Explanation: “I saw on that ivory face the expression of sombre pride, of ruthless power, of craven terror—of an intense and hopeless despair.”
Exp. This extract occurs in Heart of Darkness, a short novel written by Joseph Conrad, the distinguished novelist of the modern age. Here, Marlow, the principal narrator of the novel, reflects on the dying Kurtz.
When Marlow arrives at the Inner Station, he finds Mr. Kurtz seriously ill and confined to his bed. He attempts to take Kurtz to Europe for immediate medical treatment but fails. One evening, however, Marlow finds Kurtz lying almost in a stupor, muttering deliriously to himself about his life and ideas. Kurtz is so completely detached from his surroundings, and his eyes are so strangely fixed upon some inner vision, that he does not notice the light of the candle in Marlow’s hand, even though Marlow is standing scarcely a foot away from him.
Marlow forces himself to murmur a denial, but a look at Kurtz’s face fascinates and transfixed him. He notices a terrible change in Kurtz’s expression. It reveals sombre pride, ruthless power, craven terror, and an intense, shapeless despair. Kurtz’s ivory face reflects the horrifying experience of conflicting emotions—pride, power, fear, desire, despair, and temptation.
Through Marlow’s narration, Joseph Conrad expresses his profound disgust at a life of sin and, at the same time, exposes the futility of human power, ambition, and worldly pomp.
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