I would not have gone so far as to fight for Kurtz, but I went for him near enough to a lie. You know I hate, detest, and can’t bear a lie, not because I am straighter than the rest of us, but simply because it appalls me. There is a taint of death, a flavour of mortality in lies—which is exactly what I hate and detest in the world—what I want to forget. It makes me miserable and sick, like biting something rotten would do.What lie does Marlow tell for Kurtz, and why does he tell it? How does Marlow become entangled in a lie when he signs on as a steamboat captain in Leopold's Congo?
We came close to this question during Friday's discussion. We identified many of the flabby devils and what repels Marlow about them. Look in the Part 1 text to see where Kurtz's name comes up and in what context. There are reasons why Marlow would be attracted to him even without setting eyes on the man—and also reasons why he would be appalled.
41 comments:
Does anyone know what paragraph this passage is from? Thanks!
That's paragraph 62 of part 1, Ariel.
This paragraph was a foreshadowing to the very end of the book, when Marlow visits the Intended and lies to her about Kurtz’s final words, “The last words he pronounced was ― your name,” but in reality it was the infamous line “The horror, the horror.” For the reason on why he told this lie, I am bit unsure myself, but I connected it to the theme of civilization (light) vs. wilderness (dark). Like we talked about in class, the wilderness of the Congo does not restrain human behavior, so what wants to be done will be done and the whispered “ivory” that “rang in the air” tempts the darkness of humanity to surface, but because Marlow is consumed in his work he disregards those whispers. The dark wilderness is contrasted to the light that the Romans brought along with civilization (11). When the Intended is introduced, she is connected to that light, “one felt that the manipulation of light and pose could have conveyed the delicate shade of truthfulness upon those features.” If the Intended is indeed the embodiment of civilization, it seems to hint that the lie told to her by Marlow was his obligation to the conspiracy that he signed his soul into. Civilization in Europe is detached from the atrocities that occurred in Africa and Marlow’s lie heightens the intense feelings upon that revelation. But the lie that he tells the Intended makes him appalled at himself, “simply because it appalls me.” (62)
Another thought I had was maybe he didn’t lie. Maybe it was one of Marlow’s witty comments. The horror being her name. Everything around the Intended, like “the grand piano stood massively in a corner; with dark gleams on the flat surfaces like a somber and polished sarcophagus,” are products of the ivory trade and civilization prospers off the exploitations in the Congo. The horror could be civilization itself. Kurtz's words are giving me a headache!
Marlow is disgusted by lying because he claims to be “straighter than the rest”, or has a stronger sense of morality or justice than most. However, Marlow does lie to Kurtz’s Intended at the end of Heart of Darkness, telling her that Kurtz’s last words were her name, rather than “The horror, the horror!” I think it is because the Congo definitely changed Marlow and he does not want Kurtz’s Intended to witness the darkness he and Kurtz both saw in the Congo. Perhaps he wished to allow Kurtz’s Intended to keep her image of Kurtz and hides Kurtz’s practices in the Congo. In a sense, the whole operation in the Congo is a lie. When Marlow signs onto the steamboat headed for the Congo, he becomes entangled in the web of lies, which hide the inhumane cruelty shown to the natives and the destruction caused by the colonials. At first wishing for adventure, Marlow finds himself a part of the pillage of the natives and the dreadful quest of ivory. Marlow says that “I would not have gone so far as to fight for Kurtz, but I went for him near enough to a lie.” He did not accept Kurtz’s practices, and when meeting him, was disappointed at the man Kurtz was. Yet Marlow respected Kurtz, as he was a man that knew what he was doing and had clear objectives. Marlow may have lied for the sake of Kurtz but he himself becomes entangled in the lie and cannot bear to tell the truth of the Congo.
As already stated, Marlow tells Kurtz's Intended that Kurtz died saying her name. I think this is because he has very little belief in the bravery and self-sustainability of women--he has said that women live "in a beautiful world of their own" and should be protected from the real world at all costs. He thinks that if the Intended were told the truth about Kurtz's real last words and doings, her ideal image of Kurtz will be destroyed, a thing Marlow doesn't believe she will be able to recover from, because she is just a weak, naïve woman. Still, he feels ashamed by the lie because he still clings onto the very English concept of being a good gentleman, and does not want this to be compromised by his experience in the Congo.
Marlow is entangled in a lie from the moment he signs onto the expedition because it is the absolute opposite of the humanitarian effort it claims to be, and Marlow knows it. When he finds out about the injustices being done to the natives, but shuts out these things by withdrawing into himself and only focusing on his job. Marlow is lying to himself by ignoring the things that are happening around them and pretending that the only thing he cares about is his work. This is not true, as is evident from the way he sarcastically and disgustedly talks about the decidedly non-humanitarian things being done to the natives.
I agree with both Shruti and Josh.
