Joseph_Conrad_a_Study_1000552239.pdf
Short Description
Download Joseph_Conrad_a_Study_1000552239.pdf...
Description
CONRAD
JOSEPH
STUDY
A
BY
CURLE
RICHARD
OF
AUTHOR
MEREDITH,'
GEORGE
OF
ASPECTS
'
LIFE
'
be But a
Efficiencyof reached
a
is
mere
which
gives
to
almost
art
which
struggle for
in the
skill ; almost all
an
love
and
inspiration which
is
is art.' Mirror
of the
NEW
CITY
DOUBLEDAY,
of
finish
that
work
may
bread.
higher point,
a
"
touch
The
GARDEN
CROWD
THE
kind
practicallyflawless
unmistakable
pride beyond
OF
'
DREAM
something beyond
and
"
A
FRONTISPIECE
naturally
there
subtle
IS
A
WITH
OUT
SHADOWS
PAGE 1914
"
COMPANY
Sea
YORK
^
TO
PHOTIADfeS,
CONSTANTIN
AND NOVELIST
CRITIC
PREFACE
relative
book
have
Conrad
Mr
to
entirely
is
criticism
the
authorization,
Conrad's
Mr
this
in
facts
The
my
affair.
own
No
one
of
writing
My
excuse
a
for
tragedy,
must
admit
of
meaning
the
that
enough
not
is
which
is
type
neither
which
Let
writing
guide me
in
book
this
last, I
is to
it
although ideas
less
that
part
true wears
his
does
ality, person-
effect
with common
is
such,
as
ridiculous
else,
wreck
soon
treatise
moral
gravely
writing
although
wholly
concerned
point this
nor
more
everything
in
As
form. surest
is
to
acciimulative
the
purely
The
does.
outlook, fiction
largely
feeling
That
art,
criticism,
literary
concern
his
philosophy,
novelist's
A
of
from
divorced
art
thin.
very
of
work
a
habit
the
form,
art, As
novelists.
of
philosophy
the
about
of
Conrad's
the
dislike
I
of
structure
sense
philosophy.
his
that
general
Mr
of
and
the that
points
many
individual
the the
romance
are
for
excuse
my
"
instance,
for
and
realism
There
developing
books,
the
be
must
it is done.
further
need
it
doing
for
works.
Conrad's
Mr
about
book
difficulty
I the
than
clearly
more
pioneer
which
in
way
realize
can
of
his
type
of
than
the
experiments sense
is
in the
criticism. out
here
is to
arouse
interest
of
object
my in
the
in
greatest
JOSEPH
viii
and
least
of
known
impossible
it is almost
made
already what
I have
This
to
of
study
of
it.
about
nothing
and
not
rhetoric.
indeed,
will
remember and
methods
his
in
the
Light
absorbing
ideas
twelfth
chapter
Review
The
New
to
The
Nigger of
for "
the
to
1897,
artistic ideals.
in the
hands
Those
of every
the
subtlest
would
and
make But
discarded
an
it
Conrad
very
foundations pages
Conrad's
is
Preface has
of
should
be
work.
R. April 1914
to
Achievement
Mr
of Mr
his
as
that
forgotten
student
various
remarks
study.)
in that
Narcissus,"
beautifully crystalHzed
most
this
ceived re-
Reminiscences
the
"
mere
use.
(" Conrad's Criticism
own
cism criti-
respects
Some
of
the
have
from
some
is full of
book
criticism
"
I
freest
in
of
order.
his
of
in
his
that
distinguished
most
is
real
fact,
that
the
Readers
that
in
II. and
for
at
suggestions
Conrad
Mr
critic.
best
add
to
made
I have
know
who
intended
or,
for
both
those
aimed
have
valuable
very
friends, of which
own
like
that
hope
written
for
statement
mere
should
I
many
But,
I
throughout
But
have
influence.
especially
are
that
part of Chapter
last
this
to
who
do
I
vellous mar-
aware
am
critics
been
and
(The
III.
Chapter
latter.)
work
his
I
some
has
the
regard
but
have
Conrad
Mr
of
students
minds,
will
say
and
convert
to
their
up
in
judgment
My
in
novels,
is, I believe, heterodox,
novel
all
Conrad's
Mr
Nostromo.
the
CONRAD
C.
CONTENTS
PAGE
vii
Preface .....
CHAP.
I.
Conrad,
Critics
his
ARIES
his
Contempor
....
Conrad's
II.
and
Biography
and
Autobiographical
Books
15
....
III.
Conrad's
Novels
IV.
Conrad's
Atmosphere
Conrad
V.
VI.
VII.
VIII.
IX.
X.
XL
Men
Conrad's
Women
Conrad's
Irony
Conrad's
Prose
Conrad's
as
Stories
27
66
Psychologist
as
Conrad's
Conrad
and
92
112
145
Sardonic
and
Humour
161
180
Artist
Position
198
in
Literature
222 .
List
Conrad's
of
Published
Books
237
Index
239
......
ix
CHAPTER
CONRAD,
I
which
could
Since
I first
them
to
do,
to
write
a
for
their
I
Yes,
fall
must
conviction
my
mark
does
I know to
the
such
words
at
accord
that
its
and
familiar
mind
and
criticism
be
can A
the
of
Conrad's
and
and
actually
eating. this
the
And
therefore
book
to
is
defy
the
paralyse
to
power No
to
The
tongue.
impasse
convince.
doubt
a
seems
this
surmount
kind
expression, that
appreciation
a
the
I
few
has
And
magic
of kind
of
proof would
Conrad
study
There
to
only
that
service.
done.
And
convincing,
least
in the
not
creation,
the
tion justifica-
work
unlike
to
pretty
a
final
my
criticism,
seems
to is
and
in
reader For
Moreover,
conviction.
profound
that
statements, is
every
himself.
thi""
it is easy,
pudding
urge
a
for
stupid.
with
merit
and
it is so, on
themselves.
of
fact,
In
epoch.
new
that
make
back is
a
for
ridiculous
rather
is
be
must
author.
authors
about
all
that
generally
living
a
questions
hand.
accurate
about
opinions
all
it is
what
drawn
been
And
extent.
article.
single
a
I have
books
Conrad
about
of
space
his
doing
at
settles
read
book
a
books
the
in
unusual
excuse
form
time
to
very
writing
People
it
began
something
say
said
CONTEMPORARIES
HIS
AND
to
be
not
to
chief
my
wished
long
HAVE
to
CRITICS
HIS
I
for
magic
intuitive of
close
illumine
the
of
business between
viction con-
that
I believe word
would ^
^
JOSEPH the
clothe alone in
voiceless
could
CONRAD
perception
not, for it would
criticism
and
would
be
possess
in
a
that
way
the
creative
the
illusive
logic
element
qualities
of the
result that, the same thing criticised,but, failing be attained, at last, by absolute can sincerityand In the long run do achieve these their sympathy. mount they do present a real picture,they do surpurpose, the
acutely
fearful
And
aware.
claim
for this
works
very
of which
all critics
is what
I
that
I monograph. closelyand I have It is these
conclusions. I
obstacle
that
I
have
would
studied to
come
present
so
like
to
Conrad's definite
some
here
are
as
well
as
can.
Of writer
is
Conrad
course,
to discuss.
He
is
exceptionally
an
of these
one
difficult
whose
men
ordinarily extra-
vivid
writes
to
do find him all this
personality pervades everything he such that extent a an good many people One must differentiate impossibleto read.
from
mannerism,
mere
spoilssuch
writers
mannerism
in
to
the
it is not
say,
Meredith
as
of
case
the
and
the
that It is not
Hugo. Conrad,
like
men
mannerism
mannerism
the
that
it is eccentricity, personality. Flaubert,
of
positivestrength of their for instance, an indubitably great artist, arouses antipathy to a marked degree. He could efface in
one
line of his work,
every
of
course,
in
a
up Nor do
but
sense,
in is the
another
and
who
everyone
singular and
in
is
he
this self him-
visible
was
in
only visible,because,
not
is anyone
is
that, but
visible
He sets menacing fashion. minds certain a temperamental antagonism. he unique in that. Other commanding writers such writers as Dostoievsky and Walt same,
almost
Whitman,
for instance.
And
judge,
have
Conrad
we
to
add
peopleof intelligenceare
as
now,
to
far
this
quite hostile
to
as
list.
I
can
Some
Conrad.
I
CRITICS think his
it must
show
be
them his
to
CONTEMPORARIES
that and
sombre
own
The
AND
in
us
he
3
envelop things with poetic imagination rather than their actual ample, light. Take, for exto
seems
and
story "Youth"
it with
contrast
Hudson's
Purple Land.
Essentiallythey are both concerned the the with idea of same glamour and romance youth ; but I can quite understand people asserting that Hudson's story does give the feelingof youth, whereas Conrad's story gives only a philosophic dream of what youth ought to be. Even if that were I doubt, I do not think it matters true, which (itis "
the
difference
conscious
between
is
but
; artist)
I
and the
why
see
an
unself-
supposition
in
what it seeing that, I grasp that is antipathetic to about It Conrad some. his passionately romantic, melancholy, and ironic
might arise, and, is
self-conscious
a
mind.
But, of To is
read
damn
to
the fact that
is also
much
a
simpler reason.
calls for exertion, and
Conrad
enough
there
course,
he
The
an3^one.
nowadays
exertion
that
arises from
is
imaginative, and requires,in his readers, a corresponding and increasing effort of the imagination. Reading him, as a friend of mine says, mind." is like a leap of the And, furthermore, "
he
is
a
visualiser.
definite
To
follow
him
we
have
to
form
actually excites the optic is prepared for this effort Unless the reader nerve. he will lose half the effect. And, again, although he is romantic and a visualiser yet he is emphatically a of hard create man a edges. In a few words he can is an This almost sharp outline. unique gift,and very
combined
as
sufficient to for the And
images.
it is with arouse
our
He
his
romantic
lurking and
unexpected. Conrad's reputation
manner,
natural
suffers from
is
quite
antagonism another
and
JOSEPH
a
much
he
insidious
more
It appears
cause.
positivelymisunderstood
is
him
admire
who
follow
I
people
the
as
the
put
can
regarded
the
as
author
of
Conrad it
as
is, is
ordinary
more
whereas
Conrad,
of
side
didactic
is
of
whole,
the
representative,on and
Lord
For
me.
how
that
me
of the
really understands Jim, powerful
who
Anyone
Nostromo.
he
than
rather
Jim
to
many know
not
that
by saying
Lord
of
author
by
I do
most.
than
it better
will
CONRAD
the
neglected
subtler, more representative of a much side. and Indeed, more truly creative moving, has an Nostromo imaginative maturity quite beyond instance That of Lord one the scope gives us Jim. Conrad the key to a widespread misconception about all the the less complete and a misconception none is
Nostromo
"
from
refute
difficult to
more
fact
the
it is half-
that
I don't judicialwisdom. I only take the question want to be misapprehended. of symbol to explain as a sort of Lord Jim and Nostromo to me something I find it hard to explain. It seems that the reallypoeticaland thrillingthings in Conrad largely ignored and that they are ignored because are
not
critics
of the
most
air
in the web
to
fly.
a
in
endeavour
is
Conrad
he prebut
he "
v/hen
For
mist
a
dea.dly to
by
too
a
certain
judged, which at the best is pre-judged along bad about
they
are
authors
are
positivelywrong
is
a
artist's
though be
to
have
kind.
many
And
?
marised sum-
begun Not
to
only is
stultifyingprocess,
lines.
always then
spider's
How
writer
critics
a an
enwraps
striking a
Most,
tradition
as
man
epigram
an
still the of
' '
falsehood.
of delicate
work
a
tradition
ruined
tack.
wrong of Conrad
is a kind
a
phrase, him
from
the
upon
as
obviously
in
expect
a
been
have
careers
thing
a
"
are
there
Moreover,
all.
of
guise
the
under
hidden
These
"
tions tradi-
dangerous, the
whole
and
critical
5
CONTEMPORARIES
AND
CRITICS
Year feet. the under by year slips from Conrad famous, is emerging into recognition, a Conrad less or placed." And respected,but a Conrad more to round placing is a compliment v/hich is meant you off for good and all.
ground
"
"
"
charges
These
are
There and
the
ordinary Of
been
not
Revieiv
English it
is
debt.
For
if I must
be
he
should
work
eclectic
if
such
Almayer's Folly and
alone never
include
If I had
gave my
be
of
the the
greatest him
is
book.
his
hands
of
something
my
can
to
himself,
me,
But,
"
That
would
rejected he
been
to prove
the
told
has
easy
miss
the
into
critic
enough. heartier praise to an own past writings.
discerning critics talking so much
Edward
to
expression.
shining exceptions,we
aside.
it would
had
is
"discover"
fallen
another
written
rare
criticisms
owe
Conrad
For
for.
have
never
Conrad
un-insular
and
thankful
that
it
have
in The
Unfortunately
1.
indeed,
offensive
an
penetrating
Hueffer
191
has
there
say
most
Madox
first to
the
was
such
use
earliest
of
readers
that
The
December
for
to
mean
Ford
by
slight. But,
very
Garnett
this
that
was
not
criticism.
good
some
read
I have
I do
course,
worthy. notoriouslyuntrust-
is
review
book
stantiate. sub-
to
little set criticism of Conrad
been
has
hard
indeed, and
vague,
except for put all
point from
the
them
ineptitudes originalgenius. I in saying that But Denser
best
in Conrad
written
word.
I The
am
not wisest
nearly alwaj'^s those spoken, and' it is in conversation, mainly, that feels the pulse of current one opinion. And though I have heard wise and piercingthings said some very the general pulse is beating in a groove about Conrad and beating in vain. And in all this,let me emphasise, but to his admirers. I am not referringto his enemies remarks
about
modern
authors
are
6
JOSEPH
For to
it is
who
they
have
leavened
in
public taste
regard
Conrad. In
the
making
general
understood
properly
not
head
against
Such
impressions are and
is
like
a
critics
annoyed annoyed
if the
of
author
an
disagree with
the
is
run
my
roughly.
case
sensitive
vested
they
actions re-
interest.
only they are
not
are
them, but
is bound At
author's
an
theories
author
his
his work
definite
to
put my
intellectual
an
reputation. explicable. Anyone whose upon
I
want
only highly
pained when preconceived why critics are
are
their
they of
not
author, himself, disagrees. In
remarkable
more
often
get hold
reason
one
do
I know
of
if outsiders
words, they fit into
I
Conrad
such
something
When
that
statement
quite beyond positiveproof. A is easy to lay hold of, but a mental attitude has will-o'-the-wisp.Besides, criticism
a
become
wall.
as
parrot cry
is
CONRAD
to
does
about
so
fond
the
more
This
work
not
it.
That
of labels.
The
intolerant
is curious
are
but
easily strongly
personality lies affect
other
his readers
in
a
very
is
formed, which image is cherished like a fetish and guarded with an excluding jealousy. Such images are precious, dogmatic, and easilyoutraged. (I need only instance the reception of The Secret Agent in Conrad's case.) Whatever happens, the author is prejudged. And in my opinion Conrad is in grave on perilof this. The final word him trembles the critics' lips. upon The truth of the matter is that Conrad, as a phenomenon, way.
is
as
with that
a
real
once
yet but men
an
little realised.
of talent.
genius
can
have
For
He
is still
it is hard
arisen
with
woke to never perceptiblestir. Conrad And the suddenly famous. very scope of his originality is bewildering. For he
founded con-
to believe so
small
find
himself
and
essence
is not
a
simply
CRITICS
AND
CONTEMPORARIES
7
originalin the ordinary sense, he is volcanic without There is nothing bizarre about being anarchic. Conrad. His work belongs to a tradition (not an resembles English tradition, it is true),but it no more the work it derives than from which fish spued up a from the bottom of the Atlantic might resemble a fish of the surface except in so far as they were both fishes. The volcanic in Conrad people,whereas staggers some his lack of anarchy and others. fanaticism annoys For in England an of ideas originalwriter is the man rather than the man of subtlety. We want brilliance, and if we cannot have brilliance we want a problem. It is not the least surprising that like Shaw, men influential. Wells, and Galsworthy are so They are influential because they are representativeof the best side of English insularity. Of course their popularity is as nothing compared to that of Florence Barclay Hall Caine, and or so perhaps not even big as that of the society novelists, Hichens, Benson, Locke, and so but they are lectuals probably as popular as any intelon, Conrad's are ever likelyto be with us. genius, the other hand, is foreignto even advanced the most on He with is not concerned English tradition. righting the world and he is not sparkling. He is neither the novelist of
types
of
himself
like
like
Meredith.
Chesterton He
nor
is the
the
novelist
novelist of
real
Such
been impersonality has never ciated appreAnd in England. Conrad's romantic spirit, It is not the mere too, is alien to the English mind. spiritof improbable adventure, but a sort of philosophy impressing itself with ardour and pessimism upon the Romance of the world. as splendour and darkness
people.
the
last word
People hasten just as they
of
realism
is
an
explain it by hasten to explain to
uncomfortable
idea.
"Slavonic,"
the
word
the
exuberance
of his
8
JOSEPH "
words
CONRAD
styleby
the
who
transgresses the
so
be
can
said to have
The
a
Tropics ideals
styleat
To
"
if,indeed, anyone
"
of
Pater
and
Wilde
all.
speak frankly, there is delusion to as style. What people as style is technique
far-reachingpopular is regarded by many of a particularlyconceited and self-conscious Not type. only has taste for the negative qualitiesbeen obliterated, but taste for the robust I discuss personal qualitiesas well. Conrad's elsewhere, so will merely say here that prose his qualitiesalike would his defects and horrify a wonder at the reaction can against "stylist." Who those who tion, invenconsider it a devilish styleor blame and far banishing jollity, humanity ? Better revert to fire-works, morality, and complicated plots with than swoon stylists in a garden of roses. That Conrad should have an increasingreputation Continent is not the on astonishing, for, after all, his affinities lie there, but that he is now considerably "
"
read Of
in
England
course,
there
a
and is
America
a
fashion
chieflyon
curiosityand
also, that
Conrad's
calls for
enormous
things,founded
in these
vanity,
but
power
remark.
some
we
has
must
suppose,
reallybegun
a man headway against prejudice. If ever It is Conrad. has forced the enemy's gate that man is an odd thing that both in England and America deep originalityis generally appreciated in the long understood. And be much not run though it may in both countries aware becoming people are now of Conrad, although he is too massive to be seen clearly all at once. It is always thus. But when talk of Conrad's we popularity (forfame is not bear in mind that there popularity) we must is other He that militate are reasons against him. and aloof not only in his stylebut in his whole manner
to
make
"
.
"
10
JOSEPH
him
of that
all, he and
from,
"
pale phantom
is absorbed
his
CONRAD
life,and
with
of
illusion
his
choice
part of, and
descriptiveabilityare
that
for art's sake."
art
reality which
he
After of words distinct
not
is intent
on
will find in him the not creating. You corrupt or the simplicityof a George Moore dashing pose of a And Graham. Cunninghame being entirely natural he is neither purposely hectic like Masefield, nor purposely vulgar like Kipling. His work, like the work of Henry James, is essentiallydignified and quite untinged by the pettinessof conscious self-approval. That is not to deny that it is mannered. In its own it is
way
Stevenson him
and
love
of
the
to
have
mannered
as
allowed his
aim their "
grand
of Stevenson.
of words
realises
they
that
Both
Conrad
their
theme.
themselves,
at
merge
a
"
for
term
similar
Henry James
And
thus
their
being
not
last, together with
into idiosyncrasies, "
a
subordinate
are
genuine ring and,
a
manner
with
and
But
get between
to
Conrad,
have
other
love
his
object itself. a passion for
in
work
object, whereas
words,
mannerisms
the
as
one
revelation
expressing
of
real
an
all the
ence emin-
in art.
Although have
been
that
he
Within has
a
of Conrad's
recognised,still
did the
been
writer
at
appear last few
breathed
a
years
it is
rather a
calibre must
new
eventually interestingto notice favourable
and
moment.
vitalising energy
into
been
had English literature,which languishing deplorably since the early '90's,
since
the
end
of
the
aesthetes
and
the
dawn
of the
Men of concrete empire builders. vigour and tireless And the leaders. it is on the crest production are now of their popularity that and outside Conrad, himself Let me fame. make beyond their ideals,has achieved He could not have gained his reputation myself clear.
unless
had
he
gained
it at
blown
the
it has
blown
is
not
what
twenty
all.
A
cobwebs
he
years
is,but
under
he
could
ago
of sound
wave
11 the
anaemic
hardly
have
sense
common
of
has
(that English literature in other obnoxious things in their stead business could only be here). Conrad in a society where sort realityhad some
our
understood of
been
of
conditions
CONTEMPORARIES
AND
CRITICS
out
"
hold.
a
I will venture
But rather
than
the
National
The
the
remark
contributors
Observer, who
to
has
that
it is
The
Yellow
poisoned
Stevenson, Book
or
English
our
For Stevenson's intelligencefor a decade. appeal is more cunning. He is neither unhealthy nor exaggerated and he does not lay himself open to ridicule Our has in taking him hatred. been too or error should this charming light-weight seriously. Why be considered a demi-god ? His mind was intelligent, but not humane, particularlydistinguished,and his But a style was transparent and empty mannerism. his personalitywas attractive and his appeal has the And the result of it all is really glitterof romance. critical
disastrous.
In innumerable
of what
artist
the
an
should
minds be.
he is
And
the model
now
by
standard
this
found judged and wanting. sailed delightfullyover Stevenson the surface, little guessing of the tragic depths waiting to be plumbed like Conrad. by men but it may Well, this is something of a digression, of the reasons to show serve one why such a writer Conrad finds himself, so to speak, on virgin soil in as that England. People take a long time to admit there are sides to a question and still longer to two a
great
admit And art
masters
that even
may
the if
seem
are
second
they to
side may allow Conrad
them
almost
be to
the be
correct an
one.
artist, his
purposeless.
Realism
12
JOSEPH
uncoloured title.
England
mysticism and
\
or
emotion
B. Yeats
for the H.
life of dreams
nor
or
that
on
the
Tagore,
sensualityof but
looks
one
is founded
restraint
G.
