Conrad, Joseph - Life and Works (3)

Joseph Conrad

Joseph Conrad was born in 1857 in Poland. In 1874 he went to Marseille and entered the marine service.
In 1878 Conrad went to England, where he was a seaman on British ships.

As a seaman he travelled and visited many places such as Borneo, India and Australia.
In 1890 he went to Africa and visited Congo. His life on the sea was source of inspiration for his books. In 1893 he retired from the navy.

In 1895 published his first novel : Almayer's Folly, the novel was written in English, his third language after Polish and French.
In the beginning of the 20th century, Conrad wrote and published 5 novels, including Heart of Darkness in 1902 based on his experience in Congo in 1890.
He continued to producing a total of 19 novels with a major productive phase ending in 1911.
Conrad died in 1924.

In Lord Jim, Heart of Darkness and other stories, Conrad used a fictional sailor and narrator Marlow, as a framing device.

His use of multiple narrators and points of view reflected the complexity of human experience and the difficulty of judging men's action.

Heart of darkness

Heart of Darkness is the story of a nightmare journey into the heart of Africa told by a sailor. The novels begin in London where Marlow, the sailor, starts telling to the people on the boat about the time he was in the Belgian Congo in search of Kurtz, who ran, a man who ran the Belgian Company's station in the jungle.
The journey is an occasion for Marlow to see the European imperialism in Africa where the natives are treated in a cruel way by the Europeans who use them as salves.

When Marlow found Kurtz he discover he's ill but doesn't want to be cured by europeans. Marlow discover that Kurtz became a cannibal. He then succeeds in convincing Kurtz to return to the ship but he's weak for the journey and dies.
His last words are "The Horror!" are taken by the sailor as the final judgment on himself, on his action and of the European Imperialism.