Both of them discussed how Marlow has a stronger sense or morality and he is upset by those who lie or manipulate others. And he is hard on himself for the fact that he has also lied (to the intended). He finds it difficult to be part of any entanglement of lies especially since he has accidentally signed himself into many. Or "sold his soul". He obviously feels remorse for what is happening in the Congo and he is sheltering Kurtz's intended by lying to her in the end. Marlow is a man who would not want to bring hurt to anyone especially if it is undeserving. You see this from how he describes the cruelties he is witnessing. I do not think that Marlow tells this lie as a favor to Kurtz but for the sole purpose of keeping Kurtz's intended from hurt. Like the point that Shruti stated about how Marlow could have done this deed for the fact that he has sympathy for women and their innocence. Marlow has respect? for Kurtz but like he says, "I would not have gone so far as to fight for Kurtz," Kurtz did not have the morals that Marlow carries with him and Kurtz is not deserving of much but his intended has really done no harm.
This passage explains a fundamental characteristic of Marlow that the reader uses to understand why he says the things he does: truth. Marlow “hate[s], detest[s], and can’t bear a lie,” a tribute displayed throughout his narrative (Pt.1 ¶ 62). He questions the morality of racism, a central idea that other whites rely on to justify their actions in the Congo. “The conquest of the earth,” he muses “…mostly means the taking it away from those who have a different complexion or slightly flatter noses than ourselves” (Pt. 1 ¶ 13). The truthful nature of Marlow, however, becomes rather ironic as he is sucked deeper in the conspiracy that is the rape of Congo.
Marlow realizes from experience that all foreign contact with the Congo is a lie. Self-proclaimed philanthropists claim that they are enriching the “savages” that currently exist, “weaning those ignorant millions from their horrid ways” (Pt. 1 ¶ 28). Meanwhile they torture and humiliate the native population, scaring them from their land and using them as slaves to gather profitable rubber or ivory. These men’s humanitarian fronts mask their true, selfish intentions. Now a transporter and active employee of such heartless people, Marlow has become thoroughly entwined in their lies.
The most outright of lies Marlow feels he must tell involves the conveyance of Kurtz’s last words to Kurtz’s Intended. After a long, emphatic, rather nostalgic speech expressing her adoration of a fatuous illusion of Kurtz, Kurtz’s Intended asks for “his last word—to live with” (Pt. 3 ¶ 82). Marlow, not quite sure what to tell such an avid admirer who does not know the whole truth, simply says what she wants to hear: “The last word he pronounced was—your name” (Pt. 3 ¶84). Though he knows Kurtz’s real last cry, “The horror!” he fabricates a romantic story for this poor, misunderstanding girl (Pt. 3 ¶ 81). The reasoning behind this decision is rather vague. Marlow simply explains that it “would have been too dark—to dark altogether” (Pt. 3 ¶ 85), continuing his idea that women are “out of touch with truth” (Pt. 1 ¶ 29). Telling Kurtz’s Intended of the terrible truth would destroy the fantasy world that she has built. Instead, Marlow leaves her to her dreams, in essence saving Kurtz’s reputation, “his greatness” (Pt. 3 ¶ 65).
Sorry, JD, I didn't mean to jab at you last blog, but I do like this blog much more! :)
Marlow lies to Kurtz's European Intended, telling her that Kurtz died with her name on his lips. This is a gross falsehood, because even in death, Kurtz was still self-satisfying, like he would die if not for his drug, ivory. Even with all his vast amounts of ivory aboard the steamer, he could not survive without the sight of it.
Marlow hates lying, because he knows that all of the men working in the Congo believe that because they have a different complexion and straighter noses, they are allowed to enact cultural genocide. Mostly, what I wish to say has already been said by Katie. =D
The lie that Marlow tells is to Kurtz’s Intended after Marlow returns to Europe. He does this to save her from the truth and continue believing that Kurtz was a good man. It would be very difficult for Marlow to disclose the truth to her after she goes on an on about Kurtz and how “Men looked up to him – his goodness shone in every act.” In they very end Kurtz says “I could not tell her. It would have been too dark – too dark altogether…”
I also think that Marlow did not want to speak about his involvement in something so horrific. If he was to tell her what Kurtz’s true last words were he would be admitting that he participated in the inhumane “civilization” of the Congo. When he signed up as a steamboat captain in Leopold’s Congo he became part of something too horrible to admit his participation in. By the time he realizes the truth he has already gotten too far to not keep going and I think that is why he focuses so much on fixing his boat, so that he isn’t bothered as much by what he sees.
“The last word he pronounced was – your name.” The lie that Marlow tells the Intended was more than a simple white lie. It is a deceiving lie, completely contradictory to the truthful last words of Kurtz. If Marlow detests lies to the point that they have a “taint of death, a flavour of mortality,” then only a very powerful secret would lead him to conceal the truth. From the moment he signs on as a steamboat captain in the Congo, he senses “something ominous in the atmosphere” (Paragraph 25, Part I). Even though he hadn’t experienced the unspoken horrors of the Congo yet, he sensed the silent consensus that the trade secrets, whatever that may be, must be left on the shores of Africa. He agreed to himself that he would not be the one who would release the secrets.