H.
an
askance
neither
of the
its
attenuated
the
Rabindranath
a
frank
Lawrence,
for
belie
to
appears
allows
one
morality
,
\'. remark
W.
a
D.
a
austere
an I
of
allows
one
Wells
erotic
by
In
CONRAD
at
the
on
That-
senses.
of
Giorgio Viola's at the end of No stroma, when his head, Si everything is shattering about Few of us can even duty," falls upon inattentive ears., of the old Garibaldino. appreciate the incorruptibility But to Conrad duty is the basis not only of existence "
"
but
of
itself.
art "
than
that
duty,
self-command
them
there
why in
much
so
essence,
For
there
with
is
reality.
built
But
essential
are
the
chaos
to to
of
literature
as
much
him
sincerity,
is worthless and
idea
no
upon
reality. anarchy.
it is insincere is
moralising
no
Without is
That
because,
"
consequently
anarchy
in the
banal
in I
Post-Impressionism. have no wish, in this chapter, to of Conrad's work or point of
forward
these
for his lack are
only
work
modern
its very
anarchic. as
is
of
this
state
Conrad's
significance other
I
yet other
in his
instances
of wider causes
to
and no
try
led into
view.
I
account,
A
certain
a
cussion dis-
just put in
deeper appreciation.
doubt.
of narration
to
be
part, There
indirectness
explain a good deal, and richness of language in his earlier monotonous a work has certainlyrepelledmany. The popular idea "of Conrad as a "picturesque writer is unfortunate, because that he people at once jump to the conclusion is that and In the ordinary way there nothing more. is not much critical discrimination in England and false cry may one reputation help or retard a man's for years. I labour Still,why should a subject that manner
must
"
will
be
soon
Conrad's
day
His
work
hand
is at
I
For
and
that
that
he will
13
his
once
that
sure
am
has
sun
set.
mean,
of
is not
cast
I do not
historical ?
merely
it will not
risen
CONTEMPORARIES
AND
CRITICS
course,
mould.
in that
be
ever
But
I
popular. that
mean
The popular appeal genuinely revered. v/ork loses Conrad's and is not necessarilydebased something by not possessing it. It loses a certain is the birthrightof those universal which significance artists artists, such as Shakespeare, or Turgenev, have also been or even popular. Maupassant, who And it must that by artists I mean be understood realists. In my opinion realists are the only true artists he
be
will
in fiction. which
is
And
I do
coarseness
is caricature
"
or
I
not
mean
the
mean,
realism
the
realism
of
a
essentially,the
of
Dickens
realism
a
Zola
which of
a
Turgenev or Conrad, the realism, in fact, of distinguished reality. Anthony typical and Trollope,it is true, is a realist,but he has obviously his creations second and therefore rate a intelligence are wanting in the highest actuality. They are not of real life. imagined with the passionate nuances I say that lacks the popular appeal So when Conrad I am like not really meaning the appeal of a man Dickens (great genius though he is),but rather the of his own appeal of a man genre such as Turgenev. creations is something exalted in Conrad's There spread which will for ever keep them slightlyapart from widewhen that We must paring comsympathy. grasp of whom his contemporaries, some him with writer
have
like
more
than
a
touch
of
this intimate,
universal
it is easier to get en rapport with appeal. In a sense the people of Gissing or Bennett with the people than of Conrad. This is partly for two reasons. Firstly, they have a wider general interest, and secondly they
JOSEPH
U
just
lack in
the
that
About
of
aristocratic
do
with
view
other.
is
both
literarygenius
show
further
whereas Of
out
sets
other
to
people
proving
unbacked
not
may
it
either
great
all this because
I say think
that
quite
I
a
the
from
realise
of
easiest
to
nearly
all
He
But
criticise. his is
on
a
real
this
truth.
pages
point
I
but
"
is worth
fairly proved. that
not
almost
and
that
What
I
hope
to
pinnacle.
is
finest
is
plane,
not
as
an
may
Conrad
quality to
of
and
it were, miss
opinion,
demonstrate
sarily neces-
writers
the
certain as
realise
quite
differentiates
almost here
a
on
and
should
people
Conrad
the
conviction.
carry
perfection
different are
comparisons point. I present
following
the
contemporaries
therefore
the
do
genius
it
proves
been
defects
merits.
comparisons.
one
unwilling
am
in this
negligible. Fortunately
or
Conrad's
criterion
greatness.
I
destiny,
society.
demonstrate
simply putting
am
people's
other
and
statements
parte
ex
could
men
upon
such
that
can
subject,
of unfairness
indeed,
one
two
no
all
in
agree
has,
their
Simla
deal
point
a
formulas
is
is
prove
that
or
certain
anyone
there
as
"
good
a
sanity (that
his eye
has upon
philosopher
have
yet
view.
something
a
know
and
"
difference
and is
Both
directly to
the
one
as
kind
a
Kipling's
Conrad
his eye is
there
course,
One
has
Kipling
comparison
be
about
Conrad
For
apart.
and
both
is
there
consider
observer.
an
reserved
nothing
East
possession),
uncommon
I
the
the
about
has
Just
sublime
Kipling
On
of
is inherent
subtly
work
which
itself.
which
as
Conrad's
something
cockney
be
mind
a
flavour
his is
and
of
all
work
the
between There
of distinction
touch
projections
Conrad's.
CONRAD
the
but it
as
in a
the
two
the
that
like
Pepys
than
respectEvelyn more
not
for
Pepys, Conrad,
And
Evelyn ?
than
more
all,
things,above
reveals itself. Who,
character
secret
instance, would and
it is in such
For
!
men
25
AUTOBIOGRAPHY
AND
BIOGRAPHY
of memories, stands before us in the clear light of day. He may tellus littleabout himself books
in his two
in
one
tells us
To
much.
is to
understand
art.
His works the works
as
us,
genius are Conrad's and
he way, but in another read these books sympathetically
in the material
way,
should
to
the true
are
be. "
life and
again be mysteriousto
never
of the few
apt
so
attitude towards
Conrad's
temperamental
of real
men
No, these
two "
sesame
open
to
of
books
his novels
completerectitude and sincerity to rob him for allows imagination
stories. In the
of his art he than
more
a
Indeed,
never
of his hold upon
moment
as
I said
before, many
the earth.
of his stories
are
career. actuallyfounded upon incidents of his own their romantic That is partlywhy they possess, against background,such an air of invincible reality.They the productsof an enormouslyactive and dramatic are
memory,
a
whose
memory
outline is filledin and
main
Conrad's artistic grasp. amplifiedby a very sure colour all his work philosophyand romance may distort it. For they only exist to the but they never His own dramatic. pointof making his realism more reminiscences
are
of his stories
the foundation
"
times some-
sometimes so subtlythat no exact obviously, could be established. For I think one relationship does feel that
almost
all the
characters
in Conrad,
great proportionof the events, have definite prototypes if it be only in embryo. And the more
and
a
"
books the more autobiographical he shows us admittedly real people,
one
studies these two
one
feelsthis.
For
real incidents precisely as he admittedly
/ /
shows
us
the
26
JOSEPH
people
and
which,
at
its
and
air
the
realism
art
of I
of
end
series British
the
mariner
become
to
"
fate
keeps
flings
in
a
as
is,
has hardest
up our
mere
indeed,
led
of
one
its
these
I
face. fact
will
any
strangely
one
of
lives
of
realistically-romantic
the
our
time
by
It
a
For and
the
is
our
could
written
that then
make
the and
age.
"
ing astound-
more
that
have
prehensible incom-
and
years it
boy master
a
flukes
"
:
on
quite
seems
embroidery
of
a
nor
Polish
and
wandering
novels
recounting
art
led
hundred
should
sequently, con-
commenting
that
appropriate most
summate con-
novels.
Service,
a
the
realism,
enlarge
not
than
and
marvellous
for
sleeve
art,
greater
down
events
novelist.
a
is
a
without
Merchant
the
And, he
stories
with
of
in
manner.
toned
chapter
this
astonishing enter
is
saturated
is
his
neither
his
former
the
latter
in
than
is
effort
where is
there
of
the
of books
two
reality
cannot
the
It
the
His
the
realism
adventures
lesser
imagination.
conceals
best,
in
to
of
incidents
ease
actual
CONRAD
who
man
of
one
the
it.
the most
28
JOSEPH the
on
distinct
phases
clearlythan I author's qualitiesin of
of his
do
more
criticism
CONRAD
work.
the
individual
of
danger
other
any
No
books
one
but
the
books
part of
as
casket
themselves the
I
mere
novelist
a
of the
theory
in
or
be
may
taken
Some
build a
few
he is
a
for a
edifice
from
worthy
but
for
This, therefore,
to
(two
of
his
own
His "
them
and
the
a
book
to
Eastern
irresistible
only white
judged
fact
either
is not
his
the a
as
in
mere
a
pioneer book,
a
treat
the
in
future
work,
sequently, con-
ideallycritical critic who
subtle
will
dissection
enough
to
of that
prove
critic. for the
excuse
my
and
for
has
the
ment arrange-
drawn-out
published ten
collaboration
five volumes
first book an
may
specialchapter.
in
novels
story of
be
must
to
it is
me
present Conrad
Hueffer) and
book
have
of such
whole this
the
a
sight
be
can
that
is not
may
writer
Up
to
lose
not
things that
on
and
Conrad
;
simplicityof
he
this
For
that
manner
vast
the
road
excellencies
sight of
granted
novels
of
I do
that
lay emphasis
day a
up
the
Conrad, though, being
to
in one.
lose
not
to
had
certain
prove
pave
individual
structure
practice.
introduction I have
on
remarkable, it is only by the continuity
I do
"
will
to
of his books.
though
completed
artist
an
I want
which
study
fact that,
the
make
because
Conrad
minute
more
of
have
about
things
but
"
course
a
being
not
containingvarious mental attributes the livingbody but I have decided
a
see
discussing an
way "
can
begin is
with
of stories.
Ford
novels Madox
I will examine
with.
Almayer's Folly (1895).
River
passion.
"
of illusion, weariness,
is one
Almayer
trader, of Sambir,
This
a
is the
distant
white
and
trader, obscure
CONRAD'S
29
STORIES
AND
NOVELS
up the river Pantai of an island in the Dutch has been there Indies. He East years, many, many first with business, and under high hope, with much
settlement
the
protection
famous
and
him
in
"
dreaded
nothing left daughter Nina for
powerful Captain Lingard, the Rajah Laut," but latterlywith
of
to
him and
the
but
his
his belief in
interior.
love a
For
for
half-caste
his
waiting Captain Lingard has vast
treasure
the ruined and broken, and disappeared for ever, so treacherously introduced wily Abdulla, the Arab (see An Outcast of the Islands), long ago by Willems A heretic has sapped the very life of his trade.
amongst
the
True
Believers,
once-influential
the
Almayer passes a despisedand perilousexistence beside the steaming waters of the Pantai. Everything around him sunk into has decay before his brooding and embittered sight,but at last hope, in the form of Dain to him Maroola, a Malay of noble family, has come the with the promise of wealth. For it is with Dain And great expedition into the interior is to be made. with the gold he and Nina will escape from their prison to Europe, and all the misery of the past will be blotted But in these visions of a splendid future Almayer out. is blind
to
the
present,
Dain, perfectfelicity, the
heart
of
Nina.
the
And
and
even
as
he
conspirator,has far from
that
dreams
of
stolen away forlorn and
the the hopeless spot she flies with him across sea, of his Nina, to the house mysterious and untamed father, the Rajah. But Almayer, weakly violent and the affectionate double blow by turns, sinks under of calamity and disappointment. There is a secret air of plottingin this book, the plotting of the local Rajah, Lakamba, and his councillor, the one-eyed and pessimistic Babalatchi, the plotting of Almayer and Dain, of Dain and the Rajah, of Dain
^0
CONRAD
JOSEPH Nina, of Babalatchi
and and
the
Dutch,
Mrs
Almayer,
it were,
the
and
and,
as
plotting of the forces moist, and foetid smell stifling, book with a whispered tension. sombre
of
jungle fills the poisonous breath
The
and
of the
rotting forests
entered
into
the
hearts
of
Almayer's Folly has
an
it is
an
it before
consider date
fifteen to
actors, and
there
Almayer's
death.
the
Outcast
have
of
tion revela-
the
of
been
Islands and
Sambir
better
almost because
anterior
years
But
nerves.
this sinister
Almayer's Folly
twenty
stories
easiest
tragic story
it would
have
oppressive atmosphere
is An
is another and
Pantai,
a
and
to
seems
of Conrad's
one
book
next
This
(1896).
of
of
physical effect upon imposing effort of its kind, a tropicalbackwater.
Conrad's
to
is not
thought
almost
of
the
the
all these
Its monotonous
read.
to
in
the
For
of the
river
positive relief
and
patient
nature.
of the
is
of Abdulla
it treats
novel.
to that
and Almayer is still young Nina a tiny child. Captain Lingard is still in his full vigour, there is still activityon the wharf of Lingard In An
of the Islands
Outcast
is but
and
Co., and
And,
for well but remained indeed, all might have cursed Willems, Hudig's defaulting clerk from
the
It
Macassar.
the
it
safe
thrust
retreat
Willems the
was
him
guessed.
When
the
two
the
forest, he
men
with
of which he
shadow.
the It is
another.
one
Captain Lingard
sailed
together in
might
From
curses.
hate
Almayer
likelihood
a
and Captain Lingard, autocratic in his first start had given Willems Captain Lingard who bore him off to the outraged Hudig of Sambir when
forth
and
of Abdulla
was
indulgent, who life,and
influence
the
have
down the
the
treacherous
known
that
outset a
should
thing have
river, leaving solitude disaster
of
would
But
follow.
benevolent
he, the
that
for
in his forest walks
meets
of the
old
abandon
East.
of this white
Lakaniba's
lives under
and
swift
the
the
that
tection. pro-
passionate tion infatua-
slavish
it is in the
And
man
death,
to
enchanting Aissa, daughter
the
sea-piratewho They love with
of the
bored
and
idle
Willems,
best.
the
law and only that his will was doing everything despot, was
knew
he
31
STORIES
AND
NOVELS
CONRAD'S
one-eyed
Babalatchi
of intrigue. opening for his eternal sense in the Aissa is taken Willems, and secretly from madness of his raving he is told that only under one the condition will he ever her again condition see on to of pilottingAbdulla's ship from the river's mouth is rich, he is unscrupulous, the settlement. Abdulla the power of Lingard, the he is in Sambir and once The dreaded infatuated Rajah Laut," will cease. without a man science, conWillems, a megalomaniac and an
grasps
"
"
this baseness
commits
and
captain,his benefactor,
of the white for
;
the
rich
is filched
preserve from him
ever.
The
Lingard's the
part of
latter
punishment
settlement
and
Almayer. brought back
his
Willems of the on
love
with
full of
But
him
of
On
of
Willems.
returns
his
out
boat
wife and
and
He all
from
he
had
child
good thoughts is terrible enough. revenge to perpetual imprisonment in sides
for Aissa
Before the
has
him
Captain
story consists finds
he
Willem's
plans
Pantai.
both
the
the
dignant in-
the
actually
and
he
for his He a
to
came
protege.
sentences
dark
river, behind
clearing him
impenetrable jungle. turned to loathing and
and
Willem's he
seeks
But the of his at moment desperately to escape. the flight (made possible in by appearance treachery of Almayer), she shoots him with his own "
revolver.
"
5^
JOSEPH The
of
story
violent
Outcast
An
emotion
CONRAD
Islands
the
of
like
is
of
one
tropicaldownpour. There is scheming in it, hatred, and passion. The action is, I consider, too out, but long drawn situation the is impressive and terrible. As even in Almayer's Folly the teeming, patient, and silent life of the
wilds
colouring
the
material
in
the
Narcissus
dealing with the high seas,
with
toil.
nigger
The
Kitts
St
huge
a
like
round
mill-stone
a
Donkin,
the
Cockney,
feels in
his
dirty
till the
Bombay into
use
northern
the
and
him
they
the
dying
the
first
human
of the
cannot
but
he
his illness
hearts
Donkin
in
interest
as
a
crew.
Only
dying man, compassion. figure of
life of
stirringup
disorganisation. But the
officers towards
simple the
real
to
unrest
their
attitude to
at
is lowered
whole
admire
their
to
sailors.
cunning enough
bewilderment
is incidental
hangs
body
for
They
hfe
steps aboard the
is
lever
with
centre
dead
dominates
understand And
man.
step
his
moment sea
he
Wait,
scorn,
of
is the
who
moment
wastrel
The
ship.
in the
the
From
book.
the
the
nigger
from
sumption con-
the
touch
no
on
from
sinking
pilfersfrom
who
story
a
James
with
of the
hearts
the
ing-ship sail-
mutiny
dying
His
little soul
is, in fact, the
It
words.
evil
the
Conrad's
releaser is
existence
clings to
with
and
terror,
"
is
a
cowardice, with
Narcissus who
of
"
with
the
death,
of the
London
with
in
of the
voyage to
and
Outcast
(1898) is
one
thing,
only
not
storms,
with
negro,
who
but
with
bravery
life, and
"
Bombay
and
calms
and
person
nature
story of
from
tumultuous "
every
upon
Narcissus
"
It is the
novel.
third
a
An spiritualsense. dank undergrowth.
a
Nigger of
"
aspect of
of the
reeks
The
weighs
whole
but
Island
spent
soon
men
is
individual purpose
of
CONRAD'S
This
make
to
voyage,
a
is to
story, which
the
book
smell
and
the
cold.
the
almost
ocean,
And
in
finest
our
it is the
spiritof very
eyes.
alike
sense,
We
in its almost
can
ship moving beneath tropicalheat and the winter
feel the
the
sense
33
actual
its characterisation.
feet, almost
our
it
STORIES
conjure up the live again before
is realistic
atmosphere
AND
NOVELS
when
same
we
to look
come
at the
The
pictures of the three officers,and of such men as Singleton, a sixty-year-old child of the the cook, of Craig (known mysterious sea," of Podmore Belfast "), of Wait the nigger,and of commonly as the despised (and influential) arily Donkin, are extraordinmen.
"
"
defined It is "
a
brilliant.
and
impossibleto
Narcissus," because than
plot
And He
one
has
alone
of
vividness
Fair
is
The
about
it is still
Vanity
it is
yet
much
say
more
novel
a
novel
a
Nigger of the without
without
hero.
a
of Conrad's
most
originalconceptions.
written
such
a
ever
book.
It has
the
actual
experiencetouched by the magic The glitterof remembrance. descriptionsof the sea and of the life on board The are strangely beautiful. has the qualities of an epic Nigger of the Narcissus an epic of the arduous, the exacting,and the enslaving an
"
"
"
of the
service
Lord
Jim
story of for sea
and
(1900) of fatal
secluded "Lord
man
of romantic
almost
morbid
ship Patna, greyhound,
is Conrad's
of the
and
remorse
deed
a
sea.
"
a
and
and
novel.
next
effort to
is
a
regain self-respect
unexpected
Eastern
It
cowardice.
settlements
The
the
are
ground. back-
Jim," son of a clergyman, and a young imagination, faith in himself, and an is an officer on the pilgrimsensibility, steamer eaten
water-tank."
as
up On
old with a
as
the
rust
calm
hills,lean like
worse
than
night
in
a
the
a
demned con-
Red
Sea, while
Jim and
delicious
the
his watch, in
CONRAD
JOSEPH
S4
bridge, lulled into perfectsecurity,is awaiting
Patna
ninety-nine times
breaks
but
out
of
out
the
on
end
To
Not
of
boat
a
fatal
been
have
hundred.
a
deck
upper
of the
one
watches
in scornful
feverish
haste.
silence
At
while
instant
any
they
few
the
amongst disdainful
engineers. Jim,
officers and
would
thing
a
the
derelict.
a
of
sense
a
has sleeping pilgrims realises what immediately a subdued, hideous panic
eight hundred
happened,
over
passes
such
condition
her
the
on
of their
lower
white
terror,
boat
a
the bulkheads
with
give
may
examination and has seen an (Jim himself has made and boats there are no the plates bulging inwards) with watches utter for the disgust pilgrims. He the secret fury of their terror, and suddenly, when had He is already in the water, he jumps. the boat "
to
meant
not
crisis the
he
"
a
quick
into
story plausible dead for
tell
men
and
good
by
it is this atone.
to
action. succeeds
Suez her
invented no
of
sure
Patna
the
deserted
was
their
upon
is towed
ship
he And
jumps.
fortune
and
so,
of his life has
rest
follows
do
by the
tales, turns
at
the
all lapse for which For public disgrace able unaccountBy some in keeping afloat, man-of-war
French
a
So
officers.
by
himself, but
the
more
or
captain,who
knew
them
rend
upon
to
"
less that them
all.
inquirythat Marlow, the narrator of the tale,makes Jim's acquaintance. He is attracted to him against his will, and in all Jim's subsequent active or passive participation. wanderings he takes some and And strange, Jim's wanderings are many It is at the court
for
they
are,
of
indeed,
spirit. Everjrwhere some
spot
reminiscence to
he
the is
of that
spot, throwing
up
wanderings
dogged by one
good
act, and and
of some
he
an
uneasy
evidence, flees from
permanent
billets
CONRAD
JOSEPH
36
a
at
second-hand.
This
because
is
one
the
through hand
apt
eyes
with
whole
tragedy impossible had Jim, Mmself,
of
character
The
anything
written of the
of
passage
rather
would
the
the
see
have
been
eliminated.
For
romantic, is too
than but
realism.
is, to
wise
his
a
make
to
the
adventures,
story
Conrad than
sumptuous
more
from
men.
book,
intense
with
throughout
Jim,
of the
mainspring
is the
and
Conrd'd
clever
other
the
We
that
unusual
inarticulate.
of his heroes
many
On
treatment.
perspectivebeen
the
of the
mixture
a
gains something
clearness
a
though
large extent,
it
organic
and
partly viewing everything
philosopher. that
it would
because
of get weary of Marlow, who is
and
detached
this
story recounted
a
conviction,
to
admit
must
one
as
partly
so
greater
sentimental
and
ironic
is
still
conveyed
have
than
rather
plain narrative
as
has
the
never
description the
pilgrim-shipacross
is told
Indian
Ocean.
and
unequal length of the
after-
thought. of
set
new
one
feels
Marlow.
book, is much
the
and
it
perfect
more
of
first
the
the
part
second
develops, too of cowardice
telling the he
in
my
somely, weariand
its
that part, especially,
does
part he
through
story
serve
opinion. Lord Jim (itspurpose greatest novels
Although,
third
a
second
mistake
in but purpose, aimless onlooker.
Conrad's
officer about
French
characters
the In
is
parts of very first part, which ends
The
It is in this second
retribution.
Jim
Lord
unofficial
philosophicproblem
the
about
like an part reads almost late in the novel, It introduces, too
satisfying. The
and
a
the
through
way
notice
two
merit.
of the
remarks
the
with
to
itself into
it divides
that
thing
curious
Another
a
has
very
become
is not
one
is almost
real an
of too
didactic
"
still it will
and
it is
this
strongest, most
readable, and
certainlythe In this
story
of
,
efforts.
