Marlow: The Indefinite

As the reader slowly grasps Marlow’s intentions, the protagonist seems unreachable, indefinite to words. Early in the novel, the narrator warns us about Marlow: “He was the only man of us who still ‘followed the sea.’ The worst that could be said of him was that he did not represent his class” (Conrad, 5). Marlow sticks to this promise, the reader is presented a sailor’s story. But not any kind of sailor story, an adventure during imperial times. By capturing the essence of colonization, of the exploitation of the colonies’ natural resources for the benefit of the mother land per its executors, the reader is forced to pay very close attention to the stories details, to the many short-lived yet vivid descriptions of slavery, massacre and the forced imposition of culture.

The novel’s protagonist seems to be carrying an overwhelming version of colonial life, as he once states that after his trips he often found himself “loafing about, hindering you fellows in your work and invading your homes, just as though I had got a heavenly mission to civilize you” (Conrad, 10). The idea of learning through experiences and travel correspond to this individual’s life destiny. His dynamic narration seems to be almost teaching his companions step by step what colonial life was all about. The reader’s role in the novel becomes to witness, observe and appreciate the protagonist’s life and all the teachings that might be extracted from this special adventure.

Marlow is slowly revealed by Conrad, sometimes making conclusions of his life which seem like compromises with the reader: “No, I don’t like work. I had rather laze about and think of all the fine things that can be done. I don’t like work – no man does – but I like what is in the work,– the chance to find yourself” (Conrad, 51). Marlow’s obsession with being a sailor, with learning about new places and people develops around his job, his responsibilities, his traveling. The possibility of experiencing the Congo through Marlow’s narration is just another of the novel’s virtues. The reader may develop a connection with Marlow, an obscure and interesting individual who can’t be described with a handful of words, but who must be appreciated through the author’s short but significant notes.