Kurtz’s last words, “The horror, the horror!” is one of the darkest secrets of all. Coming from a man who stuck his hand into the heart of darkness and conducted atrocities to the indigenous civilizations of the Congo, those words resonate a tone of caution, regret, terror, and remorse. By releasing the horrible truth to the Intended, Marlow would cause more harm than peace. He would rather preserve the glorified ideal Kurtz that the Intended firmly grasps onto. Kurtz’s secret is not for Marlow to share, so he prefers to have it remained buried in the depth of the Congo.
Although Kurtz committed horrific crimes against humanity, Marlow honestly believed that “Kurtz was a remarkable man. He had something to say. He said it” (Part III). From the first brief mention of Kurtz he was praised as a “first class agent,” “a prodigy,” “an emissary of pity, and science, and progress” (Paragraph 47 & 60, Part I). He was this mysterious African God in the heart of the Congo who was supposedly carrying out greatness from Europe. As a sailor aspiring for that same virtuosity, Marlow inevitably became captivated by this mystifying genius. Even when Marlow witnessed the true Kurtz, he defended Kurtz by saying there was a “spell of the wilderness that seemed to draw him to its pitiless breast…” (Part III). So when Marlow was faced with the challenging choice of revealing Kurtz’s last words, he could not, despite his detest for lies, shatter the great and mesmerizing image of Kurtz.
When Marlow pays a visit to Kurtz’s intended, the woman asks Marlow for Kurtz’s last words. “The last word he pronounced was – your name,” Marlow lied (96). We know that Kurtz’s true last words were: “The Horror! The Horror!” This was hypocritical of Marlow as in Part I he says how much he detests lies. He later says about not being able to tell Kurtz’s intended the truth: “But I couldn’t. I could not tell her. It would have been too dark - too dark altogether…” Here it is revealed that Marlow believes that the truth, Marlow’s genuine last words, was too sinister, too disturbing, to pass on. Not only this, but the women was going on and on about what great of a man Kurtz was, and to tell her his last words would might change the women’s view of Kurtz. But I do not believe that Marlow lied to be “polite”, if you will. I think he couldn’t tell the truth because the truth was far too disheartening.
It’s apparent that Marlow becomes involved in a lie the moment he signs on as a steamboat captain in the Congo. When he walks into the room with the two women in Part I, he says: “It was just as though I had been let into some conspiracy – I don’t know – something not quite right” (12). Marlow is aware of the “squeeze” that is Leopold’s control of the Congo. Not long after he describes an “eerie feeling” that came over him. This scene is replete with foreshadows of the atrocities that Marlow will soon see.
The tale ends with a picture of the “tranquil waterway” leading “into the heart of an immense darkness,” just as the injustices and wickedness of the Congo fail to be revealed in the end and the darkness seems to continue on interminably.
I have to go, but I didn’t know what the deadline was on this one so I wanted to make sure I at least got something in. I’ll hopefully check back later and write more.
In this passage, we see that Marlow has a connection with Kurtz, long before he has even met him. Marlow, at least early on, would like to think that they share some of the same ideals and humanitarian goals. However, Marlow soon realized that that was all a façade and that in reality the colonists had “grabbed what they could get for the sake of what was to be got. It was just robbery with violence, aggravated murder on a great scale” (¶ 13). Marlow knows that he “had been let into some conspiracy,” and has trouble facing the fact that he is a part of the great lie (¶ 24).
In this passage, Marlow is conversing with the ambitious “young fool,” the papier-maché Mephistopheles. Marlow leads him to believe that he is a person of importance, as his aunt’s recommendations set him up to be. Without hardly meaning to, Marlow is buying into the lies and the conspiracy, as he says, “I became in an instant as much of a pretence as the rest of the bewitched pilgrims” (¶ 62). I agree with Bryn that his lies in part one, and later to the Intended, are hypocritical. Marlow’s actions and intentions, especially concerning Kurtz, still seem a bit confusing and ambiguous to me.
As has been stated by many before me, the lie told by Marlow is to the Intended about Kurtz' final words. While Marlow told her that Kurtz muttered her name in his final moments, in fact Kurtz cried the famous line, "The horror! The horror!" It is ironic that the Intended claims, "I had all his noble confidence. I knew him best," when it is obvious that she is completely unaware of the side of Kurtz' personality that was portrayed in the Congo (Part III, Pg. 96). To maintain the Intended's naiveté, rather than demolishing her respect and admiration for the noble Kurtz, Marlow must lie, no matter how "miserable and sick" it makes him. Furthermore, Marlow says, "Would [the heavens] have fallen, I wonder, if I had rendered Kurtz that justice which was his due? Hadn't he said he wanted only justice?" (Part III, Pg. 99). It is clear that Marlow would have liked to see Kurtz suffer repercussions for the atrocities he has committed and felt compelled to reveal the true Kurtz, but to convey that information before the Intended would have been "too dark," (Part III, Pg. 99). While Kurtz may have asked for it after his death, the only one who would have bore the burden of the consequences of justice would have been the Intended, who has never been exposed to Kurtz' atrocities.