(1903) is
and
uttermost)
widely known,
the
novel
next
history of g. South American there leading theme hang
side-issues
to the
37
of his most
one
his
STORIES
strained
purpose
closelyargued
Nostromo the
a
remain
ever
for it is amongst most
AND
NOVELS
CONRAD'S
individual
hardest of vast
novels
on
multitude
a
experiences
of Conrad's
to
riches, of unbridled
patriotism,of greedy of
But
revolution. such
It is
Conrad.
by
of it
that
is
summarise.
passions,of
cruelty,of the most and debased of the most noble impulses, the whole to be epitomised. seems history of South America In the republicof Costaguana, one of these hopeless, American is one unsettled South republics, there and contented province, the sea-board prosperous Occidental is the Province, whose capital Sulaco Gould Concession," head-quarters of the famous silver mine, which has brought of the San Tome owners wealth and The head securityto the whole district. of the is an concession English Costaguano of the third Gould taciturn a generation, Charles man, love of order and hiding in his silence an inherited hatred of political that make of him a formidable unrest barbaric
"
"
type of fanatic
"
the
cold
and
reasonable
v/ife,the frail and most
The in
compassionate moving figure in the whole slow evaporation of Charles
his intense
absorption in
"
Dona
Emilia, is the
of Conrad's Gould's
material
His
type.
love
books. for her
interests
"
is
to this story of visible terror tragic undercurrent and anarchy. of Sulaco has attracted, For the wealth at last, the politiciansfrom beyond the mountains, and all the vilest riff-raff of the republic. In the a
revolution
to
upset the
humane
President-Dictator
JOSEPH
58
CONRAD
Ribiera
(the
is made
for Sulaco
both
whole
social
The
sea.
of
hope
one
Costaguana),
from
fabric, built
The mob
victorious
in that
and
of
a
the
welcome disorder
and
shameful
death.
But
great idea
the
anew
of the young
patriotic
disinterested
than
amatory
more
appears
hands
journalist,whose
a
such
of disaster.
It is the idea
Republic.
mocker
a
or
the
orgies of
is born
horror
and
of the Occidental
Decoud,
of exile
ruin
the
gloom
ardour
with
revolutionaries
joy, await
with
up
falls to
care,
rush
and
mountains
the
piecesat the breath Sulaco aristocracy,powerless in the who, fickle and cringing to success,
laborious
wild
a
and
despises the evil fortune that has brought him life. His plan, home from the gaiety of his Parisian cut to Province put shortly, is for the Occidental the become itself off from the rest of Costaguana and Occidental Republic. And, in fact, that is what takes place. For at the height of the terror, when others and Charles Gould are expecting instant death (Gould has absolutely refused to play into the hands of the General of the Barrios, one revolutionaries). his with incorruptiblesof the Ribiera regime, returns who
I have
But the
who
Italian
dores
the
"
He
"
is
a
person
makes,
as
book.
which
"
he
never
of his
a
(His
reveals
"
useful, and
vanity
discreet
his
the
and
success.) resource,
character
foundations
sufferingfrom a
an
nickname
very
curious, complex
man
is
a
of
measure
of the
one
he is
most
boundless
of almost
it were, For
the
gives
on
be
to
Sulaco.
in
revelation
the
up
He
sailing-vessel Capataz de Carga-
Sulaco
reliable, the
man
Nostromo
and
the
his way
is named.
book
to
come
most
feared
most
of
has
worked
has
and
the
whom
himself,
Nostromo
yet mentioned
not
after
man
invaders.
off the
drives
and
army
a
of
grievance
grievance against society
takes
that
reward, that
his
of Sulaco out
to
it
This
sea.
lighterthe
the
much his
in
of
out
of
the
greed
as
wonderful
things hides
indeed,
island
Placid
the
of
is
who
resting-placeto mortal the and death s sinking of is supposed to be lost for ever its
not
so
pique, keeps the secret slowly," visiting very
of
out
Nostromo,
And
sea.
"
rich
grows
treasure
Decoud
treasure,
desert
a
treasure
and
breast
the
Decoud'
bottom
the
at
the
of
one
invasion
silver
the
remove
reveals
never
with
For
ears.
in
the
night before
of his, with
hides
deep
he
off to
vogage
He
safely and
granted, that cheats him of' adequately recognise all that the
life, is
his
Conrad.
Gulf, but
On
is told
he
fleeingfor in
cannot
for it.
done
has
he
for
much
too
39
STORIES
AND
NOVELS
CONRAD'S
bar of occasional an night to extract he meets it is there And the incorruptiblemetal. his death by a tragic misunderstanding. For on the and lonely Isabel a lighthouse has been erected now Garibaldino it is guarded by old Giorgio Viola, a and his two daughters, the dark Linda and veteran, the
island
the
fair
but
it
at
Linda
To
Gizeile. Gizeile
that
knowing nothing
of the
is
him
shoots
he
as
skulks
he
loves.
treasure
below,
wastrel, philanderingfellow his
daughter
I have
done
containing so
no
mountain your
bones
of his other
thinking
come
he
shore
on
secret, is to
some
meet
many
of
threads the
first
just touch of interest order
it is
For
work.
the
upon
and
that
to
a
skirts out-
book
many condense so
impossible. And how is one to read of the romance atmosphere ? To the cold spring on is like drinking from a
any
Nostromo
than
more
extraordinary
individualities
recreate
Garibaldino,
The
Gizeile.
of this
it with
or
betrothed,
is
Nostromo
realism
is
to the it thrills you with a gulp of breathless
side
"
very and
marrow
of
exhilarating
CONRAD
JOSEPH
40
life.
far his
opinion,it is by little known
longest novel,
is Conrad's
Nostromo
and
It is
greatest. which
one
creative
it
genius
all
overtops
difti-
a
way
of the
all literature.
force in
de
tours
find
confused
culty in reading (probably owing to the but it is one in which time is indicated), astounding
in my
singularly
book
a
people
many
and
most
sheer
For
Conrad's
Its
work.
its is, perhaps, involved, but intricacyis highly artistic,and the continuity of the of
manner
whole
is
narration
In
convincing.
logical vigour, in psychofeelingof a mood
dramatic
subtlety,and in the sustained (an atmosphere at once physicaland mental) Nostromo is a phenomenal genius masterpiece. It is Conrad's incarnate.
In is of
contrast
underworld
the
in
shop
side
a
Stevie.
brother-in-law, slothful with
is
a
when he
that
must
Vladimir Baron
he
is not make
a
and
mother, Verloc
So
broad
himself
he
felt
or
explicit. In
Stott-Wartenheim
from
hint for
it
his
heavy and well pleased he is horribly the
Embassy
money.
Either
will be the
was
that
sacked.
days
easy,
his
half-witted
his
and
man
doing enough
is very
agent,"
lives with
his
in
existence.
gets
secret
he
where
domesticated
his comfortable
upset he
way
the
in
of Soho,
wife's
his
wife, Winnie,
underworld
realitya spy of one keeps a dim, disreputable
He
street
a
the
"
"
spies. Verloc,
Embassies.
big
life
anarchist, but
ostensibly an
of the
London
of
and
of anarchists is
It is
comparatively simple book.
a
Agent (1907) novel treating
Secret
The
Nostromo,
to
he
of
the
admits,
Mr late to
what they want Embassy, but now stir up must concrete are public proofs. Verloc he must engineer a opinion against the anarchists plot that will drive the police into drastic action.
impose
upon
the
"
CONRAD'S it is with
And
such
slowly returns silence, miserably bitter thoughts.
in
secretive
he
mind,
For
home.
But
in
broods
side, plunged
to
cloudy and plays upon
He
plan.
a
that
ears
he
last, in his
at
evolves
his
month
a
side
from
torn
41
STORIES
ringing
words
Verloc in
AND
NOVELS
feeHngs of the merciful Stevie till he has worked that simple-minded youth into a speeclilessfury of And he suggests to of mankind. pity for the wrongs Greenwich of him the the blowing up remedy Observatory. Stevie, in the singlenessof his heart, he has always accepts every idea of Verloc's because been brought up to believe that Mr Verloc is good. of He is the willingand exultant victim of the cause So far,all right the only hitch to Verloc's humanity. plan is that Stevie, stumbling in the fog, gets blown bomb. up by his own the
"
"
Winnie
marrying
the
for
sacrifice all this
life,to the very fact of comfortably situated Verloc, is one long whole
Verloc, whose
beloved
her
She
plotting.
Stevie, knows
only
Michaelis, country with for a humanitarian,
the
and
ex-convict
an
few
is in
Stevie
that
knows
of
nothing
days of vaguely
vinced con-
fresh
air.
at Verloc's nothing, but wonders the curious air of depression. Even on day of the an evening paper, she is explosion, not having seen lightened completely ignorant of the very fact, till she is enamidst the by a detective who had found shattered fragments of the body a tape with Stevie' s
She
guesses
address
and
name
ceaseless
and
it
on
tender
(the handiwork
of his sister's
forethought). Then, indeed,
she
realises all. The the
last
detective
twilight of and
part of
remains
has the
the
book
left she
shop.
still.
And
is very remains
Verloc all the
dreadful. motionless
enters.
while
She the
When
in the trembles
reserve
of
long
is
years
have
filled her
their
her, with
conflicting emotions, But
animal
revenge, In heart.
suddenly,
seizes
she
knife
a
reaction
the
maternal
defeated
and
love
love, keep
composed
as
in
and
of
despair
and
violent
her
outraged
of stone.
woman
the
All
heart.
hatred
and
slippingoff her,
for Stevie, all her
a
CONRAD
JOSEPH
42
of
moment
a
Verloc
stabs she
terror
as
to
staggers
Comrade Ossipon, the shop only to meet she from whom swaggering and irresistible anarchist in her has always shrunk. Now, misery, she flings from
the
herself
tellinghim
him,
upon
all, and
beseeching
him
fear and Sick with fly with her and protect her. Verloc' s savings) he promises ; but greed (he wants the train the platform of Waterloo Station, when on and leaves her to her fate. is moving, he jumps out herself in mid-channel. That night she drowns to
The
Secret
Agent
is
great book
a
it suffers, to
but
plot. It is notorious the founded, obviously, on explosion in of twenty years ago, but in his imaginGreenwich Park ative this episode Conrad effort to build a story around extent,
some
has
fallen
fell into not
story not
the
in
Diana
improbability of
the
of
succeed
of Mrs
quite
the
rather
secret
Greenwich be
into
quite
Dacier's
from
the
in
same
in
succeed
The
Diana's
his
did
betrayal
it
is
simply Conrad
Times, and
making
Meredith
Meredith
Crossways.
making
and
that
error
credible, although
Norton
its
explanation
of the
does of
the
although there must explosion credible idea of explanation. But though the main Agent is far-fetched, its atmosphere and its "
some
Secret
in
characters
are
Stevie
people
are
reality,and
Verloc
his
finest
of the
Professor," Ossipon, and admirable.
The
highest and
himself, the
secret
air of the
called
mother,
shop
touching
most
anarchist
Winnie's
and
Winnie
manner.
is
are
"
The
indeed
produced
with
CONRAD
JOSEPH
44
it, he
have
him
considers
sister,who
Haldin's
meets
supposed to have been her brother's and last associate helper. On all hands, indeed, he is treated warmly, though as something of an enigma ; bitterness of his animosity hide the for he cannot hero,
a
and
is
he
as
in him
roused
by
presented
is
of
gnawing
the
beautiful
a
as
and
fully
been
She
Haldin.
Nathalie
with
contact
have
They
remorse.
true
whose
nature
Slowly, under the impossible to him. awakening, this life of lies grows of his ever But it is not tillall chances being discovered have disappeared, not till he finds that he is falling in
trust
in
Nathalie
with
love
that a
is unbounded.
Ramuzov
and
resolves
he
and
his
reparation.
the
drums
for
is deafened
He his
of both
reckless
road
the
morning, tottering on
that
who the
book
and
he
is
living with
her
in the
from
the
same
perfect silence by a tramcar
surrounding world, he gets run over He is tended by a Russian severelyhurt. at the her life to his misery, and devotes
of the
in
having
by
ever
in the
turned, re-
he makes
men,
Early
broken.
ears
be
will
midnight,
At
confess.
to
full of determined
room
love
his
that
woman,
close
of
South
of
Russia,
slowly dying. The
story gets its
name
by an old English teacher words and partly in his own by
Razumov.
book,
and
as
subsidiary to and
in order stands
forth
Under
Western
such,
all
the
main
in the in
the
calm
hard
of
other
languages
partly from
in a
it is told
Geneva,
diary
left
Eyes is reallya one man naturally figures are
one.
Razumov,
the
believer
organised reform, constant opposition. of
wisdom role
fact that
of
in revolt against revolt. psychology of a man but His appeal to one's sympathy lacks sentiment with is written book The is poignant all the same. great precision and subtlety of language, and marks His
is the
CONRAD'S
a
step
forward
in
NOVELS
AND
Conrad's
exactitude
STORIES of
45 The
style.
description of the winter night of Russia, of the Russian colony in Geneva, and of the sister and mother of Haldin are particularlystriking. Personally I do Western not put Under Eyes on so lofty a pinnacle as, The Secret Agent (there is a certain bleakness say. about it),but I think it is a surer piece of art. (1914)is Conrad's implies the iiony of chance Chance
whole
As
its
name
is the
leading link of the story is wanting in conventional
The
structure.
latest novel.
plotand, though full of events and characters, concerns, in chief, two people" Flora de Barral, the daughter of a famous (and fraudulent) financier, and Captain Roderick of a poet and master of the Anthony, son Ferndale.
The
respectively The
After
crash
herself
Barral's
Mrs
known
it is
And
flash of intuition forlorn
with
him
and
by
Flora
Knight." and
aboard to
her
Captain
concerns
de Barral of
The
childhood
the
Ferndale.
penal servitude
abasing poverty.
from
home
in
a
sea
sudden
on
Anthony sees despairing soul. sheer
love
force
one
and
that
the
into
"
Miss
de
proved to be a Mr and Mrs Fyne, slightlyin the days of her wealth. that she meets Captain Anthony,
house
their
her
second
horrors
the
Fyne's brother,
visits.
the
sent
friends
best
It is at
which
to
she had
whom
Barral's
parts, named
two
and
de
his life with
and
the
and
into
"
Damsel
Flora
youth,
Anthony and
The
"
first concerns
miserable
is divided
book
of
into
of his
rare
overwhelming the depths of
He
carries
his
boundless
her
off
pity
thus
offending mortally the and Mrs decorous correct Fyne. And it is on board the Ferndale that Mrs Flora, now Anthony, brings the ex-convict than ever (and more monomaniac) springing
4e Barral.
His
"
insane
hatred
of the
Captain,who
has
CONRAD
JOSEPH
46
of
his
daughter and the brilliant marriage gives a sinister background to the
his
between
come
dreams,
his wife.
For
for
sundering
misunderstanding
believes
she
that
and
long Anthony
so
his action
is founded
to a thing intolerable magnanimity entirely upon embittered heart and believes her he proud and for he is merely the means of freedom that to her "
"
herself of old
de
Barral's
barriers
for
refuge
and
father.
her
crisis
the
poison Anthony
to
attempt
It is in
that
the
swept away.
are
and people, the young unhappy girland the silent and drawn with are really noble seaman, minutest and most Conrad's thrilling insight. Captain of the is one most in Anthony affectingcharacters These
two
all his books Gould
And
of Nostromo.
of their
and
Anthony,
and
distress
Flora
besides
in
contains
Fyne,
in
of the
one
(firstmate
of his
that
her
financier
the
Powell
(second the
of
guise of
narrator
of other
as
This the
of the in
not
the
trolled con-
here
so
much
and
Flora's
of
Mrs
Ferndale
book), in
Conrad
tales, appears "
in
cousin,
breath
whom
and
Franldin
detestable
enticing
an
life is in
these
introduces
again
once
of his
own
into in
the
adventures
people's.
strange chronicle
reserve
of the
in her manufacturer
his
several
quality powerful.
very
touching
mate
Ferndale),
Marlow,
with
a
Barral, in Mr
prominent people of
tragic
a
meeting
ship has is
is
de
gallery of portraits. The creations.
board
on
is
pity and indignation. And and Captain Anthony, Chance
Barral
de
and
governess,
life
Barral
of her
youth,
pathos
Anthony's treatment passion of
de
Mrs
the
to
counterpart
Flora
story of her
The
figure. of
of male
sort
a
"
and
Conrad'|Slater
elusive manner
"
of
passion and subtlety that are of
Under
Western
disaster
has
typical of Eyes, for
CONRAD'S
NOVELS air of
instance.
The
twiUght
of these
immense
STORIES
is secret
romance
sombre
creative
AND
reahsm.
but
in
feels the
one
pages
47 the
author's
The
obscurity of such a book Chance arises from the as superabundance of of atmosphere spiritual as opposed to physical is probably hardest of the atmosphere. Chance "
Conrad's
books
about
it almost
the the
of the
any
of his earlier
work
that
Chance
highest
is
can
is
development
recent
is that
truth
and
arid, but
make
one
Admirers
judgment. consider
which
of Conrad's
tension.
of the
It is the
may
stand to misunder-
simply
work
a
clusive con-
For
art.
finest
shades
finished
most
of all his books.
With
Chance
written
say
the
Ford
first
There
are
The
five
"
and
Karain,"
is
a
in
wrote
An
in
The
of
be
I will
them
Unrest
book
of
" "
(1898). Karain," "
Progress,"
The
tale of adventure,
to
of stories.
this
Outpost Lagoon."
novels
conjunction
examining
Tales
is
of the
still remain
his five volumes
stories "
he
before
these
Idiots,"
Return," "
about
of
There
novels
two
Hueffer, but
something
The
"
Conrad.
end
the
to
come
solelyby
considered with
we
first of
of revenge,
ghostly possession. It is recounted of a schooner in an riding at anchor Eastern Archipelago,by the chief of
in the
The
them, and
safe
of
refuge
island
bay of an a war-like people. The audience the officers of the are ship. young Karain is a chief of mighty prestigein his tiny and but he is tormented obscure of the world corner by a his friend. Matara, ghost by the ghost of Pata "
Pata but taken
Matara's had
left him her
away
sister to
had
married
live with
with
him
a
Karain's
white
when
he
brother
trader, who left
their
had
land.
48
JOSEPH
And
a
Karain
thereupon and
vengeance real
Pata
the
of
years
Matara'
has
guise of perfection,and in
flesh
the
and
Pata
and
Matara
in the
is tormented "
Bacadou
Pierre land
by
with
be
is
violence have
of
His
again, stabs
and
when
him.
of
into
on
the
survive "
An
station
Kayerts
life he
new
France. who
Jean But
peasant.
four
his
loves
children
prove
despair drive him to cruelty. He is determined
the
and
who not
shall
inherit
chance
her
to
that
and
wild amidst
sea
and
malign
fate
her
she
stormy
the in
land.
his
approach
attempts
to
night, she
rocks. darkness
But
the
of
soul,
flourish.
and
Outpost in
now
of his friend.
all his
idiots, in good health
poor
And
his
French
a
shoot,
to
life.
farmer
Breton
child
he
Later,
flingsherself
the
of
Progress
wilds
of
"
is the
left in the
wilderness
story of
Africa.
Carlier, incompetent
and
to
take
Two and
charge
a
trading
white
men,
foolish
people,
of the
station
They begin by being friendlyand
for six months. of
rich
a
them
illusion, shoots
of Northern
Susan, his wife, dare
But
are
tale
a
and
ordinary
an
of his
silent presence
rage
drink
about
positionof
deep affection tragic mischance
idiots.
is
the
in
find
they
woman's
the
some
to
the
Idiots," is
The
the
honoured
by
swear
Karain
last
at
strength
saves
and
secure
Matara
before
Matara
the
by
risen when
Pata
Karain, frenzied
Pata
them
sister
s
and
through all the East in painful and prolonged wanderings. of vision of their journeying the
track
Odyssey
in
But
CONRAD
trifling activitybut gradually the of the
wilds
creep
over
lassitude
their
and
minds.
full restraint un-
They
ivory is coming from the sale of slaves, and, though flaming with indignation at first,it is not realise that
their
long
before
and
growing
they tacitlyacquiesce. Moreover, irritation
with
one
another
a
secret
begins
to
CONRAD'S
abandon Fever
hope, undermines
blazes
up,
lives.
their
blacken
AND
NOVELS
out
the
is
relief boat
The
and
STORIES
station
work
49
late, they
is
neglected. them, and their irritation,long pent the question of a few suddenly over Carlier threatens Kayerts, sugar.
lumps of white and Kayerts, in an agony Next morning, through
dead.
Carlier
of terror, shoots
fog, the whistle of the relief steamer is heard. Kayerts, rousing himself from his lethargy,runs out and hangs himself. The tells how Return Alvan Hervey, a rich and conventional arrives home one city man, evening to find a note from his wife saying that she has left him editor of a paper owned to live with an by Alvan the shock of reading Hervey. He has not got over "
"
the
lines when
scrawled
found
that
the
step.
the
pages
He
decides
she
his
not
has
"
and
for
night
is left alone
he
when with
life of
ful, half-remorse-
she
has
retired
his
thoughts, he uncertainty will
deception and be intolerable. He rushes upstairs and bursts into and her his wife's room. Then, before her icy woids the house, banging the look of hatred, he flies from door "
a
this
wife, cold, hostile,and late at
But
room
finds that
she reappears sufficient moral courage
mutiny in Hervey's mind fills most of this,the longest story in Tales of Unrest. all must if nothing had that as go on
and
agrees. her
has
his wife
The of
happened, to
the
behind The
white
of the
"
him.
