Question: Discuss Conrad’s art of characterization in Heart of Darkness.
Ans. Heart of Darkness is a masterpiece which reflects Conrad’s superb mastery in the art of characterization. Keeping in view Aristotle’s Poetics, Conrad has chosen lifelike characters in Heart of Darkness. Some of the characters are drawn from Conrad’s real life. For example, Marlow’s aunt resembles Conrad’s own aunt, who helped him greatly. Mr. Kurtz represents Mr. Klein, one of the Company’s agents whose health had been failing and whom Conrad was assigned to bring back.
The characters in Conrad’s novels are neither utterly idealistic nor purely moralistic. They are not wholly virtuous or wholly sinful. Rather, they are normal human beings possessing both merits and demerits, virtue and vice. For instance, in Heart of Darkness, both Marlow and Mr. Kurtz are major characters portrayed realistically. In spite of being a moral man, Marlow falls an easy prey to Mr. Kurtz’s bewitching personality. Though he is intelligent and well-educated, he finds something irresistible in Kurtz. Again, Mr. Kurtz, in spite of being a scholar, a civilized white man, and a moralist, becomes inhuman, cruel, and savage due to his prolonged stay in the dark region of the Congo. The rest of the characters—the Accountant, the Manager, the Brick-maker, the native woman, and Mr. Kurtz’s fiancée, the Intended—are ordinary people whom we encounter in everyday life.
Conrad has given us three-dimensional characters, portrayed from the outside, from within, and through the judgments of others. Marlow, the narrator, provides detailed descriptions of the characters—their age, dress, style, movements, behaviour, traits, and attitudes. For example, the Accountant is presented with his sophisticated, fashionable dress and his organizing ability. His inner self is revealed through his comments about Mr. Kurtz. He is described as a strong-built man with sharp blue eyes and a smile that is not a smile at all. The Brick-maker is presented as a “papier-mâché Mephistopheles.” Mr. Kurtz is presented through the judgments of other characters and through Marlow’s comments after meeting him. Thus, each character is portrayed from several angles—outwardly, inwardly, and as measured by others.
Further, we notice the impact of the stream-of-consciousness technique on Conrad’s art of characterization in Heart of Darkness. Marlow describes not only a physical journey into the dark region of the Congo but also an exploration into the inner realms of the minds of the characters—their feelings, sensations, and emotions. While describing the characters he encounters, Marlow lays greater emphasis on revealing their inner selves, that is, the subconscious levels of their minds. He also explores his own mind while narrating the story.
To sum up, Conrad’s characterization is basically impressionistic and is closely related to the stream-of-consciousness technique of the twentieth-century novel.
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