As Bryn said, it is apparent that Marlow has committed to something sinister from the moment he commits to the company. "I began to feel slightly uneasy...and there was something ominous in the atmosphere. It was just as though I had been let into some conspiracy--I don't know--something not quite right; and I was glad to get out," Marlow recalls (Part I, Paragraph 25). He fails to heed this foreboding warning, and instead of getting out, he only sinks further into the depths of human greed and corruption that are enabled by not only what Marlow despises, but what he is eventually forced to commit after becoming entangled himself: lies.
Marlow replaces Kurtz dying words with the appropriate lie that “His Intended” wishes to hear. Kurtz’ dying words are piercing: “The horror! The horror!”. Marlow describes these words as a moral victory. The words are a truth pronounced. It is so abominable to replace these words with the Intended’s name when she probes for Kurtz’s last words. Substituting a fleeting earthly concept for a glimpsed truth creates Marlow’s disgust.
Another temporal concept is civilization, described by Marlow to be only “the flicker… but darkness was here yesterday” (Pt. 1 ¶ 11). Marlow’s lie feeds that flicker, by allowing the Intended to think that the values of society hold true in the entire world. Kurtz, however, was obsessed with his experiences in the Congo in his final words – even if the complete meaning of “The horror!” is inscrutable. Marlow “[saves] Kurtz’s reputation” (Katie). If Marlow is seen as a representative piece of the brutality in Africa, a flimsy lie to hide the darkness Kurtz experiences symbolizes the fake front of Leopold and others.
Marlow senses the lie of the actions in the Congo, the socially acceptable front, as soon as he signs the contract with the trading company. He feels as though he has been “let into a conspiracy” – a secret entanglement kept hidden through a “philosophic pretense” (Pt. 1 ¶ 25 & 54).
Wow. What Ariel wrote was powerful and accurate. As I was rereading the mention of Kurtz in part one, I was expecting to read Marlow’s positive take on Kurtz, but he mentioned was annoyance and bewilderment, wondering what truly was happening in the Congo.
When Marlow signs to work, he signs up for a conspiracy. He has no idea what he is getting himself into, and no one else besides those directly involved know what is going on either. This lie lines right up with the quote in the prompt. When Marlow figures out the lie he has gotten himself into, he does feel miserable and sick.
Marlow doesn't necessarily tell a lie, he chooses to not say anything. "Well, I went near enough to it [lie] by letting the young fool there believe anything he liked to imagine as to my influence in Europe" (24). Marlow did not deny this because he wanted to be of assistance to Kurtz. Marlow says, "...I had a notion it would be of help to that Kurtz..." (24). Before this conversation occured, Marlow had been introduced to who Kurtz was three times. Every time a good impression was given to Marlow about Kurtz.
1) "He is a very remarkable person..." (16)
2) "...the best agent he had, an exceptional man, of the greatest importance to the company..." (19)
3) "He is a prodigy..." (22)
At the third impression, Marlow is informed that, "The same people who sent him specially also recommended you" (22). This connects him with Kurtz, and hearing that Kurtz is seen as a good man, a great man, he has an interest in this connection. This is why he does not say anything to the man (or tells a lie). He wants to help Kurtz because he is attracted to him by the thought of their connection and common, good ideas.
A lot of people discussed the lie Marlow tells later on in the book, and how Marlow is somewhat appalled by Kurtz. However, I focused on Marlow's thoughts on Kurtz and the lies he may have made before Marlow said the quote above because I feel that what he says is a reflection on what he previously did and thought. I do know, though, that this quote has a lot of meaning and connections to situations and comments later on in the book.
Like many above me have stated, the lie that Marlow tells for Kurtz is to the Intended when he tells her that Kurtz died with her name on his lips. Marlow does this because he is protecting Kurtz's reputation of a "remarkable person", an "exceptional man" and "a prodigy", like the Russian trader told him to after the manager and Kurtz had their falling out. Marlow has taken the side of Kurtz over that of the company (the Manager), effectively taking the side of the "red-eyed devil" over the "flabby devil".
When Marlow signs on to be a part of the expedition in the Congo he has immediately become associated with the "flabby devils" that he despises so much. He is part of a conspiracy participating in the rape of the Congo. By siding with Kurtz he rebels against the "flabby devils", deciding that outright perversion is a lesser evil than the hypocritical justifications of cruelty by the other Europeans.
Although it can be true that Marlow is protecting the Intended from the truth that is so "too dark" and keeping the image of Kurtz untarnished for the woman, who in Marlow's mind should be kept blissfully ignorant, but this thought seems too easy to be correct.