Lagoon man by
"
a
He
never
is another native
forest, darkness
returned." of those
of the
overtakes
East. the
stories told In
the
white
man
to
depth and
spend the night in Arsat's clearing. He Arsat has known long ago in a distant country. He in his hut finds him by the side of his dying of the night he wife, and through the long watches listens to the story of Arsat's passion and of his escape he
determines
D
to
JOSEPH
60 with
his beloved.
of
powerful rajah,
a
brother. the
rescue.
his
hopes
As and
The
are
to
to
dawn
the
rises
in
story
killed
by
back
to
that
all
turn
The
Return,"
fact
the
that
it is the
wrote), while "
Idiots defects
is
one
final
over
the
Tales
no
fight. forest
is
Unrest
of
"
of Conrad's
"
story Conrad
sunniest, and
is the
realistic.
the most
seconded
first short
Karain
"
well
is
she
An by Outpost of Progress." The most beautiful is certainly "The (it is particularlyinterestingfrom Lagoon" "
which
for
last
at
remarkable
most
Arsat's
fled
been
dared
not
return
together lagoon.
the
had
revenge
regret to him, now dissolvingin death, and when
talk
they
had
them
brother
the
bitter
a
intends
he
more
with
had
Arsat
It is
his
and
alas, the
and
fled far from
had
They
But,
enemy
CONRAD
ever
"The
stories suffer from
These
of
earlyrichness
the
style "
the
sonorous
is almost splendour of their language and emotion of the The Return is decidedly one cloying. But has most written, and astonishing stories Conrad The there in of the are lyricalpassages Lagoon "
"
"
"
loveliness.
purest book,
not
it is
a
so
book
of Conrad. at least
Youth
"
a
of
a
the
than
discussion
of Conrad's emotions
"
Tether."
reminiscence
for
There
a
of the
of
"
student
any
opinion,
finished
more
three
work.
Conrad's
amongst
in
tales
Darkness,"
Youth
period, but
and
this
"The
itself is almost
more
story (see the previous chapter
autobiographicalbasis
and stories), and
are
mature
a
is, in my
in order
"Heart
"Youth,"
ignored by
of his
next
stories.
of this
immaturity
some
as
(1902) comes
of the
End
its
is not
Unrest
novels
be
cannot
valuable
as
the
as
Indeed
volumes book
mature
that
of
Tales
almost
glamour
of
more
youth
a
than
of many
recapture a
of
reminis-
5g existence has
but
"
been
old.
"500
Fair
Maid,
he
is owned the
won
again
that
one
no
a
mean,
and
he
is
as
lilm to will
he
on
has
In
own.
get the
the
insurance
who
and
had
who is
avaricious
baseness
now
nature, the
lofty
unselfish
of his heart
the
upon
he
bars
in
it.
near
It
Captain Whalley, groping sudden that complete darkness his eyes in the shock of striking, knows
passionately for
succeeds
But
and
iron
He
!
money
by placingiron
compass
descended
mutters
Sojala
The
Massy,
lottery
some
of
use
complete success. the bridge in the
touches
Mr
for
Captain Whalley's advancing If only he can for his own cause purposes. the rocks of the point the ship aground on
diverting the a
a
becomes
incapable of comprehending his Captain as he is of having an
make
run
engineer, in
blind.
going
ferreting, and
of his
blindness
is
fala
So
Captain Whalley has told is going blind, but Mr Massy has guessed.
is
thought plots to
he
he
in her
been
getting barque.
of the
share
a
of which
has
is
of ruin.
verge
he
of
he
for her
His
character
in
he
sale of his
the
has
money
and
smash,
from
after
chief
the
the
bank
coasting tramp,
only
his
AustraHa,
this he invests
money
on
in
a
realises
by
died, his daughter, Ivy,
has
to him
remains
It is
that
time
lost in
and
Captain.
wife
settled
Indian
East
an
his
and
married
neariy all
is
CONRAD
JOSEPH
this
'
Massy
to '
all.
the
And
that
then he
"
as
will
he
get
other, choking with
spite' and fear, whispers back that if he goes to prison for trying to cheat the insurance. Captain Whalley will his five hundred lose pounds. Captain Whalley fifteen
years
"
did
not
wreck.
at
pocket
with
ever
he
Again
indeed
for
True
move.
the
with
end
!
had
Ivy's a
of
his
the
iron
his
ship.
flash
!
money of
insight.
tether."
bars, he
allows
And
in
Gone He
the was
fillinghis
himself
to
sink
CONRAD'S is
Youth stories
NOVELS famous
as
Lord
as
For
deservedly so. "
romantic, in and
"
in
The
End has
certainly one
of
a
illusion
of
with
say,
a
' '
immense,
desired.
length of
as
month
a
over
The
End
to
transient
the
I
-of
pov/er "
like
Darkness,"
that
me
write.
it did
and
its
The
Tether
him
This, considering its
comparative "
take
not
words, is quite enough
40,000
of the
Conrad,
tinged, as
lyricalby
of
in
and
reminiscence
a
itself,is
exaggeration. It is an extremely it is almost over-heavy. It is As creation of atmosphere it a of art it leaves something to be
work
a
for its air of haste "
rare
{Conrad has told
than
more
of the
is
pathetic
Youth,"
vision
Heart
impressive story but positivelytoo rich. is
"
most
terrible,
most
things
made
suffers from
the
of more
the
most
finest
regret and "
"
very
It
youth.
remembrance.
Return,
the
the
"
Tether
and
"
Youth
"
written.
ever
dream,
gorgeous
in
53
volumes
novels
"
of Darkness of the
story Conrad
his
amongst
it contains
Heart
STORIES
Conrad's
amongst is
Jim
AND
is
a
very
to account
lack
of
finish.)
beautiful
and
touching story. Captain Whalley, austere, upright, and of tenderly thoughtful for his daughter, is one the The characters. most moving of all Conrad's 'twixt his self-contained contrast and tragicaloofness and the petty spite of the other officers is presented in Conrad's grandest manner. Typhoon (1903) is It
is made
Foster,"
longest
"
of of
In the
of
up
the
very of way
by
four "
Falk,"
storm
idea
of
plot. the
dense
third
tales
"
: "
volume
"
as a
such The
and
its
The
a
"
first
implies, the
name
typhoon
of stories.
Typhoon,"
To-morrow."
is,
these a
Conrad's
in
story
the there
China
Amy and
scription deSeas.
is little in
steamship Nan-Shan,
manded com-
stupid Captain MacWhirr,
JOSEPH
54 is
taking
CONRAD
hundred
two
of Fu-Chau
Chinese she
into
the
to
treaty
typhoon. The story is one giganticdescriptionof the fury of the sea and of the bravery of simple men. Captain Mac Whirr, who, in his unimaginative ignorance, disregards all of the approaching storm, by the sheer the symptoms force of his integrity and perseverance emerges the triumphant not alone from typhoon but from with the ugly after-position the two hundred men Chinaport
who
from
when
coolies
believe
that
In
them.
the
runs
their
money
a
has
been
stolen
itself,his first-mate, the
storm
talkative him Jukes, has seconded sprightly and in the affair of the his coolies courageously, but livelier imagination makes him tremble at the bable proresult. It is Captain Mac Whirr is the who victor throughout. is the Foster but Amy story of a dull-witted falls in love with a compassionate English girl who from Eastern Europe. This ignorant, strange man romantic from the wild, and peasant Carpathian Mountains has been cast by the sea, the only up survivor from for America. an emigrant ship bound of English and totallymystified Unable to speak a word it might have been America he is to where Hell, as or "
"
"
itself
leads
he
"
kindness
chance
the
Afterwards her.
he
At
first
horror.
she
He
his outlandish
in
him
at
with
her
of
becomes
gradually,after into
wretched
a
with
her
and
loves
baby
farm
is
child, whilst
opens
with
his
and
speaks as
fear.
he And
till eyes.
marries
fascination, but
born, her fascination
tongue, and and
existence
labourer
him
falls ill and
hatred
Foster
Amy a
hunted
to
their
speaks then
turns
little she
son
gazes
she
flees
he, left alone, dies forlorn
and
broken-hearted. "
Falk
"
is
one
of
Conrad's
Eastern
Tales.
is
(Bankok is
name
known
is
Falk
story.
is
It
given.)
not
the
be
to
Scandinavian,
a
55
STORIES
AND
NOVELS
CONRAD'S
setting though
the
within
a
story
a
huge,
a
silent
man,
falls to life, who primitively devoted fiercelyand a girl acting as passionately in love with young a German companion to the wife of Captain Hermann, skipper. She is the Captain's niece, in point of fact. all the towing of a tug that is the owner Falk does and this Eastern down river, and while Captain up out Hermann's boat, the Diana, is loading, he goes evening and sits on board of her, gazing at the every girl and saying nothing. In everything he does his He conduct is, by turns, hesitatingand autocratic. in truth, through the is a mysterious man, very simplicityof his absorption. In the eyes of Schomtible berg, the hotel-keeper,however, he is only a contempmiser.
he
has
It is
one
of these
sea
the
record
after
cannibalism, to the
savage
of
of this
hint
himself, listens with "
"'
"
To-Morrow
One
More
Day
in 1904, version
"
a
the
little
of the a
acted
of
of the
drifting
strong.
girlsilent
of
under
several
as
And Falk
him.
marries
dramatised
times
the
title
in London
this dramatised 1914, and in Paris of August in The English Review "
story of hope
Captain Hagberd, lives in
and
his
ease
can
steamer,
niece, She
pity.
soon
food, of madness,
survival
(it was
Chicago in appeared
1913) is
of
the
the once
was
relentless records
and
shortage story
he
a
story of his misfortune.
down
of the
and
he
jealousy is
The
broken
a
that
before
the
to relate
of
day,
flesh. so,
two-fold,
captain (tellerof
recollection
even
is
secret
young
human
compelled to eat extinguished, but conscience
a
awful
the
story), and
day
of
jealousy
gnawing
"
indeed, his
But,
retired
too
from
long the
deferred.
Old
coasting trade,
sea-port of Colebrook, passing his
56
CONRAD
JOSEPH
life in the He
advertises
saves
changed And
old
man
be
to
return.
He
him
for his use,
Bessie
"
real
last, the
at
Harry
does
"
different
fellow
!
"
from
this
Besides, it is
even
has
house
he repudiates him with scorn in by imposters, his Harry taken
very
has
he
even
of
Carvil, daughter
bring
"
and
and
will
to-morrow
Harry.
papers
boat-builder, whose
every
when,
his son,
gradually this longing to see of senile decay. the mania
into
that
now
for
blind And
own.
the
furniture
with
wife
Carvil, the his
in
again Sunday
see
may
against his
penny
filled his house a
he
for him
every
chosen
that
hope
he is
his He
has
son
believes home.
him
the
appear, is not is
the
one
something
information
grinning,
to-morrow
adjoins
home
coming
"
of to-day ! And so, with the obstinate assurance insanity and hope, he locks himself securely from the His world. Harry importunities of a troublesome this is not indeed ! But only the story of Captain Hagberd's delusions, it is the story of Harry Hagberd, not
the
lover
the
wanderer,
romantic
and
of
sullen
anger,
and
scamp,
patient daughter of an Their swift love-making the
pretty
and
waves
is the climax
of
exacting in
the
and
voices
to this tale of
ing fascinat-
Carvil, the
Bessie
dusk,
of the
the
women,
father.
brutal within of
sound
madness
of and
tragic fate.
remarkable
book,
character
drawing
only on but also for its great variety. of its merits account Typhoon," itself,is the most prodigious description As a piece of of a storm in the whole of literature. word-painting it is unrivalled, and it is at the same time a notable study in psychology and contains some Typhoon
is
a
very
not
"
of
Conrad's
scale. sober
"
cleverest
Amy
Foster,"
atmosphere
fijuch more
like
one
on
of Conrad's
the
other
later
hand,
method.
of the stories in A
on
Set
a
has
small the
It reads
of Six
than
CONRAD'S like
the
AND
NOVELS
other
stories
STORIES
57
in
Typhoon. It is a deUcatc, Falk has the fertile faithful, and precisepicture. of Conrad's It is elaboration most expansive work. a study in personality and atmosphere that exhales the warm Falk breath of a tropical Eastern river. his story remains himself, is a curious figure,and To-morrow pathetic in all its gruesomeness. is a very poignant study, and one touched by the breath of symbolism. In that it resembles Typhoon," lack To-morrow though neither nor Typhoon at all the substance of actuality. Their symbolism, and though apparent, is kept under strict command, "
"
"
"
"
"
the
four
first call upon stories
in
the
effective, though both
A
Set
stories. "
of Six As
Gaspar
"An
of
works
true
are
the
"
two
Foster
Amy
Of
attention. the
are "
and
next (1908) is Conrad's name implies it consists "
Ruiz,"
first,
these
situations
of their
the
most
"
"
Falk
imagination.
Anarchist,"
The
and
reader's
Typhoon
"
"
of their characters
realism
is the
"
The
Informer,"
"The
Duel,"
and
"
of
collection of six tales The "II
"
Brute," Conde."
"
Gaspar Ruiz," is a story of the South of Independence at the beginning of American wars the nineteenth century. Gaspar Ruiz is the son of a He is quite an illiterate, but a man of gentle peasant. and nature of great strength. Pressed into the of liberation, he is captured b}'' the Spaniards army and made to fightin their ranks. Falling again into the
hands
of the
traitor,and
liberators
he
is condemned
to
death
of chances. by the merest He is nursed back to life by a Spanish girl,whose aristocratic father, ruined by the rebellion, has been as
a
driven
He
crazy.
instils into
only
bis
escapes
falls
heart
in
her
love
with
undying
her, and hatred
of
she
the
58 liberators.
For
he
long
successful, but
is
last
at
is overwhelmed.
he "
X,
Mr
hater
is
famous
a
He
in
London)
became
some
and
he
of
and
man,
of
that desire
to
protect
of
The the
Brute
her there
a
mate
had
been to
is with
the
secret
It
of the
sincere
a
but
through this, as
poses
centre
of
the
sudden
In
arrests
emotion
outside is
their
of
house
fanatic,
a
tragic tale that
his
in
advanced
an
the
story),that
discovery
The whose the
at
a
that This
comfortable.
and
of the
kills
Apse Family
her, and
chief
engaged who
is
tap-room of on
their
of
suicide.
It is the
ship deadly
sailed
"
is
every
real
ship Apse Family
voyage.
in the
He
away.
commits
he
ruse
"
in
excitement
the
girl who
a
is the
(she
gives himself
the
raid
impervious to passionate love.
anarchist he
in
informer.
the
that
aware
comrades
some
associates, and
discover
how
always have been present guarded plans were constantly in the police. So, disguised as policemen,
most
knowledge
coldly cynical chists they (the anar-
a
must
spy
their
It is related
tale.
and
epicurean explains
society.
because
own
anarchist
an
of
meetings the
"
Informer
The
by
a
CONRAD
JOSEPH
sea man
is
the
"
on "
is
the a
every
brute,"
story told
who by a man brother, Charley, had
Three
same
accident.
Cows
time.
On
tale
that
had been
voyage
In
Sidney Charley gets the skipper's niece, Maggie Colchester, for the in his them great trip, and no
happiness he takes the strictest care that no disaster shall spoil the homeward And, indeed, all passage. And actually in the Thames. goes well till they are then, in the hideous irony of fate, Maggie Colchester is pulled overboard by the anchor and drowned. Anarchist the An recounts experiences of a from the has escaped on convict who to the mainland "
"
60
JOSEPH
back
to Feraud
takes
the life that
place when
they
days a thing of already a memory. "
"
II Conde
Six.
It
CONRAD
of
go
is
of the in
Villa
the
for
the
demands Later
In his
restaurant, and and
insolent
this
at
the
he
the
climate
man
Such
a
enough
in
which
in the
gardens wandering
he
young
his
hands he
sharp knife menacing voice
to
a
has
him
meets
again
him
with
pit of infamy, opening old man's to
never
that
there
in
like for
of mind
peace
return
alone
a
foul
horrors
survive
can
he
disgorge.
to
threatens
the
he
a
glancing up
on
holding and
by
full of nameless
and
Naples,
well
and
Conde,
sometimes
puts
Conde
the
undermines
so
leaves
knows
is
evening
feet
very
future,
that he
his
band
II Conde
II
again
mind, would
match,
a
II
is accosted
grating
a
words.
Napoleon
man.
there, while
he
man
same
this
hundred
of
wars
young
the
light.
a
money.
that
on
the
was
that
young
stomach.
a
to
It
to find
pockets
that
his
listen
Nazionale.
asks
into his sees
to
generals,the
sensitive
shady paths,
who
man
of
and
evening
an
But
episodes in A Set of a foriegn Count, a refined, driven out of Naples for ever
story of
of cultured
man
forfeited.
last of the
is the
elderlyaristocrat, who by the brutal behaviour a
both
are
past, and
the
is the
he has
although
"
he
can
find
chills
the
of
winter. The
six tales
of this book
strikingchange in Conrad's technique. Their atmosphere of romance tends rather to the inward contemplation of a mood than the effect. piling up of substantial They are, in many
externals, very of his previous tales,
"
genre
of A
Set
with
the
exuberance
of
Six.
restrained, low-toned,
present
unlike
Amy
a
this earlier work.
Foster," alone, is of the
And, in fact, they do of
and
For,
poetical emotion woven
of
a
gleam they are
not "
close
mesh.
NOVELS
CONRAD'S
They Of
individual
the
artist
an
rather
of subtleties
out
of
work
the
are
STORIES
AND
than
stories,
who
his
makes
of romantic
out
"
61
Caspar
Ruiz
"
is
points flights. hardly "
The especially in its later phases ; The An is sardonicallyicy ; Informer Brute," II Conde are Anarchist," and pathetic,exciting, The Duel is a work and beautifullyproportioned ; tion reconstrucof wide imaginative impulse a wonderful This of the Napoleonic atmosphere. story is the in the book the comparison between remarkable most Feraud is capital,and the whole and D'Hubert idea, if slightlyfantastic, shows, at rate, a grip of any is reallyentertaining. human foibles and jealousywhich sardonic later style effort in Conrad's As a sustained
convincing "
"
"
"
"
"
"
"
"
"
"
"
Duel
The
Conrad's
"
"
of
Freya
"
Fortune,"
of
"
is 'Twixt
three
Secret
The
Islands."
of the Seven
stories
it contains
(1912),and
Sea
Smile
A
volume
recent
most
and
Land
is unmatched.
tales
Sharer,"
A Smile
"
and "
of Fortune
tropical isle (obviously Mauritius), the story of a captain who brings his ship there and of a curious and sinister falls straightway into the web
is
story of
a
drama.
He
Jacobus
who
the
other
looked
at
in
comes
protects
askance.
But
his
the The
enemies.
son illegitimate
who
with
contact
bitter
are
his
disowned
a
two
brothers
one
who
has
is
universallyrespected, illegitimatedaughter is
stress
is not
laid
this
upon
position,and, apart from the intriguesof the selfoutcast Jacobus (an inscrutable, sordid, and in life ostensible motive whose one sacrificingman half get a secret and quite is avarice, but of whom we ironical
different the
impression), the intimacy
queer
daughter
of
Jacobus.
between
This
story the
relates, in
Captain passionate and
main,
and
the
wild
girl
JOSEPH
62
suggests He
in a
The his
underworld
an
darkly "
ship
hides
as
a
genuine
water
in his
him
the
two
kind
of
a
shadows
of
(the
mate
cabin, and
such
of
Siam,
rescues
of
another
enables
him
of detail
(for the
comes
it reads
twilight)that
and
tions conversa-
invariablycarried to pervade the
are
to
ture, perilousadven-
a
exactitude
manner
men
this
Captain, anchored
Gulf
excitement
with
and
undertone,
story
of the
thrilling,secret
a
between an
tells how
the
it is told
such
"
all the
It has
whose
pages.
head
the
from
and
of emotions,
Sharer
at
murderer
boat), and
in
the
across
Secret
escape.
CONRAD
on
in
whole like
very
a
reminiscence.
third
"
Islands," Freya of the Seven is a tragictale of the Malay Archipelago. It concerns of the brig Bonito, four people. Captain Jasper Allen lieutenant Freya Nielsen, her father, and the Dutch Heemskirk. another one Freya and Jasper adore The
with
the
silent but
natures,
story,
Heemskirk
intensity
of
grim destiny
is
is the
of
devil
confident
faithful
and
lying in wait the piece. His
for
them.
jealousy
the Bonito is wrecked, and plan by which of worldly success. with it all Jasper's chances And, in the despair of their lost hope, life swiftly loosens and the man the girl. It is a story its hold upon opening in lightand closing in impenetrable darkness. In subject and technique these three stories are a while they retain earlier work the return to Conrad's later period. The finish of his style is extremely without the psychology subtle distinguished and evolves
being of
a
at
all overdone.
Fortune,"
backwaters
is of
a
very
first of
The uncommon
Both
character.
daughter are amongst His mumbling reserve
Conrad's and
her
them,
"
A
Smile
study in the bizarre and his Jacobus
most
futile
originalfigures. and
incoherent
CONRAD'S
NOVELS
AND
STORIES
63
heavy air of gloom into the The Secret sunUght of the Tropics. As for very creation in Sharer," that is certainly a marvellous It atmosphere and in the psychology of the hunted. is convincing, as I have already said, so convincing feel we that we could hear the dropping of a pin in the of the two men. Moreover, whispered conversations It develops,more it has a curious undercurrent. and more strongly, a haunting idea of the disciplineof The last and the sea. longest tale, Freya of the Seven Islands," is,perhaps, the most painfulConrad has written. There is something deeply melancholy ever in this drama the treacherous set amidst splendour Seas. But the of Eastern nobilityof such figuresas the story of their defeated Freya and Jasper makes love not alone melancholy but in the fullest degree touching. seem
sorrow,
throw
to
a
"
"
I will say a few words now in the writing of which Conrad Hueffer. odd
(There is,if I may
about
this
of
Joseph
Conrad
in
different
common
Inheritors
about
the
collaborated
say so,
lines.
interest
Hueffer
But
in
(1901)
Ford
As
perhaps form.) The the work
with
Ford
something especially
collaboration, because and
novels
two
do lie it
arose
first of
bears
abilities
the so
obviously from
these
their is The
little
impress of the touch of Conrad and as it is,altogether,of small importance I will treat it as shortly as possible. It is a fantastic of people, a race new story about dwellers in a fourth dirnension, who mix indistinguishably with ordinary mortals and gradually oust them from all positionsof supreme the They are power. .
very
"
inheritors," and
with
their
power,
their
disregardof feelingor honour, they to repulsive race. They scheme
are
will, and a
ruin
their
ruthless the
and
Prime
64
CONRAD
JOSEPH
Minister is of
financier whom he through ruining a German supporting in his plan for a Greenland railway, and The book closes at the dawn course they succeed.
of their inheritance As
I say,
this is
of the a
earth. in
quite minor key. It is without depth of thought
work
a
written, but it is cleverl}'^ of Conrad's or beauty of style. The internal evidence is slight visible, indeed, only in the collaboration negative qualitiesof proportion and restraint. "
Romance As
far
deal
(1903) I
as
to
do
can
with
certainlyglows It is
novel
stands
on
judge
Conrad
must
the
middle
part
with
a
vividness
of adventure
different
very
a
have of
that
footing.
had
this
great
a
It
book.
is all his
own.
of
ninety years since, starting with an exploit amongst smugglers on the Kentish then hero, John Kemp, coast, and taking the young Cuba where he to to Jamacia and on undergoes incredible hardships and dangers, and gains the love of a Spanish girl of startlingbeauty and fabulous wealth. There are plots and counterplots on every there murderous are pirates and a still more page, murderous Irish judge of the Havana Supreme Court, is revenge, and there there deaths, and are always there is danger and passionatelove. I do not attempt to
a
tell the
novel
it is a sheer story in any detail because of adventure, and the glory of it lies in its colour
and
shiftinglights. But I may had to flee from Kemp, who first instance, is brought home murder and piracy in Cuba. such
atrocities
comes
Bailey trial ; and the end his lovely Seraphina and life in England. milder
the
"
"
runners
in irons That
out,
at
on
he
down
a
in
the
charge
never
of
mitted com-
last, at his old
of it all is that settles
John
finallythat
say
to
he a
marries safer
and
CONRAD'S
is, indeed,
Romance It
all
has
is
is
it
Moreover,
contains
and
and
of
of
its
most
It
of
very
centre
very
expansive
its
is
a
heart.
and
of true
passages
many
idea
lightful de-
power
And
in
the
plot
review
a
avoided
the
avoided
but
It
of
is
do
I the
has
1
not
direct
outline
to
I could.
as
much
as
as
have
one
to
I be
that
chapters
veniently con-
purposely And
wish
plot
by
been
criticism.
future
the
than
resumes
points
another
concisely
say
these
words
these I
warning that
the
to
in
have
guilty are
the
ones.
