darkness projects the image of Africa as
"another world" (Conrad, 252). By "another world" I believe that Achebe
is talking about what the Europeans believed to be an uncivilized
society. Conrad portrays the Africans almost the same way that we would
aliens, yet he feels a connection with them. Later Achebe writes "it is
not the differences that worry Marlowe, but the lurking hint of kinship, of
common ancestry" (Conrad, 252). Marlowe tries to comfort himself by
telling himself that Africa simply a different world, but he recognizes
their mutual humanness. This frightens Marlowe because he feels a bond
with these people. He feels a bond for people who he has been
conditioned to believe are lower then him. He feels connected to these
savage "criminals." Not only would Marlowe never admit to feeling
anything for anyone, but especially not for a black man.
Anytime Marlowe felt himself forming a relationship with anyone,
he would purposely stop himself from caring about them. Marlowe only
chose to make one friend throughout the whole story. This friend was
someone that he know could not return his admiration. He did not even
allow himself to see the Africans as equals, much less form an
attachment to them. Marlowe used his racism as a barrier against them.
He did not even let himself form any sort of attachment to the new land
he was in. He described it as "another world," as if it was too far
from "normal" to be lovable. Marlowe was a very lonely man but, he
deserves no pity. He set himself up to be lonely.
Works Cited
Conrad, Joseph. Heart of Darkness: An Authoritive Text, Backgrounds and
Sources, Criticism (Norton Critical Editions). W.W. Norton &Company: New York, NY.1988
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