Once Marlow began his odyssey into Africa he grew to realize that by signing on with the steam ship he had thrown his lot in with the flabby devils. As he approached Kurtz and upon meeting him, I believe Marlow felt a certain connection with Kurtz that was both undeniable and exhilarating. Kurtz was the final product of feelings and yearnings that Marlow had begun to feel tingle within him. A warning of what a pathway less traveled by may eventually bring. Yet Marlow had felt the call of that path, and so when the time came for him to reveal Kurtz to the world as a beast and blemish on humanity he couldn't. He couldn't because by turning over Kurtz and telling his Intended of her loves dispicable actions, he would be turning in a part of himself, and he would see in the disgust in her eyes a bit of disgust for something that was within him, deep down, in his heart of darkness.
I think Marlow was also concientious enough to realize that the only thing that separated him and Kurtz were the situations in which they made their journey's.
As we all already know the lie was to Kurtz's Intended. Explaining it was her name he last said. I think he may have done this for her benefit. He is a caring person. He knew the answer she was looking for and it wouldn't do much damage to lie compared to what may have happened if he had told the truth. I do also believe he was trying to save Kurtz's image. Like was said before.
I think this also relates to the lie that he signed into when heading out into the Congo. It is almost like, "What happens in the Congo, stays in the Congo." The horrifying truth stays there including Kurtz's words. Which is what Ariel had said with leaving the his words in the depth of the Congo.
To keep women "in that beautiful world of their own", Marlow tells a lie to Kurtz's Intended. Marlow believed that women should stay in their naive little world, away from the brutality and truth of the Congo. In a way, these naive delusions are the ones that keep the imperialism and economies of Europe alive and well. By believing that Europeans are going down to the Africa to civilize the "savages", Europeans can continue to turn a blind eye on what is really happening in the Congo. It gives a reason for the sharing of the African cake.
The lie is, as stated by all of the people above (and most likely below) my post, about the last words of Kurtz. In order to keep her world from shattering, Marlow goes against his very nature and tells her the Kurtz's last words were her name, instead of "The horror! The horror!" He is hiding the real, harsh world from the woman's world, keeping her as the naive creature that Marlow believes all women should be.
When he signs up to go to the Congo, Marlow feels as though he "had been let into some conspiracy". Instead of bringing light to the savages, the Europeans plunge themselves into the darkness, becoming darker, more savage than the Africans. Instead of civilizing the savages, as the lie went, the "civilizers" fall into a deeper blackness themselves. They becomes obsessed with money and ivory, greedy for the overflowing wealth that the black continent held betwixt its dark claws. Unknown to himself, Marlow becomes one of the colonists, the conquerors of Africa when he signs up.
Although Marlow had mentioned before how much he detests lies, he decides to lie to the Intended about the last words left by Kurtz. “The last word he pronounced was – your name.” He is concealing the truth, because Kurtz’s actual last words are too dark and cannot be regurgitated by Marlow himself. He didn’t want to cause the Intended harm and change her image of him with his last moment. The great ideal image of Kurtz is too much to ruin with a few words. Plus, Marlow admires Kurtz because he’s a prodigy, and carries this mystifying air around him. Marlow is astounded by this feature and is willing to go against his preference of telling the truth. I think Marlow had great respect for Kurtz, because his character is a strong one; Kurtz is very persistent with fulfilling his goals in the Congo.
Marlow has in fact become entangled into the great lie within the Congo and its motto of grabbing whatever they can because, well, they simply could. “It was just robbery with violence” (13). By saying that the horrifying truth is to stay buried within the Congo, the darkness of the Congo will continue as lies pile upon more lies.
The lie Marlow tells for Kurtz is the white lie he tells to the Intended. Unable to bring himself to expose the darker side of Kurtz to the bereft lover, Marlow tells her that “the last word he pronounced was—your name”. Marlow had to tell the lie not because he wants to protect Kurtz, but because he does not want to bring to the Intended the same tragedy that befalls Kurtz. Marlow sees in the Intended the same overpowering idealism he sees in Kurtz, and dares not to shatter it with the horrific truth. Earlier in the narrative, Marlow refers to the Intended as “a soul as translucently pure as a cliff of crystal”, and her words “the echo of [Kurtz’s] magnificent eloquence”. Her faith in Kurtz’s goodness resembles Kurtz’s initial conviction that his work has a noble, magnificent purpose. But the wilderness soon takes hold of him, and transforms him into something savage and contemptible—“it had whispered to him things about himself which he did not know, things of which he had no conception till he took counsel with this great solitude—and the whisper had proved irresistibly fascinating”. Marlow is afraid that the truth about Kurtz’s last words and about his real deeds would pollute the mind of the Intended as well, perhaps not transforming her into something evil like Kurtz, but shattering her faith in the good as has happened with Kurtz.