With
I will
in
because
repetition.
rather
and
reviews
review
a
here
simply tries
subtler
them
critical
as
one
can,
idea
Conrad's
like
but
in
For
my
are
purpose,
implication
by
whereas
of
they
sense
different.
told
description,
one
of
resumes
my
similar
a
are
be
the
In
serve
they
should
finish
stories.
may
way
I
Romance
novels
of
a
story
surface.
the
the in
sheer
emotion.
With
of
the
65
imagination.
unlike
on
to
written
and
style
of
merely
colour
STORIES
blazing
atmosphere,
not
with
dyed
and
its
but
psychology,
of
work
a
paraphernalia
the
adventure,
book
AND
NOVELS
at
gave this
close novels
of the
chapter
this and
self-defence,
beginning is
meant
stories
against to
and
unvarnished
of
and
Joseph
be
of
lengthy Conrad.
with
any critical
the
tion assump-
value,
examination
CHAPTER
IV
Conrad's
Conrad
is
that
thing
For
we
that
to
define
is
of
shadow
complex
atmosphere
of
Whitman
of
I
of
the
great
atmosphere
his
through
creation
of
of
with
is
highly
obscure
experiences. is
stamped
a
and
The
by
to
or
that
For
capable
the
of
all
the
wilds
conscious be upon of
sense
a
scription dethe
beauty
spirit filling the
romantic
and
its
radiating
his
philosophy
him of
ever
kinds
is
with
range
delight
these
Conrad
For
brooding
with
sheer
both
thrown the
poetry
the
either
can
a
story.
upon
of
for
as
create
example.
by
is for
heighten be
can
the
entire
it
mournful him
say
and,
;
pity, of
energy
I
phenomena
it
or
with
terror,
nervous
work
natural
corruption,
or
is
personality
tropic setting
a
it
the
atmosphere,
an
of scene
His
of
atmosphere.
through
runs
to
work
when
of
masters
possible import. itself
And
thinking
am
effort
impressive a
For
touchstone
instance,
permeates
mind
in
shadow.
or
an
Rembrandt
oi
unconscious
most
is When
something
for
a
it
work.
a
light
light
imagination.
conceptions one
have
Think,
atmosphere
might
of
of
"
perceive.
to
easy
self-conscious
a
"
Indeed
spirit
the
atmosphere
background,
master
a
once,
illusion.
Walt
the
so
a
mere
and
personality
and
we
than
is, at
definite
is
of
masters
simply
not
Velasquez
master
more
a
great
vitally affecting
say
of
the
hard
so
atmosphere
essence
a
of
one
atmosphere
whole mind
of of
upon
double Conrad men
CONRAD
JOSEPH
68 her
He
saw
well.
At
before
her
seemed
to
silent
a
broken
through
walls
over
the
an
hall
the
great night
the
rose
swallowed
It
a
swayed
of
darkness
of
it flowed
steps, it leaped up
skies, landscapes,and blue
the
over
delicious
the
up
had
world
walls,of closed doors,
the
over
of
of the sunshine yellow sands, over pretty pathos of ragged innocence
starvation.
candle
from
her, risinglike
wave,
angry
of the
the
reserve
It
ascending
skirt,followed
the
discreet
the
windows.
like
the
over
black
her
flame
and
face,
though
flood, as
the
feeble
the
tired, young
cling to
if
gradually,as
up
step
every
curtained
of
come
meek
of
and
idyll in
boat
a
bas-reliefs. It immortality of famous it rose outside flowed from higher,in a destructive silence. of marble, composed and blind on And, above it,the woman off the devouring night the high pedestal,seemed to ward with a cluster of lights. watched the risingtide of impenetrable gloom with He impatience,as if anxious for the coming of a darkness black surrender. It came nearer. enough to conceal a shameful The The cluster of lightswent out. girlascended facinghim. of a colossal woman Behind her the shadow danced lightly He less held his breath while she passed by, noisethe wall. on her track the flowing and with heavy eyelids. And on and
mutilated
the
"
tide of his
tenebrous
a
risingunchecked,
feet,and time
The
had
still;
was
and
exigenciesof darkness
the
filled the
sea
instead
life he of
but
come
house, closed
did
he
seemed
to
above silently not
open
the
swirl about his head. door.
All
surrendering to the reasonable stepped out, with a rebellingheart, into
the
of
house.
It
was
abode
the
of
penetrabl im-
an
night ; as though indeed the last day had come and gone, morrow. leaving him alone in a darkness that has no toAnd of marble, looming vaguely below the woman livid and stilllike a patientphantom, held out in the night a of cluster The extinguished lights. {Tales of Unrest, "
Return," pp. 264-5.) And "
in
Youth
more
contrast
to
"
the
lays upon thrillingmagic
And
this
is how
that, recall
of I
see
magic
of the
and
desire
East.
I have
youth the
how
Marlow East
the
in still
: "
seen
its secret
ATMOSPHERE
CONRAD'S placesand from
always and
hand, I
see
a
into its very soul ; but now I see it boat, a high outline of mountains, blue
looked small
a
in the
afar
wall of
have
69
morning
like faint mist
;
at
noon
;
a
jagged
in my in my the vision of a scorching blue sea And eyes. as bay, a wide bay, smooth glassand polishedlike ice,
purple
at
I have
sunset.
the
feel
of the
oar
A red lightburns far off upon the shimmering in the dark. We gloom of the land, and the nightis soft and warm. drag the with at oars aching arms, and suddenly a puff of wind, a puff faint and tepid and laden with strange odours of of the still night out blossoms, of aromatic wood, comes "
first
the
sigh of
the
East
on
That
face.
my
I
never
can
forget. It was impalpable and enslaving,like a charm, like a whispered promise of mysterious delight. (Youth, "
Youth,"
pp.
41-2.)
There, surely,is the and
reaction
very
temperament
atmosphere.
And
like
Conrad,
other
many
Shakespeare in The Merchant numerous lyrics, Whitman Meredith this
in
The
There where
the
is
a
romance
a
in
is
awakened
poetry,
Feverel, impresses nature
love
instance
Carvil
and
prose
sentient
passionate
has
great writers, like
of Venice, Shelley in
of Richard
wonderful
Bessie
stranger who
of stirrings
of of
moments
regret.
the
Ordeal
singular image
intimate
to
of
passionate
or
of this in
talking in in her
the
upon
so
the
"
morrow," To-
dark
suddenly
:
"
Again he stooped silentlyto hear better ; and the deep the and night buried everythingof the whisperingwoman attentive familiar contiguityof their except the man, morrow," faces,with its air of secrecy and caress," (Typhoon, Top. 288.) "
In whole what
its
this suggestion of mysterious enticement is thrilling.And, indeed, that is precisely scene Conrad's atmosphere is it is thrilling.That "
JOSEPH
70 is
of the
one
main
To in thrilling little islands the
is why Nosiromo something almost
reasons
there
me
is
Placid
of the
idea
the
CONRAD
its
lyingon
sea-breezes, of the
Higuerota." And, almost books, is the atmosphere of effect
a
"
with
fringeshutting in sierras capped by
of
cumulative
Gulf
than
more
Nostromo
sustained
and
ordinary. extra-
so
terribly the
three from
Sulaco "
the
snows
of his
in any obtained
subtle
by
a
inter-action
of the
of the physical and the spiritualcharacteristics land and its people. In Nostromo Conrad hardly the obvious ever uses suggestionsof fatalism presented callousness of nature or (partly, by the exuberance he is writing of an unfamiliar doubt, because world) no and his touch is altogether lighter. The result is his positive descriptionslack in their that, whereas beautiful certain a grandeur, the whole emotion ease, is intenselyprofound and of the book thrilling.But in let me manner example of Conrad's give one ,
Nostromo
:
"
declining sun
The to
east
them
white
the
the
houses
whole
extent
amongst
upon
the
walls
of
of of
islands of clustered
its
by
trees
the
shadows
the
town.
the
immense
its haciendas
the green distances ; with in the folds of ground dark
shifted
had
on
It
from had
the
on
a
clear
sea
ing crouch-
; with
the
of grass, and
the
of streams
banks
shifted
Campo, with knolls dominating
grass-thatched ranchos
the
west
and motionless, precipitousrange of the Cordillera,immense emerging from the billows of the lower forests like the barren the snowof a land of giants. The sunset coast rays striking slope of Higuerota from afar gave it an air of rosy youth, while
the
serrated
of
mass
distant
as
if calcined
in the
fieryradiance.
of
the
seemed
powdered
forest
there, beyond
away
with
Rincon, hidden
peaks remained
undulating surface pale gold dust ; and
The
from
on
spurs, the rocks of the San Tome of the mountain itself crowned by
the
warm
tones
of brown
and
town
gorge, with
wooded wall
black,
by
two
the flat
giganticferns, took
yellow,with
red rusty
streaks,
CONRAD'S and
the
dark
in
bushes
of
clumps
green
crevices.
Nosiromo,
I
repeat
once
this whole
from
is Conrad's
more,
astonishing achievement.
When
feel how
For
boundless
lives
Costaguana
poetry of
hours of in
us
I know
fold, multi-
American
limits
before
realism.
marvellous
a
the
are
he
hood of his child-
the
"
we
and
complete
so
panorama,
most
that
realise
we
descriptionsin an old book and from two flying visits to South ports visits extending,perhaps, to twelve "
(Nos-
332.)
tromo, p.
evolved
71
ATMOSPHERE
in all
tion. imaginathe
very
Western
that
I down to Callao, and slightly,from Panama can only assert that Costaguana is a perfectre-creation of the American Republic atmosphere of a South of the Ecquadorian kind (a cooler Equador, let us say), perfect in its delicate and just perception both coast
of the the
of the
character
I
population.
example
of
the
illusion
very
call
Conrad's of
ever
the one
read.
of
character
of
the
It is the
most
great
capacity for building up realityout of practicallynothing. vast
And
talking,as we descriptions,observe Africa
Nostromo
I have
books
tremendous
country and
moment
were
a
how
he
ago,
of
pictures the
thrilling
tropics of
They are like a hashish vision could deny that a loveliness tinged with poison. Who such has the quality of a dream Youth a story as This ? which, realised for an instant, departs for ever and
the
East.
"
"
"
is how
Marlow
sees
the
East
for the
first time
: "
obscurity of the shore was grouped into vast a density of colossal clumps of vegetation, masses, their foot and fantastic shapes. And at probably mute the semicircle of a beach gleamed faintly,like an illusion. There was The mysterious not a sound. not not a stir, a light, East faced me, perfumed like a flower,silent like death, dark like a grave. (Youth, Youth," p. 42.) The
scented
"
"
n
JOSEPH "
In of
Heart
the
mud
The
of
great wall
Conrad
portrays sniff the
almost
can
"
the
might
primeval
: "
and
exuberant
an vegetation,
entangled
less trunks, branches, leaves, boughs, festoons, motion-
of
mass
"
of Darkness
jungle. You of the Congo
"
CONRAD
moonlight, was like a riotinginvasion of soundless of plants, piled up, crested, ready to rollingwave
in the
life,a
the
topple over of
his
p.
98.)
creek, to sweep
little existence.
little
every "
{Youth,
of
man
Darkness,"
of
Heart
out
us
of amazing command language very moving, fateful, and poetical. Just read a descriptionlike the following. I give it because fact
The
is, Conrad
has
an
"
it shows
his
capabilityfor creating an Razumov of
felt the
inert,like
sullen and
a
winding-sheet without fireside, "
He
had
ceased
with
for the
to
the
the
heart
soil !
and as
now,
clear black
received and
sky
to
an
to
own
very
stood
if
of the
fires of the
an
soft
carpet
without
"
it with
inheritance
amazed.
a
The
snow
above miracle, he saw northern winter, decorated
by
a
It
stars.
the
almost
of countless
responded
the
!
upwards
fall,and
"
under
his
"
resplendentpurity of
space
is born
a
and
"
:
ground of Russia, inanimate, cold, tragicmother hiding her face under a
native
sumptuous
Razumov
He
his
his eyes
cast
his head
hard
foot
his
with
full accord
atmosphere
his
stamped
snow
in
of words
power
was
a
canopy
fit
snows.
physical impressionof
less end-
millions. the
readiness
of space
and
of
a
Russian
numbers.
sumptuous immensity of the sky, the snow the plainsof forests,the frozen rivers,
covered immense
an
Under
who the
the endless
country,
obliteratingthe landmarks, the accidents of the ground, its uniform whiteness, like a levellingeverything under blank page awaitingthe record of an inconceivable monstrous Eyes, pp. 30-1.) history. {Under Western
Very
splendid. Indeed,
there
is
no
one
who
can
ATMOSPHERE
CONRAD'S such
write
prose-poetry,
usual
the
not
73
prose-poetry descriptions of great
word-painting alone, but of with sort a melancholy beauty infused melancholy of the wilds, of the sea-wastes, of like to give I would of man. craving heart of
the
"
two
supreme
from
Lord
be
the
I
mean
here
both
"
I cannot
help thinking they magnificent things of their kind
Jim.
most
written
what
of
instances
the
must ever
: "
pervaded the world, and the stars, shed to together with the serenity of their rays, seemed the earth the assurance of everlastingsecurity. The upon like moon recurved, and shininglow in the west, was young the from bar of gold, and slender shaving thrown a a up A
stillness
marvellous
eye like its perfectlevel to the perfectcircle of
Arabian
smooth
Sea,
extended The
propellerturned
had
been
part
side of the
each
sombre
and their
straightand
foam
burstingin
few
undulations
sea
for
pp.
thin had
nearer
the to
the
gold shaving lost itself
on
passage down at
with
the
earth, with
of the
of
its beat
its
moon
and
;
on
permanent within
enclosed white
swirls of
few
ripples,a
the
last
black
darkened
the
eternity beyond the
though
of water,
few
ice,
horizon.
low
after
of
dark
a
universe
shimmer,
in remaining everlastingly 16-7.)
The
and
folds
sheet
a
hiss,a few wavelets, a that, left behind, agitatedthe a
splashing gently, calmed stillness of water and sky hull
deep
two
as
safe
a
diverging ridges a
instant
an
of
unwrinkled
the
on
check,
a
scheme
Patna
the
to
without
the
of
cool
and
surface
ship, subsided
into
the
speck of centre.
of the
circular
moving {Lord Jim, the
wards slowly downfloating surface
of the
waters,
down to come sky seemed augmented glitterof the stars,
the the
in the lustre of the halfprofound sombreness sea. transparent dom_e covering the flat disc of an opaque motion The was so smoothly that her onward ship moved of men, as though she had been imperceptibleto the senses a crowded planet speeding through the dark spaces of ether solitudes behind the swarm of suns, in the appallingand calm with
the
more
JOSEPH
74 awaiting 21-2.)
such
pictures,a
real at
only
the
to over
do
wields
that
seem
charm
a
reality from
added
it,
of fitness. completely a sense precisely of the genre their setting
they justifyso
because
reality is
Their demands.
in
Thus,
Nostromo,
Esmeralda
of
outside
a
of
blackness Secret
Agent,
of
Verloc
Mr
is like
a
shadow
mind
The
thus, in
And
intelligence
troubled
and
incoherent
the
of
impossible and debased ignorant barous polish covering a bar-
heart.
the
Sotillo,
and
incoherent
of his
world.
troubled
Secret
The
the
of
veneer
a
"
of
like
colonel
of
type
a
class
certain
American
South
has
regiment,
figure
a
cowardly
cruel, greedy, and
the
pervasive
his characters
For through the narrative. stand against a background And them. they gain an
all
it not
he makes
descriptionbut
of
moment
is shown
poetically,but phere, grasping an atmos-
strongly that
so
pp.
used
capacity for
grasping it
and
{Lord Jim,
of visualisation here
power
in his
evident
always
creations.
future
of
astonishing power
Conrad's in
breath
the
CONRAD
Agent is, indeed,
one
real
Conrad's
of
exactly it suggests triumphs in atmosphere. How the squalid, the sordid neglect of Mr Verloc' s shop, well it gives at a glance the whole and how spiritof and the compromising life of the underground anarchists The
like
: "
window
contained
photographs of
more
or
less
dressed un-
dancing girls; nondescript packages in wrappers patent medicines ; closed yellow paper envelopes,very black
figures; comic French numbers of ancient few publicationshung a china if to dry ; a dingy blue bowl, a casket as a string across rubber of marking ink, and of black wood, bottles stamps ; flimsy, and
a
few
marked
books, with
two-and-six
titles
in
hinting
at
heavy
impropriety;
a
few
JOSEPH
76
of that
of his readers
his
which
he
which
may
were
be followed much
so
victory
reality of
his moods.
"
the
vividness
if the vessel
would
and
for instance,
Think, Sharer."
Secret
The
in
slip.
constant
of
could
What
into
metaphor
a
"
it
out
that
vessel
the
idea
then
own
profound
is
is
in his
has
by observing that
crack
is
Conrad's
like
up
to
as
It
of his
detail
the
pours
he
imagination
arresting.
is
atmosphere
his
which
illusion
It is because
mind.
CONRAD
story
a
be
more
that fills whispering suspense into a that it grows it ? It is so true, so unfaltering, the life of the whole weight upon heavy, breathless at times so strong ship. His atmosphere is indeed of disaster or the promise .of delight the menace with of Heart Think that it becomes acutely oppressive.', Kurtz's the where of Darkness repetition of Mr heart name echoing like a refrain through the savage than
extraordinary
the
"
"
of
emotion
lost
the the
whole
the
to
realityof
of adventure,
colours
of
the
of
figure
perfume girl,or of
"
"
Seven
Islands
of the
End
The
"
with
The
End
tales.
of the
One
Tether
Dostoievsky's Poor
garden
house
feelingof too
"
the
of
"
with
where
glowing its
throws
seated the
where the
deadly who And has imagined convincingly ? One or Freya of the "
grave
"
uneasiness.
In
second
terrible in the
"
can
"
as
one
Folk
"
Fortune
the
over
Return
"
of all
symbolic Youth
desire
Tether
is almost
fact, the uneasiness of these
a
"
legendary
To-morrow
tinged by
the
disruption of a belief fills the whispers of despairand horror. the spirit of tragic fate more reads
is
"
Smile
and
of exotic
mantle
is
of "A
or
isolation
dark
the
where
ideal
gorgeous
a
of
of
illusion, or
of
romance
and
dream-like
a
experience,or love and hope
of
defeat
the
where
gives
wilderness
the
The just bear the pathos of can just bear the pathos of but the anguish of Freya "
ATMOSPHERE
CONRAD'S
The
"
Islands
Seven
of the
anguish of Turgenev's Shakespeare's Othello
is like the
of Spring
Torrents
or
of
"
inconsolable, agonising. Such us
the
of
stories lacerate
within
indignant pity.
very
roots
then
again, as
And
77
I say
later
on
in my
chapter on with a spirit
invest whole book a can irony, Conrad is a very real atmosphere phere atmosof irony, which an it were, another enclosing, as atmosphere. is the classic example of Secret Agent, of course, The "
this. I should
And
writers
like to
whose
point
out
here
a
curious
thing
of
dous atmosphere is so tremena thing exemplified very clearly in Conrad's and that work is, not only that their realism is touched often by a symbolic significancebut that this symbolic significancedoes their not undermine the added realism, but gives it, on contrary, an tions suppleness. Symbolic writing that has its foundain than rather in atmosphere, symbolism produces, as every one knows, a dream-effect totally unrelated to realism, but symbolism arisingfrom an of overwhelming sense atmosphere has the lyric quality of high reality. We can note this, as I will in my show in such chapter on Conrad's men, people Yeats as Captain MacWhirr (just imagine what or Maeterlinck have made would of Captain MacWhirr !), Marlow, Harry Hagberd, old Singleton, and young in regard to places,things, events, it is on so ; and for Consider, instance, Conrad's equally visible. attitude the sea and towards could ships. No one deny that it is an attitude fraught with symbolism. call it the You even pathetic fallacy if you may
about
sense
"
"
"
choose sea
"
do
names
is the
sailors'
not
matter.
"
For
to
Conrad
the
of glorious,fickle, and relentless master lives immortal a and changebeing at once "
CONRAD
JOSEPH
78 able
while
;
imbued
ships
of beautiful
No
realism.
from
divorced
the
with
throb
of its calms.
illusion
real, and
are
the
there
often
creeps
of
and
of its life there
the
beauty,
of
not
very
in Conrad's
ever
from
fiom
thrown
And sea
the
of
cities,
futility,
and
all his
of
great
passionate shall
I
passage
the
of
Mirror
book
noble
as
attraction praises its nameless that gird it from pole to pole :
of
The
little-known
ships. praise the
of
streets
weariness,
quote has
Conrad
the
hearts
descriptionsof the sea perennial freshness and giving a few examples
a
and
seas
does
quote
are
for
or
in his
comparatively
into which
of
love
seas
the
portrayed with poeticalreality. The august
first I shall
And a
real, his ships
shines
refrain
I cannot
Sea,
descriptions
his
sense
discouragement,
of this.
