Uncertainty in Heart of Darkness and The Stranger

In The Stranger, Albert Camus establishes uncertainty to diffuse the tension surrounding Meursault while in Heart of Darkness, Joseph Conrad creates uncertainty to intensify the tension around Marlow. Both authors use a first person narrator, which limits the information the reader receives. Also both lead characters miss information though Meursault does so intentionally while Marlow does so unintentionally. Camus enforces the correlation of uncertainty and tension in The Stranger when Meursault gains certainty and the tension that then flows from the book. While the correlation in show in Heart of Darkness when Marlow is uncertain and the tension around him heightens.

In both The Stranger and Heart of Darkness, the authors choose a first person limited narrator to obscure the facts, but for different purposes. In The Stranger, Meursault makes assumptions to carry the plot but leaves the reader uncertain of the truth. At one point he assumes, “They must have seen us get on the bus with a beach bag” (Camus 53). This statement quells any fears that might arise in how the Arabs knew where Meursault and his comrades went but still leaves questions to the critical reader. When Camus needs tension to be relived around a terribly tense time, Meursault’s memories become foggy. During the trial while observing the jury Meursault recollects, “I can’t say what distinguished one from another” (Camus 82). This recollection is just one of the many occasions that this technique occurs to keep the story benign. In Heart of Darkness, Marlow makes no assumptions leaving the assuming to the reader.. When the crew is surprised by a sudden scream Marlow mentions he does not, “ Know how it struck the others” (Conrad 103). This observation only c...

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...riting. Camus employs uncertainty to diffuse the tension surrounding Meursault. He does this through the application of a first person narrator, voluntarily neglect of information, and by inversely showing how certainty creates tension. Conrad’s use of uncertainty does the opposite of Camus’s uncertainty. Conrad creates tension through uncertainty by also using a first person narrator, leaving the reader to answer unanswered questions and by emphasizing the correlation between uncertainty and tension. Their use of uncertainty manipulates the reader into identifying and bonding with their main characters. The reader becomes as emotionless as Meursault or as unbiased as Marlow.

Works Cited

Camus, Albert. The Stranger. Trans. Matthew Ward. New York: Vintage International,

1988.

Conrad, Joseph. Heart of Darkness. New York: Barnes and Noble Classics, 2003.