Marlow becomes entangled in a lie much earlier than the moment he delivers the lie to the Intended. In order to survive his days in the wilderness, Marlow has to distance himself from the horror around him. As we have discussed in class, Marlow is able to find refuge in him works. But because he never really wrestles with darkness, he does not come to the kind of profound understanding of its presence either. Kurtz, on the other hand, is deeply contaminated by the darkness, the Horror; yet, because he had to struggle with himself, he is able to achieve the sort of “moral victory” that draws Marlow’s admiration. Kurtz’s contact with darkness may be despicable to Marlow, but Kurtz’s final confrontation with himself—something Marlow misses—is noble and magnificent to him.
I am afraid that I must disagree with the vast majority of you, my friends, and side with Miss Doty. This has, as of yet, nothing to do with the intended. Rather, it deals with what his assumed standing is. The lie is not so much in what Marlow says, byt in what he keeps quiet in hope that it may indeed aid Kurtz. He allows The Brick Maker, as well as the Pilgrims, to believe he is a man of influence, one who can aid them in their foolish ambitions, all so that he can fix his boat and save the almost legendary Kurtz, who alone in the Congo seems to value other things above his own greed and ambition. But that is not the first lie that Marlow makes himself a part of. By venturing into the Congo as an employee of The Company he allows himself to be part of the wretched conspiracy to rape the land, whilst appearing to be humanitarian movement. He does not believe, even in Europe, that The Company is doing anything for any reason aside from its own avarice. But does he correct anyone who believes otherwise? No. Does this knowledge stop him from acting how he does? No. He willingly becomes a part of this lie, whether it is his intention to or not. And in the end, he does grow ill and disdainful. He is no better than any other man, he says so himself, but he hates lies, because they have, as he puts it, "a flavour of mortality" in them. And he dislikes it. Perhaps he feels that honesty, if nothing else, is a reason to keep going, but that is just my postulating.
When Marlow explains that he “would not have gone so far as to fight for Kurtz, but I went for him near enough to a lie”, he creating a parallel to the story he has just finished telling in which a “Scottish Sail maker” humbles himself, but is always prepared to fight, if the reaction to his self-description is mocking. I believe Conrad chooses this story, because in a sense Marlow feels the brick-maker is mocking Kurtz and his dignity. Marlow does not respect the “papier-mâché Mephistopheles”, for the brick-maker has “nothing inside”, a knaving fellow, who never lifts a finger for the job of his title, only a sort of spy, just “waiting”. At this point, Marlow has been given an image of Kurtz as passionate, a fellow member of the “gang of virtue”, Marlow feels obligated to stand up for Kurtz, especially with the contrast of the weak-eyed devil before him. Marlow allows and leads the young brick-layer on, to believe Marlow holds great affluence and power back in Europe. Moreover Marlow brings the man to believe they hold the same view of Africa, and of Kurtz, which they clearly do not.
When Kurtz signs up to Captain a steamboat in to the Heart of Africa, he does not realize he agrees to the biggest lie of them all. The lie that the “conquest of the earth” is clean and white, with bright lines. But more importantly, the lie of which the business of efficency and blindness can cover up the utter colonization occurring in Africa. The lie that order and civilized conduct can cover up the utter uncivilized actions taken towards Africa. In this thesis, Conrad envisions likenesses starting in his time, but going well beyond his scope, in to the “civilities” of the modern world. He hints at this with his metaphor of the butcher; the butcher does the dirty work, kills the animal, the consumer simply has to buy the prepared meat. As if by being prevented from seeing the “dirty work”, allows a wrong or immoral act to seem right. Never do the white men actually beat the African slaves, instead chooses to have another African beat the victim, allowing themselves to evade the act of violence. The same came be seen with modern warfare; wars are fought in far off places, the impact and terror of the war never expierenced at home by the attacking country. But keeping uncivilized acts away from the “civilized” world still does not make the uncivilized act moral or right.
Marlow admires Kurtz because he experiences the terror leading to truth, as Kurtz himself says, “ The horror, the horror.”
Along with EVERYONE else above, the supreme lie was that Marlow told the European intended Kurtz's last words were her name.
Marlow's lie to Kurtz's Intended was a last act of pity and humanity for Kurtz. Marlow was fascinated by Kurtz and admired him long before he ever met the man. When he came to find that Kurtz was just another pawn in the Congo conspiracy, he still wanted to preserve the idyllic image of Kurtz for his Intended - an image that he could not preserve for himself. The woman professed her love for Kurtz to Marlow when he came to her and out of respect for the dead, he lied about Kurtz's last words to comfort her.
The lie Marlow was entangled in when he signed on to the Congo expedition was the conspiracy behind the entire operation. Everyone involved except for Marlow was aware of the attrocities in Africa and that it was in no way a philanthropist mission. Though King Leopold claimed that his actions were humanitarian, it was the exact opposite. What was going on was an assimilation and decimation of African land and resources, which included its people.