His
more
with
forests
a
and
joy.
of
of
wilds
the
or
created
if, in his descriptionsof the
For
stories.
least
of its waves,
is enshrined
sea
the
life of sailors is
depth
of the
splendour
But
whole
the
uttermost
men
sweep
very
emphasise
in
has
sea.
charm
the
to
is not
one
of the
convincingly the magic
and
I want
view
symbolic
this
is that
here
what
But
women.
friends
enduring
weakness,
faith, the
the
with
and
trusty
are
itself,but
in
faithful
ships
"
For
all that
has been
said of the love that
certain
natures
(on shore)have professedto feel for it,for all the celebrations it has been the objectof in prose and song, the sea has never it has been the accomplice At most been friendlyto man. of human restlessness,and playing the part of dangerous world-wide
of
abettor
ambitions.
Faithful
to
no
race
after
kindly earth, receivingno impress from valour and toil and recognisingno finalityof self-sacrifice, of its masters adopted the cause dominion, the sea has never the
of the
manner
like those taken
lands where
root, He
"
the
victorious
nations
of mankind
rocking their cradles and settingup or man people who, puttinghis "
have
their stones. gravein the trust
ATMOSPHERE
CONRAD'S
79
friendshipof the sea, neglectsthe strength and cunning of his righthand, is a fool ! As if it were too great, too mighty for common has no virtues,the ocean compassion,no faith, law, no
no
Its fickleness is to be held
memory.
true
resolution and by only by an undaunted in which, perhaps,there armed, jealousvigilance, hate
more
of those
their existence
and
the
Odi
sleepless, has always
love.
who
consciouslyor blindlyhave
dominion
unknown
pestuous tem-
love of loot the love of
and and
the
vast
dreams
images reflected from a mirror, leavingno record upon the mysterious face of the sea. Impenetrable and heartless,the sea has given nothing of itself to the suitors for its precarious favours. the be subjugated at any Unlike of cost earth, it cannot patience or toil. For all its fascination that has lured so to a violent death, its immensity has never been loved many the have been as mountains, the plains,the desert itself, loved. Indeed, I suspect that,leavingaside the protestations is safe in saying, care and tributes of writers who, one for littleelse in the world than the rhythm of their lines and the of their phrase, the love of the sea, to which cadence some and nations confess so men readily,is a complex sentiment for much, wherein pride enters necessityfor not a little, and the love of ships the untiring servants of our hopes
of
have
All
sea.
of adventure
fession con-
surrendered
days, the
young
the great love of the and
may
fascination of the
the
to
passionsof mankind's love of glory,the love
danger, with
well be the
than
et amo
men's
a
purposes been
to
power,
passed
like
"
and
our
self-esteem
(The Mirror And The
the
for
"
of the Sea, I
next
Nigger of the
"
best
the
pp.
21
shall
and
genuine part.
most
1-3.) from
quote
Narcissus
that
sea-epic.
"
: "
board decliningmoon drooped sadly in the western if withered as The ship by the cold touch of a pale dawn. the immortal stretched sea immense slept. And away, and the like surface and hazy, image of life,with a glittering lightlessdepths ; promising, empty, inspiringterrible. (The Nigger of the Narcissus," pp. 230-1.) The
"
"
And
then
from
An
Outcast
of the Islands
: "
JOSEPH The
of perhaps because keeps sweet the kernel
sea,
outside
but
old
;
sea
devoted
CONRAD
the
slaves
grave
without
could
look
at
of
sea
and
from
went
dealt the
woman,
the
of the
sea
past
whose
ago,
youth
Like
death.
saltness,roughens the
of its servants'
years
many
needing to open eternityreflected
life and
its
to
the book
The
servants to
or
age
were
sudden
a
life,because
of
beautiful
they
that gave
element
the
on
soul.
the
and
unscrupulous gloriousin its smiles,irresistible a
was
in its anger,
irresponsible capricious,enticing,illogical, ; a it gave joy, it thing to love, a thing to fear. It cast a spell, faith ; then with lulled gently into boundless quick and causeless the its
anger
it killed.
of
its inscrutable
charm
promise,by
the
for
immensity of possiblefavour.
its
kind picture of another following descriptionis unapproachable a
I
"
the a
of smooth
expanse floor of jewels,and as
tug gave
a
pluck
to
hovered
and
rope,
her
engines stopped ; ahead blew
canvas
out
the
sheets
in the white were
the
the lower
breeze
sky.
The
the
usual
way,
the
on
soft
let go quarter with of
the
ship
loose upper
round
in the
black
then
topsails. The with
sea.
harbour
short
slim, long hull
snared
clouds
the
the
moment
a
while
slowly under
resembling small Then
for
to
went
lay sparklinglike
water
as
windward, in
the
moved
empty
the
"
morning, at daylight,the Narcissus Outside slighthaze blurred the horizon.
measureless
think
:
Next A
by
the
by
witchery of 13.)
supreme
redeemed
cruelty was
mystery,
(An Outcast of the Islands,p. And
its
But
maze
contours, of ropes.
home, the yards hoisted,and high and lonely pyramid, gliding,all hauled
a ship became shiningand white, through
the sunlit mist. the
The
tug
turned
land.
Twenty-six stern crawlinglanguidly pairsof eyes watched the two the smooth swell between over paddle-wheels that with fierce hurry. She turned sembled refast, beating the water and aquatic blackbeetle,surprisedby an enormous the by the sunshine, trying to escape light,overwhelmed short
round
and
went
away
her low
with She
ineffectual left
a
effort
into
smudge lingering
towards broad
the of
distant smoke
gloom on
the
of
the
sky, and
land. two
ATMOSPHERE
CONRAD'S vanishing trails of she had stopped a the
on
foam
patch
unclean
an
"
On
water.
black
round
swell
the
on
81 the
place where dulating remained, un-
of soot of
mark
creature's
the
rest.
The
Narcissus
left
Flakes
with
her
to
of foam
the restless sea, under the swept past her sides ; the water
flashing blows
;
the
birds screamed
struck
glided away,
land
stand
moving
still upon
resplendentand sun.
alone, heading south, seemed
slowly
motionless
wings over the But soon the land disappeared,the birds mastheads. the pointed sail of an Arab went to the west away ; and dhow running for Bombay, rose triangular and upright the sharp edge of the horizon,lingered, above and vanished like an illusion. Then the ship'swake, long and straight, solitude. stretched itself out through a day of immense The settingsun, burning on the level of the water, flamed crimson The of heavy rain clouds. below the blackness sunset squall, coming up from behind, dissolved itself into the short deluge of a hissingshower. trucks It left the ship glistening from sails. She ran and with darkened to waterline, easilybefore fading ; swaying
a
few
a
fair monsoon,
with
her
mustered
men
aft
for
I must the
more
quotation
purpose
of Conrad
is the
The
brig'sbusiness
rajahs dwelling settlements
up
in
grand
and
low
watches
tonous mono-
whispers the
;
short
then, a loud sigh of
lure
passages
in
no
give other
but
me one
passage
mysterious appeal
: "
on
nearly among
dazzlingsand-banks,
the
I will
of their
uncivilised coasts, with obscure unknown bays ; with native
mysterious rivers
forest-lined estuaries and
was
night; and,
Narcissus,"pp. 38-40.)
"
alembic
with
and
of my book. about ships and
exquisitelyembalmed
more
now
the
sustained
settingof
; or, "
for
the
mingled
let these
not
from
heard
the
block aloft plaintof some wind. {The Nigger of the
But
cleared
decks
moving along with her, was swishingof the waves, of
on
in
a
opening
welter
of
lonelystraits
their
pale
of calm
sombre,
green blue
reefs water
the beaten Alone, far from aghtter with sunshine. tracks,she glided,all white,round dark, frowningheadlands.
all
CONRAD
JOSEPH out^ silent like
stole
behind
from
ghost,
a
land
points of
stretchingout all black in the moonlight ; or lay hove-to, of some nameless the shadow like a sleepingsea-bird,under be glimpsed mountain waiting for a signal. She would aside suddenly on misty, squally days dashing disdainfully Java Sea
of the
waves aggressive
short
the
be
or
;
ing the brood-
tiny dazzlingwhite speck flyingacross of thunderclouds piledup on purple m.asses
far away,
a
{Tivixtland
and
"
Freya
of the
the
variations, that
of the
Hfe
horizon.
the
Islands," p. 189.)
Seven
such-wise, though indeed
it is in
And
Sea,
far,
seen
with
and
hundred
a
of
ships appears pulses in the very
sea
passion which the of his books, imparting to them, amidst heart of cynical aspects of his philosophy, a real fervour It is the rejuvenating atmosphere of remembrance. its most that gives to Conrad's the sea typical work everlasting appeal. It is
Conrad.
to
of course,
But, has
a
remember
to
feeling for
intimate
an
have
we
the
which
sea,
Conrad
that
be
must
almost his work It colours as a accepted as such. historians. of some recognised bias colours the work municable in a glow of incomlife is steeped for him Its whole In and affection. romance treating of in abeyance is sometimes critical sense it Conrad's before his
delight of
the
of the
has
passion,whose
of toil and
And, we a
own
may very
to
marked
descriptions melancholy
His
only
inborn to
year
the
love
For
year.
reward
of the this
ledge know-
is the
conquest.
follow
note
often
of disillusion.
his
pervade
more
stronger from
grown ideal
is the
it is
but
ocean,
than
of memory sea
does
melancholy philosophy
True,
enthusiasm.
his generous
that
Conrad
degree
personality.
train
another
up
I
am
invests
with aware
the
of
the
his
argument,
characters
atmosphere that, in
a
to
of their
sense,
this
M
JOSEPH
wild
and in
scene
"
trust
"
by
They die
them
out
so," grunted to
for
gesture
I
that
I haven't
that
it's incredible
"
"Ah
! my
extend
in the
took
vile
their
plotters
two
agreement
"
him
saw
the
:
country
the uncle.
this."
trust a
the
that
remember
you
where
in
quick,too,
so
of
Marlow
wilderness
the
"
of Darkness
Heart
to
Do
appearance.
overheard
are
to
sombre
CONRAD
boy,
!
"
"
trust
his short
forest,the
time
the
send
to
H'm.
to this
Just I say,
"
flipperof
an
creek, the mud,
arm
the
dishonouringflourish before the sunlit face of the land a treacherous appeal to the lurking of its death, to the hidden evil,to the profound darkness feet and It was heart. so startlingthat I leaped to my back at the edge of the forest, as though I had exlooked pected of that of some black display sort to fidence. conan answer
river,- seemed
to
"
beckon
know
You
the
with
a
foolish
notions
that
to
come
one
these two high stillness confronted figures for the with its ominous passing away patience,waiting of fantastic invasion. Heart of Darkness," a (Youth, pp. 103-4.)
sometimes.
The
"
That
is what
I
mean
atmosphere, itself, can emotion
in
when arouse
the
I an
reader
that
say
uneasy "
an
Conrad's and
concertin dis-
antagonistic
arisingfrom the deep inborn dread of darkness. Conrad writes People have complained that when countries in general of Northern and of England his atmosphere has the opulence of the tropics. There for this complaint if one is certainlyfoundation assumes of climate matter that atmosphere is in the main a first chapter, the for instance, as I pointed out in my Secret London of The Agent is strangely exotic of that it is principallya matter if one but assumes the then justice of the complaint is temperament, largely overborne, though the statement, as regards his earlier works, is,I repeat, accurate enough. Every emotion
"
"
CONRAD'S would
one
exotic
ATMOSPHERE that
agree
this
the
hanging low
sun
took
on
a
penetratingsadness, like men
if the
as
eyes,
walked
met
we
that
the
of
every
description,but to rather like saying The
Eve
animated
are
that
that
"
retreat
from
European powerful The
Duel,"
the
realism
shiningwith of
ashes.
not
exotic
an
that
Let
me
the
Keats' For
imagination.
accusation
give
does
example
an
Russia
snowy
presented
is
of the
from
more
presented, too,
a
with
: "
the frost their exhausted did
their
down
far fetched
of
sort
and
only stragglerswere
passage
had
far fetched.
too
even
is
standpoint,
dovmcast
descriptions in
same
in which
Moscow
of
The
earth
it is
it is too
are
altogether good.
The
that
"
But, in his later works, hold
strain
fields.
shoulders, borne
the
Mark
by
of
sense
grave
over-burdened
agree
say
of Saint
a
rising
Foster," p. 121.)
would
one
A
aspect.
unsmiling,with
an
their
"
from
is
expanse
of the
silence of the
past, slow,
weighted their feet,bowed glances. {Typhoon, Amy Yes,
sombre
inspiredby
from
melancholy
limit,the
counter-scarps
and
gorgeous
music, disengaged itself
its western
on
in the
grass-landsframed
ground
not
landscape
"
of the
both
Kentish
:
With
"
85
those souls.
disturb
the livid
Whirlwinds
the
who
under
snows
along
silence
the
a
give up
to
They plodded mortal
lightof
fell out
and
on,
of
sky
the the
fields,broke
to
their
plains, colour
against the dark column, enveloped it in a turmoil of flyingicicles, and it creepingon its tragicway without subsided, disclosing the swing and It struggled rhythm of the military pace. looks ; onwards, the men nor exchanging neither words whole ranks marched touching elbow, day after day and never pairing raisingtheir eyes from the ground, as if lost in desIn the dumb, black forests of pines the reflections. the branches was crackingof overloaded only sound they heard. from Often daybreak to dusk no one spoke in the ran
CONRAD
JOSEPH
86 whole corpses
towards
that
atmosphere
dreamy
In
Russians.
spring breathes consummately
so
the
(A
Set
struggling
of "
of Six,
The
Duel/'
of
but
it is
create
the
book.
It
beautiful
a
tender
steppes, that
all) of
not
of
as
I
explain more
part
the
Russians
the
the
into
Anatole
I
it is
always
th6
story.
of
by giving an
mean
France.
a
in Conrad's
substance
whole
is not
spiritof
the
but
work,
of
Masefield,
of
marked
his later
to
that
is, for instance,
work
sinking deep
clearlywhat
from
illustration
it
as
is, certainly,more
there
of
illusion
atmosphere of of pearly music
is this
It
poetry
first love
atmosphere does resemble its pervasive quality. It
compared
as
the
on
own.
emotion
an
charm
a
Turgenev
crude, brilliant slashes,
(though
some
such
rhapsodies of
the
the
on
is in
Russians
can
like
nature.
Conrad's
Where
earlier
writer
to
as
all their
made
series
confers
upon
evenings
summer
have
which
soft,
the
in Conrad
misses
one
passionatedelight,this
still and
in
a
of
beneficence
the
march
macabre
a
distant grave.
a
I will admit
But
of
like
was
226-7.)
pp.
the
It
column.
In
Thai's, which
early, the atmosphere is rich, voluptuous, and is late, the glowing; in the Bergeret series, which is
very
difference
the
somewhat
of
core
the
in this way
in each
work.
between,
say,
Almayer's Folly, Almayer's Folly he may
In
Chance.
but
"
Conrad,
of
novel
the
into
it enters
subtle
and
is subdued
atmosphere
and
case
That
is
earliest
the the
describe
latest. river
a
: "
.
hiding the boat with its freight of young happiness, the passionate life and all-forgetful stars paled,and a silvery-greytint crept over the sky from Over
the
the eastward.
of
low
river-mist
There
leaf,not stirring
was a
not
a
breath
of
wind,
splashof leapingfish
to
not
a
rustle
disturb the
CONRAD'S
serene
of all
repose
river.
hearts
of
white
the
of
Suddenly behind
mist,over
in the
of
curtain
stars
went
of out
great
in
deep
up
no
a
waking.
All
seemed
tumultuously beating the
under
canoe,
surface
smooth
the
sheaf
be
of the
tropicalnature
of
beings driftingin
black
The
would
there
eyes,
banks
wrapped
were
movement
ardent
great
a
the
Pantai.
and
two
canopy
sky
it seemed
in the
concentrated
the
livingthingson
Earth, river,and
sleep,from which the seething life
87
ATMOSPHERE
of the
the
river.
yellow rays shot upwards from trees lining the banks of the the
;
little black
clouds
the
at
crimson with tints, and the glowed for a moment thick mist, stirred by the gentle breeze, the sigh of waking broke into fantastically and torn nature, whirled round pieces,disclosingthe wrinkled surface of the river sparkling in the broad light of day. Great flocks of white birds wheeled screaming above the swaying tree-tops. The sun zenith
risen
had
and
the
on
in Chance As
in
(Ahnayer'sFolly, pp. 94-5.)
coast.
describe
he may
a
river in this way
luminous
trails "of
dazzhng
in the
dust, and
vapour, the shores had the murky darkriesff of shadows cast mysteriouslyfrom and
water
an
sailed
had
told
hour
or
of
out
it
that
me
him
all
which
arouses
a
unappeasable memory head
swung
and full
the
to
fair face be
the
of
semi-transparent below.
Powell,
the
river
often
seen
revealed
was
to
before, which
expressionof
an
inner
is and
something unique and only and passionof wonder and fidelity that
of its charm.
The
hull of the
eastward, caught the light,her
its an
Ferndale tall spars
riggingsteeped in a path of red-gold,from the water-line of glitter to the trucks slightand gleaming againstthe
delicate expanse but
a
reflections
life seaman's all his young vision of entranced moment
sunrise,that
after
so
London
then, in
was
time, like a suddenly perceived to unsuspected beauty, of for
own
"
happens after a grey daybreak the sun had risen immense the smooth and glorioussplendour above the enlarged estuary. Whisps of mist floated like
of
gleam
who
:
often warm
a
east
in
both
atmosphere
of blue.
these of
the
(Chance,p. 251.)
descriptionsthere respective books,
is the the
typical
atmosphere
CONRAD
JOSEPH illusive the
universal
and
them
difference
Conrad's
between
specialtone the
For
that
and
Pantai
the
south, between
work.
simply
is not
its
gives
stages of his
various
between
which
between
the
difference north
Conrad's
and
and
it is the
Thames,
early
to
late
examples, only present it in concrete of course though with an atmosphere such as Conrad's a concrete example is but the visualisation of the whole books atmosphere is always spirit. For in Conrad's treated from the same standpoint, though it is different moods. developed in many But there is one which, I fancy, thing about Conrad and is his power of is universally admitted, that a romance building up the atmosphere of romance often tinged, as I say, with the hue of vain regret, of useless desire, and of defeated hope. It falls upon it dyes his stories with his characters and his scenes, sadness of vanished the youth. For it is romance alone that makes pectancy poignant. An air of exmemory I
manner.
can
"
"
hovers that is
that Conrad
fades
exclaims
it
stories, but
into
away but
sweet
his
over
is
it is For
old
age.
decay
that
is
ancy expect-
an
it is certain.
hope As
: "
dazzling youth ! Oh the fire of it,more of the than the flames burning ship,throwing a magic light the wide earth, leapingaudaciously to the sky, presently on be quenched by time, more more to cruel, more pitiless, of the burning ship and like the flames bitter than the sea surrounded by an impenetrable night. {Youth, Youth/' P- 33-) Oh
the
glamour
of
"
"
But of "
he
but nowhere
in
"
The
is it
Duel more
more
is
There
adventure.
romantic
Youth,"
the
also create
can
"
in
"
sustained
A
ordinary glamour plenty of it in
Smile
of
Fortune,"
than
in
the
novel
In
of Romance.
89
ATMOSPHERE
CONRAD'S
Conrad
book
this
and
Hueffer
have
spirit of their title. It ghtters with the romance of danger, of love, of youth, of tion intrigue. And it creates with rare depth of imaginathe very soul of Spanish Cuba of a hundred years Some of the descriptionsin Romance tremely exare ago. Here is one which has been fine. truly called Dantesque : achieved
the
very
"
"
I feel in
These
me
his
were
lowered
curtain. into
fallingdusk
,
last words. the
slowly upon
The
faint
."
inspiration.
greatness,an
a
.
dark
heavy
lashes
scended de-
eyeballs,like a ravine gathered the
of the
gleam
deep folds of the great pools of absolute The
blackness
the
at
foot
of the crags.
Rising high above our littleness shadows the struggleof lightsand of a man's in the wreck body, the indifference.
pale in
in
machete
passed av/ay
students
without
as
said
of
because, make
of
as
much
is
a
book
little
are
the
points
romance
often
too
the
"
nothing
or
his
inspiration sigh. {Romance,
overlooked
by
one
may
tinged
I
inner
look with
madness, cynicism touched
ceaseless have
of this has
other
festation mani-
said
whole
his
side
little
book
flavour
is
just
prominence has his. That effects is naturallytrue, for
writer
to the
the
and
Conrad
evident.
index
about
unconscious
of any it is visible in his conscious
"
exhaled
an
personality. And the object course,
that other
any
chief
monumental
their great stony faces, turning the amazed if standingguard, as peon
greatness and
atmosphere
such
a
of Conrad.
I have
as
had
hand, Manuel's
Indeed, Romance
to
rocks
365-6.)
pp.
of
over
watched, fascinated, the soul entangled
between
And
gloom, with
the
that
self.
And
for in Conrad's the
by
sense a
of
here
are
the
philosophy fatalism
deep regard
and
for the
CONRAD
JOSEPH
90
patient qualitiesof simplicityand compassion. He is imis fatalism of the futilityof things, and And in his theory of a pitilessscheme. embedded yet to all this is queerly joined a real zest for existence, and
sympathetic
a
I feel inclined
lives.
finds
Conrad
that
is added
folly. And, arising out
almost
naive
of the
seamen
Gould
Mrs
a
his
for
antidote
an
illusionm dis-
general
an
rough figure of
frail
the
in
or
his
to
It is in the
goodness.
Narcissus
that
say
life there
about
belief in
to
beautiful
and
for artless
warmth
disgust
at
notice
in
human
Conrad,
overlaid,
strictest
regard I do
honour.
of this it were,
as
for
not
I do
austere
an
a
the
pessimism,
of
sense
things are conception pessimistic that
mean
these
sarily neces-
of life,
presents them,
Conrad
that, in the way
mean
can
his
upon
integrityand
antagonisticto but
duality, we
stupid persons. previously,people in England For, as in their literaryheroes expect original cleverness add, even and expect it, I may concerning the most banks mounteof life. They want emotions straightforward their integrityis a subject that to tell them is, strictlyspeaking, for derision, or that their honour fashioned
old appear stated I have
they might
to
"
dishonourable for
be
ever
;
subtlety
But
sure
to
I will draw
thing
Conrad's
which
it is
a
to
home
these
rather
I find
atmosphere
to
is
a
and
The
finer.
to
beyond me
Conrad's
wide
tone
unexpectedness
every
reader.
desultory remarks
close.
eludes
a
the
note
strike
atmosphere
finer
will
who
simplicityhiding perception,is not easily
But, in contrast
is
Conrad's
of
one
some
Conrad,
like
man
want
shades
the
scepticalaloofness,
of which
a
a
immense
understood. of
else, they
drawing
simplicityof an
or
I set
For
The
me. as
a
out
on
to
secret
do of
critic, though
CHAPTER
CONRAD
In
the
of
the
the
following
two
of them of
of A to
propose
that
of
few
of
character
character
And
reality.
