On page 108 and 109 Marlow describes the black men that were with him on the steamboat as they sail in the river to Kurtz. First he states that the men "were not inhuman.They howled and leaped, and spun, and made horrid faces; but what thrilled you was just the thought of their humanity - like yours - the thought of your remote kinship with this wild and passionate uproar." Here he recognizes their humanity, but then he questions it and reflects on the trouble white men have of recognizing it. Does Marlow still think he is superior or is he feeling a connection to the natives? Is he recognizing that they act more primitively, but at the heart of it all, they are similar?
It seems like he is enlightened by this experience but then he includes a rather comical and demeaning description of the "savage who was fireman...He was there below me, and, upon my word, to look at him was as edifying as seeing a dog in a parody of breeches and a feather hat, walking on his hind-legs." Here he refers to the black man as a dog, clearly not an indication of his belief that the natives possess humanity. So at this point in the book, how does Marlow view the Africans he encounters?
Marlow recognizes that the Congolese have humanity, but he believes it is in a prehistoric state. He still obviously has a sense of superiority and does not consider them equal or capable of adapting to a "civilized" way of life. The most astonishing part of this passage is where he recognizes that every European man is uncivilized in some way, yet that's the closest Marlow gets to relating to the Congolese.
ReplyDeleteI'm not quite sure what Marlow's perspective at this point is either. He mostly refers to the natives as body parts and while he recognizes some of their humanity, or at least a part that mirrors his own, he doesn't see them as complete. He still has a deeply entrenched European world view. I think that descriptions like this however, mark his turning point and deeper understanding of the Congolese.
ReplyDeleteI think at this point Marlow still sees the Congolese as uncivilized and barbaric. Instead of beginning to see that Africans actually have their own different type of civilization and culture, he is beginning to see that all humans have similar innate "primitive" (or even barbaric) qualities.
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