As it has been stated universally Marlow's lie for Kurtz was when Marlow visits the Intended and lies to her about Kurtz’s final words. Such a egregious lie is not compatible with previous observations of his chracter,“I hate, detest, and can’t bear a lie,...it appals me."(Part I,¶ 62) I believe Marlow performs this act for Kurtz because while Marlow sees the pillage of the Congo and aknowledges the darkness of thee whole operation, he feels a subtle link between him and Kurtz. Marlow can be seen as qualifying character between the extremes of the Company and Kurtz. He almost involuntarily is colluding with both.
But Marlow is different. Yet he cannot betray himself to one or the other. He is tempted by Kurtz and identifies partially with,“[The] emissary of pity, and science, and progress.” He is stricken with the temptation or illness of the Congo, the hostility and lawlessness of the environment. But he escapes or recovers from the full wrath of the Congo that had degrading the Company to becoming money grabbers and fed Kurtz to the darkness within himself.
Marlow's story could be one of warning. Marlow affliction by his experiances and the foreshadowing that permeates across the narrative distills a certain uneasiness in the reader of intrigue and horror. Marlow's concealment of Kurtz's final words could be his comtemplation that in this bleak, desolate atmosphere no man can be blamed for the evil that envelops him.
The lie that marlow says is the one that he says to kurtz intended. Even though marlow truly, deeply detests lying he tells this lie in order to protect the intended as he'd rather lie than to hurt and innocent woman, an icon of home or kurtz, and to protect his past perception of kurtz as a great man. This makes his character even more dynamic by contradicting his behavior. We've all lied to protect someone that we hold close and dear.
The lie that he is taken part in is the whole operation in the Congo. It has been disguised to the public as a humanitarian quest to bring light and civilisation to the savages of africa but marlow soon finds out that it's is a actually a series of human attrocities on his way to find kurtz.
I apologise for the timing of my post, I just got home an hour ago. I should have started this earlier.
Despite various interesting and convincing comments made by several, I still admittedly find myself believing the said lie to be the one Marlow told to Kurtz's Intended - "the last word he pronounced was - your name". Not only was this statement ironically and blatantly false (as his last words were, in fact, "The Horror! The Horror!"), but the fact that Marlow has made clear of his distaste for falsehood and the Intended's reaction (claiming to have always known Kurtz was an honorable, noble man), adds to the weight of that lie.
I also have to say that bit of the chapter did slightly annoy me. Marlow's intentions may have been good in the telling of the lie, but I found his reasoning irritating. To say women lived "in a beautiful world of their own" and ought to be protected and shielded from all darkness is a cliché that seems to be inevitable in books, especially of this timeline.
Well folks, it has come time for my post. I know you were all SO excited. I think Kurtz lied to the Intended, regarding Kurtz's last words for a mix of reasons.
At first, I agreed with those citing the gentlemanly approach. Reasoning that Kurtz lied to protect the naive, weak and womanly Intended from the Congo. However, I'm starting to think that perhaps this is only a small slice of his reasoning. I'm thinking that he was more protecting the Congo and what went on there. KURTZ CHANGED IN THE CONGO. Before he left, lying was horrible, he felt an eerie feeling when signing his shipping contract and he would never lie. On his return, he lies. This is a change. I feel like it’s fun to sit here and debate why he lied to the intended, but I know I had lost the big picture in my analysis of this incident. Kurtz and his morals changed.
Anyways, back to the small stuff... I was saying that Kurtz may have been protecting the Congo. I think Kurtz realized that if he told the Intended Kurtz's really going-ons, then he also would be exposed of the (relatively speaking) meager wrong doings he had done. If he exposed Kurtz, he was also exposing himself, and the Belgium government. This was something Kurtz was not yet prepared to do.
When we are first introduced with Marlow, we want to align with him. We talked about how he is not like other seamen. We learn he is skeptical of the world, and quite the thinker. When Marlow meets the civilized men he dislikes and distrusts this "conspiracy" he was afraid he signed himself on to. Without setting eyes on Kurt, Marlow creates him as this distant figure from the men he is faced with. He is an alternate, a man that Marlow wants to believe sets himself apart from the men he has met thus far.
I didn't notice anyone mention this, but I was thinking about the painting Marlow discovered and asked about to the brickmaker. The painting done by Marlow of the "woman, draped and blindfolded, carrying a lighted torch." I was thinking of someone unable to see the light, she is blindfolded after all. I wondered if Marlow felt an air of hope in Kurtz, that he knew these civilized men were unable to see the light. I think that Marlow used the painting as a means of finding depth in Kurtz and separating him from the civilized individuals.
As many said before me, Marlow tells a lie to the Intended on behalf of Kurtz. Marlow has a fascination with Kurtz that allows him to ignore the "flavour of mortality in lies." He does not want to be the one to expose the tragic truth, and instead maintain the strength in ignorance. Sometimes, it is easier to leave the imagine of an "ideal" person rather than the "actual" person.
As basically everyone said before, Marlow tells Kurtz's Intended that Kurtz's last words were her name, which is obviously a (white) lie. One possible reason he lied is that he was trying to protect the Congo by keeping its "secret" (the signing of the contract). He didn't want the "horrors" of the Congo--which no one in the outside world was aware of--getting out of Africa, and infecting the minds of everyone else. I suppose he was trying to contain it.