Not
only
imagination,
but
with
world. and to
It
his
is the
eccentric
amongst
vivacity
that
are
novelists
into
their
the
reader
the
fires
of
projected author him
their
once
and for
but
enormously
of realism.
purpose
The
and
They
for
the
are
they don't
quite of
have
the
require
need
the
common
of
gusts some
entertain the
for
useless
live because
inwardly.
no
of
from to
Conrad
from
actuality
fresh
serve
may
diverse
so
flowing
ever
ary vision-
nothing
The
burn all
high
character
figures
existence
thereafter
help.
two
these
rare
is
of
ceaselessly puppets
with
of his
writers.
English
our
drawing
which
knows
of
point
structure
realism
proaching ap-
grip
drawn
detail
gives
view
typical
or
of
tremendous
people
the
I
general
in his
than
a
outset
all I would
his
conjunction that
the
manner
of
ceaseless
Such
creations.
his
are
Atlas,
forces
necessary
reveal
a
like
uphold,
to
first
of
Conrad's
his
decisively
more
Conrad
awake
of
the
them,
powers
at
on
and
does
on
But
remarks
subject.
nowhere
!
in
"
satisfactory
only
psychological
indeed
a
of
second
is the
some
books
Conrad's
the
that the
make
the
in
;
course,
truism
conception
out
men
discuss
to
mean
in
figures
analysing
novelist.
I
chapters
the
For,
women.
method
PSYCHOLOGIST
prominent
more
first
AS
V
They
mind to
of call
bolstering
are
their upon
up,
so
PSYCHOLOGIST
AS
CONRAD
93
originator. That is the realistic gift a thing as perfect in its illusion as is the no perspective of a masterly painting. And brilliance,no philosophicdepth, no curious originality take its place. can the next point I would insist on is that, although And and unjaundiced, Conrad's psychology is always sane he does draw a especially, yet, in his male characters speak, by
to
the
sallies of their
"
type of mind
whom
to
attraction.
of
domination
the
need
I
idea has
one
cite
examples at it is a thing it here because but I mention the moment, shows which theory of people clearlyenough Conrad's his theory is, I think, that beneath whole. And a as level of sanity and the usual good will there is an terrible
a
darkness
of
under-world
immense
not
and
Our
unrest.
fearfullyout of the madness is often His of nature. philosophy of character optimistic,his philosophy of life invariablypessimistic. is snatched
healthiness
pointed
elsewhere,
out
about But
view
Conrad's
And
one
it
which
of
occasional
an
has,
as
I
of
touch
have bolism sym-
is
extraordinarily thrilling. that it is thrilHng simply
remember
must
character
the swallow symbolism does not up is a case Typhoon reality. Captain Mac Whirr in Conrad's in point. In my chapter on atmosphere this I speak of the excitement we experience when the faces with invulnerable endurance stupid man the But reason why he does fury of the storm. interest so one intensely is just because he is a real and not fight with merely symbolic of man's person the
because
"
I
nature.
the
other
am
a
little afraid
chapter
may
be
lest what
"
I have
misunderstood.
said
You
in see,
minds, this duality in romantic illusion within another. capacity for creating one is essentiallyreal, but his reality Captain MacWhirr there
is this recondite
CONRAD
JOSEPH
94
seems
enhanced
That
is Conrad's
by
his
with
contact
the
typhoon.
system of developing his characters.
definite battUng with some His idea. faced with people are catastrophe or is Lord monstrous Jim {Lofd propositions. There his honour, Jim) with his problem of how to redeem there is Charles Gould {Nostromo) enslaved to his silver mine, there is Almayer [Almayer'sFolly)with his hope of riches, there is Mr Verloc {The Secret Agent) haunted endless scheming, there is Lieutenant by his own Feraud ("The Duel") obsessed by his duel, there is Razumov {Under Western Eyes) fightinghis conscience, there is old de Barral {Chance) with his monomania and of hatred ill-usage. I need not prolong such a I spoke of in my former list : it is what paragraph male Conrad's the power of the idee fixeover portraits. but Not quite frequently, this is always, of course, He
Hkes
to
show
us
them "
"
how
Conrad
it has
works, and
being so much profound describer not
a
led
to
some
of his
talk
profound psychologist as
of moods.
I do
not
think
a
there
that, for it only represents the
is much
in
of most
normal
people
to
realise the
incapacity might of even
and it shows also that obsessions slightlyabnormal arrives at his conclusions. they have not grasped how Conrad For he is not describingeccentric types, he of ordinary people by is describing the victimisation the
madness
of
the
world.
Almost
more
than
any
Dostoievsky, has Conrad probed to In my its depths the duality of the mind. opinion he is truly one of the great imaginative creators. his portraits have For an absorbing actuality. me harmonious his figuresby a hundred He builds up that he is going to present Even touches. assume driven to a man us mastering impulse say by one not does Lord soon prevent him Jim. That very other
writer
save
"
CONRAD
AS
PSYCHOLOGIST
95
making us comprehend Lord Jim quite apart from that impulse. For not only is Jim's treatment of his obsession a own key to his whole character, but, with the
instinct
sure
completely
of
and
him
artist, Conrad
an
all his
finishes him
off
other
people, indeed their reads gestures, their scraps of dialogue. He them he views them from subjectivelyand objectivelj'', all sorts of standpoints. His endeavour is to be to reality. I do not universallyconsistent say he is I do not think he is. I would invariably successful call such not Corbelan figuresas Father [Nostromo), self Mario w himor Gaspar Ruiz (" Gaspar Ruiz ") or even of Darkness," (" Heart etc.)altogether successful But few. that is only to be exa pected, just to mention it happens to every creator. Look the at what a Bulgarian in Turgenev's On the Eve piece ! the answer But of wood to that is surely this "
"
"
"
"
"
"
Look
Helena
at
in the
I have
only to fiftyfigures! That
is the of the
I have
finest
a
women
are
handling
than
are
direct
more
of
whereas obscure but
these
in
their
There
deal Or
at
And
as
and
so,
are
so
in Conrad's
all
Conrad,
to so
and
works
of his
true
"
acters char-
many
that
adequately with
rather, it is
so
more men
"
And comparatively few in number. Conrad's male portraitsrequire subtler his female portraits. For his women
sense,
a
and
so
distinction
no
yet, in
at
of it.
worst
space to few of them.
than his
look
say,
book.
same
than
his
men
and
the
beautiful
cacy deli-
construction
standing, requires,for right underonly the talent of sympathy and observation, at any are rate, of his men some, definitely in their psychology not, be it understood, the reasons for their psychology. Male traits, porelaborate, singular, very distinctive, crowd
pages.
In
Nostromo,
alone, there
must
be
a
96
CONRAD
JOSEPH
dozen his
chief
and
here
let
Conrad's
alien
to
necessary it
put of
"
me
art.
it
And
principally Western Eyes
Razumov. fundamental
a
is
a
principle
principle at
to
neither
character
be, that
may the
once
so
a
be
if the
the
great English novelists
test
take, what thinks
is,nevertheless,
it Put thus unity of the book. unusual assertion an startlingnor of applied to the great characters
but
is
perhaps
of
Dickens'
that
plot ? G. K. head acutely in
says
:
the
to
of Browning.
English conception of the novel and so in Conrad's conception of it that I must strongly. However important a character
subordinate
ever
wealth
a
our
Conrad's
sounds
figure point out
one
of
concerned, Under
"
principallywith of
is
Jim
figure ^Jim ; and
one
But
Lord
instance
For
with
us
recallingthe huge monologues
fullness
with
consequence. unrolled before
are
men
minds
The
figuresof unique
it would
not
stand.
example principal figures in
an
extreme
Chesterton his
the
knocks
Charles
:
To Who
relation nail
Dickens, when
on
he
"
Dickens'
characters
are
of his stories
them
out
The
truth
perfect as
long
as
he
can
keep
(p.148).
unity of the novel is an idea the that has been, with exception of Henry James under and Continental George Moore (writersmuch influence),upheld by few English-speaking novelists before And Conrad
is, that
the
Conrad. I may
add, further, that
what
most
interests
calls it, people is, as a friend of mine The relations," rather changing complex of human than It is that, mainly, the people as individuals. which from the differentiates his novels English novels of character. Just as he has the artistic "
about
of
balance
his whole does
so
his
PSYCHOLOGIST
AS
CONRAD
have
he
subtle
the
before
characters
him
before
work
in
him
97 in
of
grouping of
one
every
tence, sen-
every
all
their
antagonisticor sympathetic is what natures tion. really intrigues Conrad's imaginaof viewing his fond That is why he is so figuresthrough the eyes of several different people, in Chance, for instance as (which almost follows the of The methods Ring and the Book), and of taking officer in characters, such as the French quite minor of Darkness," Heart Lord Jim or the Brussels girlin and as pivots on which he can turn treating them his group of principalactors, thereby gaining new lightson them. I was But, returning for an instant to what saying his men about Conrad's subject to tendency to make The
actions.
conflict
of
"
"
"
the fascination as
that
his
these
are
nor
(as,for instance, To
realise
sanity is say
rooted not
of the
the
of his
characters
to
of his
out
of
and or
such
into
his
is Tolstoy),
all insane
people
as
psychology
would
not
(I admit
us. us
is, after all, for, if it
obvious
seems
obsessions
all insane
advancing
fixes from
of
that
affirm
only bewilder they v/ould move Dostoievsky's characters not
at
is unclouded
us,
are
idee
(as,for instance,
balance
reality. That
in
so,
the
absolutely
note
the
of nature
Dostoievsky). truly is essential, because complete nature of Conrad's genius. To very
than
more
under
not
characters
are
his mental
that
hardly
this
should
suffer
characters
to his view
fixe,and
forces, one
himself, is
Conrad,
which
idee
an
of wild
mass
a
of
"
but
are,
insanity;
is
were
move
that
then are
they
they generally are
still
mind be though the dehumanised may pathetic,it is actuallywithout significance it revolves in an unreal be better world. My meaning cannot
human).
For
"
G
JOSEPH
98
CONRAD words
expressed than in the Shakespearean Tragedy
of A.
be
discussed
Bradley
in his
: "
Shakespeare, occasionallyand not
C.
for
which
reasons
need
conditions
here, represents abnormal
of
insanity,for example, somnambulism, hallucinations. these And deeds are issuing from certainlynot what are acter. called deeds in the fullest sense, deeds expressiveof charIf Lear he divided his were reallymad when kingdom, if Hamlet were reallymad at any time in the story, they would cease to be tragiccharacters (pp. 13-4). mind
;
...
It is
world
just the assurance in spiteof all their around
them,
are
we
idee
feel that
fixes,in spiteof the mad
real, sufferingpeople, that
gives the dignity of tragedy to I daresay I shall be accused the
facts of the
black
to
be
case
to
acters, char-
Conrad's
suit my
white, in simpler
his creations.
of
here
contention terms
"
manipulating of proving "
but
I
am
not
doing. If people say that I am raising about in fact, bother a nothing at all, that I am, that he never created creating a philosophy for Conrad be that they are for himself, it may right it is their but if they criticism once against mine say that that Conrad's characters are subject having admitted with an contact to idee fixes springing from essentially then that such mad admit, logically, world, I must characters themselves, I altogethei: are actually mad is that, to Conrad, contention disagree. My whole I sane thing in the universe humanity is the one of having an ordered in the sense sane mean ment developblind repetition. I own that and not mere a in human beings the line where responsibility merges be strictlydiscernible, not sheer into insanity may it is quite plain when it has not been but, all the same, know perfectly overstepped. In other words, we it is And well when eccentricityis not madness. conscious
of
so
"
"
"
CONRAD
JOSEPH
100
melancholy atmosphere and delusions of his figures. Sanity to him his
in
Meredith
George
of
conception Meredith,
and
line
far
so
of
that more
Meredith's
apart
might
as
Meredith's
echo
"
the breast I with
Shall
{Ode then
he
to
the
rose
Autumn.) in
stoicism
regard
clear-headed
of
quality
a
in
Earth
Spirit of
it because be
always
givesthe
that
shuddering fall ?
echo
would
life must
to
are
a
:
Into
but
of what
but
that
say
too, would
Conrad
doubt
No
appear.
not
no
upon
rebellious
more
is
He
than
rebellious
of nature
views
deeper than
is founded
nature
would
I
yet
Conrad's
of
destiny more not only
tragic. And and
idea
His
is inevitable.
lies
beguiled into worship
be
to
the
world.
external
of the
face
beautiful
the
sombre
in
rapture for Nature's loveliness is equally and in Conrad, but to one she is apparent in Meredith
thinkers.
The
man's
of
quagmire
is the
sanity,whereas
of man's
fountain
the
I
unrest.
Conrad's
of
own
proportion of
shows
it in his avoidance
might
tend
creations
balance I admit even
so,
bizarre.
diminish
to
of those
that
he
it is His
if ever,
in I
extravagances not
those
feel
that
a
sense
description.
It
that
extravagances
be
are
of
false
he
has
but,
extravagant
that
extravagance
an
I have
reality of his the sensitive poise and speak of his finest work.
sometimes
can
believe
individual
the
just as well as of his atmosphere.
and
seldom,
valuable
most
make
to
shows
I
that
expect
of character
grasp the
I
she
other
desire
crudely in my putting the case comparison, but point and my my stated the general truth of the matter. am
But
the
to
is
never
those
of
really agination over-im-
imagination. made
a
mistake
We in
CONRAD
AS
PSYCHOLOGIST
101
feel, often enough, that he psychology, though we has gone beyond due limits in its presentation. And the too rich colours of his this frequently arises from atmosphere. In his later books, where his atmosphere down is toned considerably, the false notes in very the positivefalse notes I mean Conrad occur hardly "
"
at all.
topic" the influence Conrad's of atmosphere on figures. I have touched this subject in the particularchapter that treats on of Conrad's perhaps, be atmosphere and so I may, pardoned if I have to repeat myself. The truth is, Conrad's psychology is saturated in atmosphere and it. well be appreciated fully apart from cannot very that Conrad's I was It all hangs on what saying before much characters as a are portion of an artistic whole alities (the story in which they appear) as they are individuthat can how I reallydo not see in themselves. His people take on, with artful gradations, be denied. Conrad's the atmosphere of their surroundings. Indeed their for is to the chief aim reality pave way and of a tremendous pervasive by the creation as by atmosphere (as much atmosphere. I mean current which gives an underanything else) that emotion In this sense of art. to the unity of a work his figuresare of the word obviously atmospheric. endless has an And, furthermore, Conrad curiosity is always experimenting. He in regard to character. For a instance, he takes shipful of unsophisticated Narcissus and he consailors in The fronts Nigger of the the problem of with them a knotty problem What he wants to do is to Wait. the dying James result is discover the limits of their simplicity. The integrate The whole remarkable. disciplineof the ship is disAnd
this
suggests
a
fruitful
"
"
"
"
because
these
seamen
cannot
understand
102
CONRAD
JOSEPH
towards
officers' attitude
the
results
in
it is in
nigger attempted mutiny against men genuine regard.
an
they have Again,
the
a
Jim, Conrad
in Lord
him
makes
that
man
even
for whom
find out
to
wants
it
and
what
disregard the self-preservation ;
often
so
being the law of in other words, what bravery is. So, with his intense and apparently paradoxical curiosity,he burrows into the secret down places of the heart to analyse its cowardice. converse Firstly,there is Jim, a man of his
first law
"
"
with
vision
romantic
a
of
himself
who
retain
must
it
with a secondly, there is Brierly,a man be at the top or nowhere ; professionalpride,who must with a Lieutenant, a man thirdly,there is the French of honour, who must sense spiritual keep it untarnished exist. to or cease Through comprehending what actual to these three men or means possiblecowardice Conrad grasps the meaning of that elusive thing which is bravery and self-sacrifice. and disciplineis Again, the question of obedience or
that
one "
under
go
Heart
it
;
has
boat
going "
and
have
and
sailors certain
didn't
Congo done
simply
behests
senseless
;
eat
of
and
why the
on "
the
grims pil-
obeying
he
all
voices
it,
"
this time "
that obvious it was things but when hkely to result in shipwreck ? And in careful reasons
natives
it instead
with
himself
asks
Marlow
when
it in
voices
He
The merely by implication)in where the question arises,why did the Sharer and officers obey the captain whom they were mad and was obey him not only in ordinary
(though
Secret
the
up
much.
miserable, half-starved
the
their weary too
"
of Darkness that
was
Conrad
exercised
to "
cut
the
easilyhave
from
natives
under were
overpowered
feet
our
fond the
"
his
orders
both
cases
all the
of human
were
he is
ordinary
flesh, could
pilgrims,"had
no
moral
have
scruples,could
never
rate, could
have
the was
not
sailors
in the
his
impressed by
one), or
new
a
caught, and, at any off than worse ; they were grip of habit (the captain been
been
not
were
10^
PSYCHOLOGIST
AS
CONRAD
superior
of
sense
that he to the conclusion knowledge (they had come was irresponsible)or frightenedof the law (men about don't care to drown a jot for that). The truth is,in ,
both
these
in-itself
cases
a
"
we
in the
are
real
very
and
of
presence
a
thing-
the
incomprehensible
very
power.
people'sminds. I often think that the wonderful realityof Conrad's from the fact that the majority main figuresmust come acteristics either actual people or built up of charof them are has met. belonging to people Conrad their For reality has a photographic fidelityseen, it were, as through the rosy light of remembrance. They stand before us in the intimate silence of ghostly does
Thus
So
friends. the
know
Conrad
probe
it appears
to
into
at
me
of Conrad's
characters
people
shutting my eyes, I know constantly meeting. people I am
way
the
in
to
seem same
of
characters
the
as,
I
rate.
any
This, I repeat, is
only have from been aroused genuine by his people being drawn types though I bear in mind the abilityof atmosphere ance to create figuresstrongly and convincingly in accordauthor's with the own predilections. And, that Conrad notices indeed, one (especiallyin his an
effect
which
would
one
could
suppose
"
portraitsof women) approaches to what that
is
a
trait
one
is is
though, assuredly, in minor
types.
apparently
some
Such
can
writers
describingthe remarkable their that actuality is
only are
so
he
nearer
his ideal. in most
observe
could
the
successful
more
Probably novelists
achieve taken
qualitiesof their positively choked
"
reality up
with
favourites in
the
and
process,
is
it
all
In
enthusiasm. dearer
to him
Verloc
[The
The
Secret
I
Agent)
?
that
emerge with
mounts
novels
what
and
"
his
women
are
Winnie
[Nostromo) and
creative
like
Nostromo,
what
are
women
where
a
few
story men
like
board
on
as intelligence
what
The
call the
I may
book
a
and
steamer
are
intimate
"
I
where
alive
as
try
the
to
my
discover
to
of their
secret
or
eyes,
my
Tether
of the
closest friends, and
my
of
I think
ceaselesslybefore the
intuition
of actors, defined
crowd
End
and
men
I at the
am
of their author.
energy
"
characters,
astonished
more
differentiated, passes a
Conrad's
study
alike, the
and
reality tion. explana"
yields so little to abstract ally, I believe the key to it all lies,fundamentAnd in a sympathetic presentation. I do not mean the least that even the majority of Conrad's people or particularlysympathetic either to Conrad
that
secret
puts
which
readers, but
Conrad's
level.
Conrad,
what
I do
readers, and
himself, his
identical as
reahsm
Gould
Mrs
than
more
women
are
his
figures
life-like ?
more
in
lesser
the
Conrad's
But
triumphant.
of
CONRAD
JOSEPH
104
his
One
feels oneself
one
is
and
also
sure
Conrad
is that
mean
characters on
the
that
on
an
plane
same
feels
Conrad
plane as his readers and his figures. of people who this is mainly true No doubt happen to find themselves sympathetic to Conrad's personality, but I think Conrad always tries to make that impression for those in sympathy with Conrad who are are sympathetic in a very special sense. Conrad admires I might say that what And here himself
the
on
same
"
in
character
whose
mind
lies behind courage,
is
more
is not so
many
or
given
less what over
modern
to the
one
every false
casuistrythat
revaluations.
compassion, honour,
admires
endurance,
He and
admires in
the
indeed, I
But,
them.
allow
the
remarks
more
In
Reminiscences
he
Some
"
read
who
know
me
temporal world, simple that they must the
expect
contains.
idea
doubt
I have
one
no
in
All of
of
sort
some
minds
in
more
others. with
a
the
It
is
a
absurd
tinge
all writers,
with
as
be
would
that
deny
Conrad's
of
complexion
the
have,
characters
there
sympathy bond
characters
it
be
anger
free.
(Some
some
tinge
personality. a
And
bound
Blue
Book
To has
consequently, to
be
certain
projections than has, directly,little to do But it is preciselyon
with
themselves.
and
scorn
course,
own
are
which
that
of
it.
about
intolerance
these
at
even
"
and
should
a
Conrad's
all
scruples as optimism is repulsive
me
mind philosophical Reminiscences,pp. 20-1.) which
other
things; but, Philosopher. All claim to
better
specialrighteousnessawakens from
when
tionary revolu-
been
not
from
smile
should
am
or
way
so
notably,
time
a
some
of fanaticism
one
ideas ;
It rests At
world,
is mighty revolutionary spirit
it frees
menace
imperfectEsthete, I
Fidelity.
of
hard, absolute
lis the
hills.
the
as
the
simple
very
attention
much
this, that
by No
old
as
few
a
v/ritings.The
regards ideas. mind
on
that
conviction
my
revolutionary in
attract
to
in my in convenient
my
be
is not
which
nothing
rests
the
others, on
amongst
to
express words. in his own
:
Those
can
persons Conrad's
cannot
justly than introductory chapter to views
own
sensible
all
that
interpretation
ordinary
105
PSYCHOLOGIST
AS
CONRAD
his
sympathies and antipathies of this subtle order that To the ship of criticism gets wrecked. people many much of of so the romance irony or the sombre to give offence, just as Conrad's psychology is sure to
For
many
it will be
there
outlook
life but
personality.