Another possible reason he lied is that he was trying to conserve the pure image she (Intended) had for Kurtz before the Congo changed him. Marlow describes her as having “a soul as translucently pure as a cliff of crystal”, and notes that she and Kurtz are very similar--an "echo" of him. Basically, the Intended is Kurtz without all the evil and greed. So Marlow sees the Intended as Kurtz before corruption--which is what he wants to conserve/save because, being so similar to Kurtz, she has the potential of adopting the same fate as Kurtz.
The great lie that Marlow places himself in is that of the true nature of imperialism. It is a lie that the gleaming white British as bringing light to a dark continent, one which we have discussed very much in class and online. “The horror” that Marlow witnesses in the jungle is something that he cannot bear telling Kurtz’s Intended. “I could not tell her. It would have been too dark — too dark altogether.” (Ironically, this means he’s keeping her “in the dark” regarding the truth.) This follows with his earlier assessment that women should be shielded from the evil of the world. She is dressed in black, which is interesting to note because throughout the novel those of darkness were victims of British light, and she is no exception. This may seem to contradict Marlow’s earlier statement regarding lies until it is examined further. He detests lies because they remind him of death (why exactly, I cannot figure out), which he “want[s] to forget.” What would remind Marlow of death and man’s weakness more than immortal Kurtz succumbing to the jungle and dying? He lies to protect not only to the Intended but to guard himself as well. There are numerous reasons why Kurtz would seem an attractive character. After all, Marlow’s dream was to venture into the blank of Africa to explore, and it looks as if no one has mastered the Congo better than Kurtz. He seems to have a flavor of immortality.
Well, no surprises in this post. The lie that was made was to Kurtz's Intended, lying about Kurtz's last words, "The horror! The horror!" (155). Instead, in order to keep Kurtz's perfect image for the woman, he instead says, "The last word that he pronounced was - your name" (197).
I believe, as my other classmates did, that he told this lie to protect the women from the truth of the Congo. Truly, the Congo's history is horrid beyond imagining. If Marlow was to reveal the secrets of the Congo to the women, their "beautiful world" would be shattered. In order to keep the horrids contained in Pandora's Box (I know my mythology... sort of =/), Marlow lied for Kurtz, for the Congo.
The lie Marlow tells the Intended is neither a white lie nor a devious lie. From an altruistic perspective, Marlow lies because he thinks she cannot take the brutal truth. Although nice to imagine, I think he has a different motive, an unconscious one. Marlow lied because he is the one who could not confront the truth. It would be far too overwhelming for Marlow to acknowledge his part in the “horror”. Even though he lied to the Intended, he begun lying to himself the minute he joined the “conspiracy” and began to grasp the reality of the darkness.
I think the primary purpose of the encounter with the Intended is to give Marlow a sense of Kurtz’s long gone humanity. This provides an impression that Kurtz was radically twisted by his imperialist conquests. The idea that Kurtz was once perfectly normal, if not extraordinary good scares Marlow. Marlow explained the transformation by darkness to his audience:
“You can't understand. How could you? -- with solid pavement under your feet, surrounded by kind neighbours ready to cheer you or to fall on you, stepping delicately between the butcher and the policeman, in the holy terror of scandal and gallows and lunatic asylums -- how can you imagine what particular region of the first ages a man's untrammelled feet may take him into by the way of solitude -- utter solitude without a policeman -- by the way of silence -- utter silence, where no warning voice of a kind neighbour can be heard whispering of public opinion? These little things make all the great difference. When they are gone you must fall back upon your own innate strength, upon your own capacity for faithfulness. Of course you may be too much of a fool to go wrong -- too dull even to know you are being assaulted by the powers of darkness.”
Marlow now fears that this explanation may have been foreshadowing for his own transformation. He simply cannot handle the fact that like Kurtz, he might have been “assaulted by the powers of darkness.”
Marlow tells the Intended that Kurtz's last words was her name, a lie that protects the image of Kurtz. This lie also protects who Kurtz was, what Marlow knew happened in Africa, and what Marlow let stay in Africa. I believe Marlow just wanted to leave it behind him. "There is a taint of death, a flavour of mortality in lies—which is exactly what I hate and detest in the world—what I want to forget" (pt.1 par.62)
Marlow has a stronger sense of morality than the rest of the men he is on the journey with, and while lying makes him sick "like biting into something rotten would do" he is compelled (as a good, kind, gentleman) to protect the innocence and naivety of Kurtz's intended. Instead of telling her what his true last words were (the infamous "The horror..." line), he tells her that his last words spoke were her name. Whether he does this solely because of his need to save and protect the people around him or if it's also because of an underlying loyalty to Kurtz, I'm not certain, but I believe the action is at least spurred by Marlow's 'savior complex'.
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