There
very
core
of his achievement.
planes not only in people's of actually in their realisation are undoubtedly, who some,
innumerable
are on
the
JOSEPH
106
CONRAD and
touching figures Verloc and Winnie of Mrs Gould as merely tiresome nonentities, just as some might suppose Tolstoy'sAnna Natasha Karenina Rostov to be merely profligate or
would
consider
troublesome
and
better.
compassionate
the
Well, let it be
fools.
"
But, indeed, the
tinge
creations
deeper. The presented without still
of
"
of
author
an
mind
one
know
We
so.
goes be
may
evitably inpersonal bias, but they must that And bear the impress of their creator. author to the is where difficultyof comparing one is so evident for how another can one adjudicate on ? the clash of temperaments True, the critic is only in the result, but interested that, again, arises from individual preference,and individual preference arises from natural sympathies or antipathies. I do not criticism has not stepped beyond say that the wisest "
circle to
this vicious ideal
critic has
from
But
I
yet
would
point
say
that
of
is sympathetic,
view, which
Conrad's
impressive, because,
are
the
to be born.
own
my
I do say that
extent, but
some
powers
putting
of
psychology all aside
do convince questions of temperament, his characters that that us they exist they are generally unaware brain. I daresay this may only as figments of one fanciful and a help sillyremark, but I cannot appear thinking that the realityof any figure is in inverse ratio to its obvious dependence on outside assistance "
which
writers
be
may
whose
direct, as
characters
opposites,or which may those ingenious people the tides of along on adventure, the
but
which,
principlesof
appear
to write
in the
merely reflect be oblique as
in
fictional
who
float
coincidence either
clever
of those
case
them in
their or
or
the
case
of
characters
improbable
event, is ruinous
reality. Only themselves, only characters
their
books that
to
that
appear
JOSEPH
108
CONRAD all meretricious
passionate intensity that disdains aid in its development or exposure.
a
of the
true
profound
artist,the
effort to
mind
keep
that
the
His
mind
is the
never
flags in
its
created
in
illusion it has
picture. Nor does he, in his best work, as is so often charged against him, achieve his results by redundancy. Quite the reverse. He achieves them by restraint, imagination, tireless And in achieving them he is quite content to care. Even in the miss more striking effects of others. the physical aspect of earlier works, where Conrad's it the tropicsis thrust the screen, so stridentlyupon vice that this is largelya debe a mistake would not to see for throwing into stronger relief the realism of the I am not actors. going so far as to say that Conrad the
very
has
not
forefront
descriptionto
own
music, but
work
often, allowed
often, very
of
is for
ever
I
of the
carry am
at
him
going the
back
away to
say
If he
has,
as
on
the
that
of his mind
unity revolves, primarily, round characters.
his unrivalled
I have
the
pov/ers swell of their
the
and
that
realism
asserted
of his
unity
of
this
his
elsewhere,
"
passion for his theme," he has also a passionate is the of psychology. He regard for the nuances be lured most incorruptibleof artists in that he cannot the his aim from by the promise of a great reward a
"
reward
of universal
esteem.
said about notwithstanding all that I have inherent Conrad's widely incapacity to become he has, as to insist plainly that appreciated, I want his few other people have, the abilityto make very characters thrilling.This, again, is a subject which here that I discuss elsewhere, so I will only mention by thrillingI imply something almost indescribable, of something intimate, like the familiar excitement dream. a Who, for example, could be more thrilling But
CONRAD in
this
strange
(" Falk "
hands,
109
morrow"), (" ToHagberd of Darkness"), or ("Heart the shuddering motion of his stir the of passionate and
Kurtz with
"),
the
than
way
Mr Falk
PSYCHOLOGIST
AS
vague
Harry
"
? meaningless gesture For Conrad's psychology is not alone painstaking, it is enlivened throughout by flashes of high sudden revealing glimpses that genius by these than do His explain more fifty laborious pages. to seems imagination has an insight which pierce few writers so beyond that conventional depth which in the world have ever passed. This is no exaggeration. Conrad's originalityis of the order that goes instead of dispersing itself in a straight to bed-rock curious That is why thousand fancies. of one any his great figuresis worth the whole galleryof a Bernard Shaw, and that is w^hy almost any figureof a Bernard Shaw is more the whole of Conrad. popular than (And when I say popular I refer to another kind of referringto a moment popularity than I was ago Shaw's that figures are not popular in the same way Tolstoy'sare.) observe that Conrad's And should we psychology "
"
"
"
is
inductive, and
its very
that
that
unexpectedness
is
is
one
of
the
why
reasons
yet perfectlynatural.
It
just as in real life,where people we are intimately acquainted with will often surprise us but seldom that their unlookedgreatlybewilder us, for the reason is
for actions
have,
think
over.
get has
them to
the
fiction. Conrad
For
the
from
proves
in
the
himself
deductive
a
familiar
is about
anyone.
freedom is
base,
That
understand
It
at
For
aspect when
the no
nearest
the
is the
in
most
realistic
usual
attitude
can
real
life
characters
in
one
complexity of comprehension
we
we
of of
this
that
novelists.
assumed
by
JOSEPH
110
novelists,and
CONRAD
deductive
the
has
the
always
of
snare
simplicity. And
also remember
must
one
that
from
Conrad,
an
interested point of view, is at least as much in personality(which is the actual impression created by a figureon other people's minds), as in character (which is what a figurereallyis). The conception of relative to the person who personality is, of course, artistic
it, but
receives
this
for
different
affect
people
easily ascertain
is
readers But
reason.
very
author's
the
absolute.
Conrad's
differentlyand
very all the
same
one
can
opinion (internal it quite clearly, as a rule) and that is be safest in accepting. finest Conrad's figures as they
shows
evidence
character
own
,
the
we
will
to
know
be
known
one
But
should For
that
vague
surely as shell. than
the
and
charm
"
secret
them
that
with
something
romance.
is in the
sea a
tasted
is in their hearts
murmur
of the
murmur
It invests
have
must
you
something which
niece people as Hermann's Maroola [Almayer's Folly) have
is
is
a
more
itself.
romance
(" Falk ")
Such
of
heart
that
as
need
to
And
if
or
Dain
speaji hearts and romantic their hidden tion. know we by intuiConrad can impart a wonderful, rich glow to in that close to his figures. And light they seem word it is without a being spoken. Of course, us, of atmosphere, but it is not manifestation another it is romance well. For Conrad as only atmosphere no
"
"
is the
most
romantic
of
writers.
romance
for a book like manner early romantic in another is now is deeply romantic Chance way fading before a purer psychology (as it is in his later books), there will always be people like myself who been than truer believe that his psychology has never in the instinctive insightof his romantic portraits. or
rather
the
"
"
CONRAD There
is
PSYCHOLOGIST
AS
111
Hke to thing I would emphasise about Conrad's psychology, and that is its modernity and the quality of its modernity. He has the Slav capacity for comprehending the minds of to-day without placing them, so to speak, in the in is all the difference problems of to-day. There the world. Writers like Ibsen and Strindberg perceive the the unrest of present, but they always seem to perceive it in a local setting. That, probably, is because But heart. at they are really moralists like Tolstoy and writers Dostoievsky read as fresh indeed, I have to-day as they did forty years ago that little doubt And, as far as they read fresher. I can of a book like Nostromo judge, the characters like The Narcissus will always or Nigger of the
just
one
more
"
"
be
It is the
modern.
Jim,
Lord
where
will become
of Ibsen
becoming
the
has
moralist
So
I think
now
many
Perennial
that
one
has
men
and
women.
to
more
dealt
subject
can
serve
the
two
off.
no
that
I
need
with
purpose succeed
that
it.
The
that in
Conrad's
have
not
conscious,
am
aspects that
it is better
add
read
I
I
points
to round
this
chapter conjunction with
abstract
views
of
a
be interesting must interesting, but one might say, in the case of a distinguishedman what not with. we are they are really concerned What with is his power we are to really concerned call spirits from the vasty deep." may
be
unless
of the
some
But
only
alone.
considering
lucidly,and
less self-evident.
or
the
novelist
too
any
as
a
most
conscious
am
I have
that
in
such
book
them
to
covered
remember I
explained myself moreover,
I have
a
good hold, that people in the plays more) are already youth belongs to
got
the
as
Strindberg (and
old-fashioned.
of
great imaginative artists,and
the
are
characters
old-fashioned,
and
"
"
"
"
VI
CHAPTER
I
been
HAVE
the
it,
each
will It
is
of
to
of
book
some
the
richest
has
known.
And
that
noble
and
with
their
of
problems
that
intellectual. is
of
real
in
them
is
generation ^^ith
their
of
high
altered
quite
class
a
world
conceit,
or
life
life
they male
Conrad's
with
not
for
stand
"
men
the
are
to are
a
men
of all
and
they
and
there
Some
vile, but
actual
an
essentially
as
are
Moreover,
pervades
And
individuality
especially.
them
in
fancy
problems
write
men.
our
have
not
am
could
variety,
they
men
me
live
of
structure
outlook
endless
I
so
I
I
I
literature.
strikes
They
that
their
even
For
days.
and
choosing.
For
Conrad's
psychology
Conrad's
some
and
"
said.
here,
that
say
these
be
to
that
could
ninety
analysis.
on
imagination,
about
thing
of
one
With
of modern
face
I
pages
of
mine
and
men.
it
do
real
if
and
it.
down
I
picking
from
any
hundred
atmosphere,
romance
the
five
for
men
jotted
deserves
with
Far
have
hundred
room
least
the
in
will
one
exotic
no
avoid
to
I
individuals.
one
m^'self
content
exaggerating a
is
satisfactor}.'.
not
that
something
there
compelled
am
to
important
more
ninety
which
course,
have
I find
doubt,
no
one
of
But,
of the
about
of
names
on
list
a
and
books
continue
men
making
Conrad's
in
conrad's
is them
his
not
faced the
atmosphere convincingly.
are
men
in
are
a
mere
with
the
ridiculous
certain in
one
class that of
of
their linity mascu-
There
is
thing
such
no
as
itself is almost
sex
advanced it would do
men
come
a
although
its romantic
man
for
characters
Conrad's
interest
Conrad,
pronouncements
It
disappointed.
away
life that
of
creates
never
to
goes will
from
treated
always
Conrad,
simply to mouth does, partly because opinions. He never his abhorrent and be to him partly because ever Whonot belong to cliques of this order.
Conrad
side.
in
sexless person
a
11^
illEN
CONRAD'S
is
the
problems problems of
the
not
intellectualism. what
But certain
!
two
as
in
a
but
woman,
but
Indeed
he
one
because
has
A
which
in
the
like
man
delicate
the
active
call
only
is the
types
between
Captain sensitive, as compassionate is, at heart, nothing passive
as
the
can
it
differences
mental
there
has
He
woman
is
Chance
in
him.
the
of
just in these closer together.
draw
linity mascu-
graceful,feminine
a
is
women
sexes
Anthony
that, in the complete
a
selfishness. unpity, self-sacrifice,and reveals his reallymarvellous Conrad
knowledge and
is
men
of
Where
men
finest
Conrad's
characters, shows
touch
the
"
in
see
sensitiveness
rare
of their touch
does
one
temperament of temperament
of man.
a
"
his
feelings feminine generally applied to such
word
a
"
feminine all in the at true not feelings they are is nothing remotely There meaning of the word. He is reasonable, Captain Anthony. capricious about "
reasonable
so
which
he
in
Conrad's real
vehement
one
when
is
"
^humble,
bear
cannot
and
can
certainlyone
books "
he
he
believes
Captain Anthony men
that
ought
see
to
of the most
unusual
an
to
type,
ing suffer-
remedy.
attractive but
a
fectly per-
chivalrous, extraordinarily
aroused.
His
is
capable of boundless pity,and consequently there is something bitterlytragicin the way in which he begins to realise once
a
nature
114
CONRAD
JOSEPH
that
what
he
believed
to
his
irresistible
be
"
capacity
might not suffer has its he begins to see that all the might limitations : when of his compassion is powerless to help Flora de Barral. mistake the effect but softens for us a (That it was does not alter the poignancy of the mood.) for
suffering that
of
Another
the
mute
"
Conrad's
in
men
End
The
"
self-sacrifice
of the
In
Goriot.
of
him,
far
"
more
than
in
is
books
Tether."
a parental love utterlywithout alloy as that
complete, as Pere
finest
in
Captain Whalley the
others
His
is
sacrifice of
as
Balzac's
that
other
the words are doting father, Almayer (ofwhom spoken) is the true anguish of paternity." No portrait in is more the Conrad vivid than portrait of Whalley, silent sea-captain. After long years the big,dignified, him board the Sofala, of prosperity we at last on see like a superb old animal surrounded by yapping dogs. and The he is insulted sneers more by the mean he is bowed innuendoes of Massy or Sterne, the more and down by by the horror of advancing blindness the great desolation of his lonely old age, the more does he retire into himself, thanking God for his happy life,thinking of his loved ones, with the image of his his heart. love His steadfast nearest daughter ever with and a warm covers passionate glow the thought but him) to anyone of that little girl(no longer young Captain Whalley's living her hard life in Australia. end a is, of course, tragic and terrible end, but there in the quality is something so touching and beautiful ,
"
of his devotion the
soft
And Conrad's He
has
attitude
that
it illumines
the
whole
atmosphere of triumphant love. talking of Captain Whalley one may in admirable success drawing old caught, better and
the
than
anyone
aloofness,
that
I
know, air
with
story
of
notice men.
the
set
living
the
from
till his
wall,
book
while
snow-white clock
wooden and
swayed forward, gently,gradually,
he
rested
head
ticked
like
an
cold
on
Garibaldino
the
old oak
A open pages. white-washed the
the
upon
methodically
growing slowly
rugged, undecayed, gust
CONRAD
JOSEPH
116
uprooted by
a
lay alone, treacherous
(Nostromo,p. 479.)
of wind.
whose
portraitis extremely good He is simply is Don Balthasar Riego in Romance. is as old age aristocratic personified. He entirely He lives dead. of the world out as though he were of bycourtesies and of memories in a mist of ancient gone days. The present to him is as truly non-existent, essentials of change and in all the activity,as his is real and important. In the illusionary world old
Another
mumblings
man
of his weary
voice
a
whole
vanished
order
to live
again. Youth in And gives us the sense Captain Beard of age very strongly. He is a great figurein his dogged safe to her destination. resolve to bring his first command he is seen But through the cruel and romantic who of youth as a little old man can actually eyes It is of his burning vessel. the deck fall asleep on fond recollection, alone, which yieldsto him the grand is a and resolve. Captain Beard aspect of hardihood personalityappearing before us in the subdued twilight of old age and of long subordination. call your And finally,in this connection, let me Narcissus attention to Singleton {The Nigger of the "), He is truly a magnifithe old sailor of the Narcissus. cent of the sea survival a figure of epic size and and mind typifyingwith his aged, vacant compass, and sagacity the very life of of endurance his habits and of its voyagers. the ocean Singleton is a symbolic seems
"
"
"
"
figure.
He
the elements.
represents He
is
as
the
eternal
immortal
conflict of as
the
sea
and
man
itself "
as
CONRAD'S immortal, are
and
empty,
as
descriptionsof
two
him
his back of the
the
to
at
the
in the earlier which
door
darkness.
of The
quote here:
his face to
alone
There
pages
I shall
with
And
sleepingforecastle
117
inscrutably wise.
as
Nigger of the "Narcissus," Singletonstood
MEN
in the
the
"
lightand emptiness
dim
he
appeared-bigger,colossal,very old ; old as Father Time should have himself,who come there into this place as quiet as a sepulchreto contemplate with patient eyes the short victory of sleep,the consoler. Yet he was only a child of time, a lonelyrelic of a devoured and forgotten generation. He stood, still strong, as ever with a vast empty unthinking; a ready man past and with no future,with his childlike impulsesand his man's passions already dead
within
his
tattooed
breast
(The Nigger of the
''Narcissus,"pp. 33-4.) Till then
he had
been
standingmeditative
and
unthinking, blank a sixtythoughts of all
reposefuland hopeless,with a face grim and The year-old child of the mysterious sea. his lifetime could have been expressed in six words, but the stir of those thingsthat were much as part of his existence as his beating heart called up a gleam of alert understanding the of his aged face sternness {The Nigger of the upon "Narcissus" p. 36.) "
The
sea
characters
is,indeed, of many
a
strong agency
of Conrad's
men.
into
in
moulding the For its vigour
The finest and the nearly all his books. in Conrad's stories most are seamen. typical men It is a life that appeals to him through the qualities of courage, simplicity,and realism that it engenders. His true seamen of character. There are mostly men but the exceptions seem are to exceptions,of course, We feel, for instance, belong to a different breed. that Donkin Narcissus {The Nigger of the ") is really a of the cockney guttersnipe,that the second mate Nan Shan {" Typhoon ") is really a hopeless bea.chEnd of the Tether comber, that Massy (" The ") is enters
"
CONRAD
JOSEPH
118
curious
of
expressive portraits repeat
what
with
stood
He
furies.
all the
and
in the
rolled
kicked,
mud
and
he
His
ears
hard
The
it.
under
of his
It
bird
;
and
"
And
here
rare
and
he
his
was
All his time
sharp
his battered
the
that to
only
had
he
saw
supposed His
neck
with ditch.
wet
a
the
of
says
red
nose,
two
shirt
no
those
rags
looked
own
on
was
mud
which
showed
{The Nigger of
second
duty
mate
the
in
were
the
his thin
pinched raginginwardly; point of rudeness.
spent in his cabin with the
he
so
still in there
soon
as
he
had
tip,and
the
as
concise in off
at
though he his speech to
looked
keeping as
.
:"
lips,he always and
.
"
Typhoon With
.
around.
faces
flapped in fringes
coat
misfortune
caked
was
he
is what
been
had filth
weight of
one
cuffed,
long and thin ; his jaws ; his hairs hung about wings of drooped like the broken
latelysleptin '^Narcissus,"p. ii.) he had
if he
as
white
been
had
unbuttoned
every
stolen.
all his left side
that
the
He
possiblybe
could
nobody him as if they had been his eyelidswere red ; shoulders were peaked a
looked
his deserved
was
which
as
under
legs.
remained
that
buttons
if he
tails of his black
torn
calves
the
a
bending dovm
were
hat.
about
with
smiled
me
degradations
all the
known
pelted with unmentionable of securityat the sense
scratched, spat upon,
with
little fellow
a
he
;
let
Just
"
looked
He
place. It is particularly
:
if he had
as
left
men.
akimbo,
arms
looked
He
eyelashes.
these
says of Donkin
he
wrong
have
should
Conrad
that
the
fallen into
really a gambler
that
he
disappeared;
but
supposed the
man
to
who
shut,
fall
asleep
came
in
invariablyfind him flat on his back in the bunk, and with his eyes wide open, wrote glaringirritablyfrom a soiled pillow. He never any for from did to news not seem hope anywhere letters, ; and though he had been heard once to mention West Hartlepool, with with extreme it was bitterness,and only in connection the extortionate charges of a boarding-house. He one was
to
wake
of those
him
men
for his watch
who
are
on
deck
was
door
picked up
would
at
need
in the
ports of the
world. hard
They show
up,
about
them
board
on
evidence
no
who
leave
to
inconvenient
at
times.
leave-takingin
words
of
would
fear
to
be
and
make
mates, ship-
their minds
up
clear
They
with
out
port other
no
men
of a in company treasure-box, and with an
in, and
stranded
their
amongst
God-forsaken
some
carry
on They come ship afloat,live in their
no
nothing of them,
know
vice,
of
and
failure.
connection
casual
of
for
hopelessly
appear
sort
any
manifest
care
emergency,
atmosphere
own
of
signsof
all the an
enough,
competent
are
119
MEN
CONRAD'S
shabby sea-chest, corded like a air of shaking the ship's dust Typhoon," p. 31.)
go
ashore
off
their
{Typhoon,
feet.
"
I have to
these
given
prove
bad
Conrad's
that
contention
my
long extracts, partly
rather
two
seamen
at all, but amples mainly to give exreally seamen of throwing a picturebefore of his graphic power his first impression of a figure He creates our eyes. at one touch, although the total impression is developed lative psychologicallythrough the slow process of accumuI speak of his principalfigures there effect. that live almost others entirely in the physical are not
are
"
But
return
to
has
of Conrad's
of many
\N\ih
fibre
the
I
what
to
remarked,
I have
of them.
obtain
glimpses we
It
romance,
of the is
turns
its
of
healthiness
second
a
of
joyfullyfrom
notices
One
And
he
does
draw
he
draws
a
he
when seaman,
admires
the
niost.
seamen
a
the But
man
man,
lives
into
their
incorruptible are
often
a
and
It is to them
feverish
types.
true
as
and worldly sense, immorality speaks very
the
intellectual
the
minds,
their
to them.
nature
with
sea,
the
on
to enter
seems
appeal. His childish, generally stupid in their But invariably artless. directness
"
profound influence
a men.
dim
the
saying
was
their that
courage
Conrad
complexities of more that again and again. of
character
whom,
it is in
of
who
is
all others,
describing quite
120
CONRAD
JOSEPH Conrad's
that
plain seamen
evident.
is most
humour
Hke FrankUn picturesof men [The {Chance), Baker, Creighton, Captain Allistoun ("A Smile of Nigger of the "Narcissus"), Burns of another Fortune"), Mahon ("Youth"), and many ally their kidney at least no irony that is not essentikind-hearted. For to Conrad they are the really these wandering sailors trustworthy and sincere men, the work to whom of each day is the main problem of There
is
in his
irony
no
"
existence. But
I
do has
Conrad
want
not
raise
to
duplicates from although I would to give the seamen
book admit
For
may
impression
of
build
stereotyped
a
the
That
book.
to
sailor
that he
that
is
untrue,
readily enough that he is apt who secondary part play a more his in stories rather similar a point of view. salted with But it is because all been they have the same life. arduous No, Conrad, who, as I pointed out in the previous chapter, has a passion for developing his personalities, for us the realityof each creates effect. of each other figure,with authentic as seaman, instance,
capacity
greater
a
each
member
do the
as
of
Narcissus
the
stood
and
Podmore,
three once
for out
Think of
"
as
supreme
the
Belfast
"
most
and
and
above,
find
one
crowd
a
that
so
unforgettable powerful groups Wait, of Singleton
individual,
of Donkin
officers I mentioned the
could
managing
officers
the
and
where
^but
"
romantic
certain
a
seamen
separate figuresof
sculpture?
that
affirm
alike, all the
light covers, aboard
one
as
and
Wamibo, and
mastery of Conrad's
you
of the
realise at
method.
particularlyof one of these speak more of James Wait, the nigger of the Narcissus." picture of a dying man, supported in his horrible Let
me
"
"
of death
by
the
shadowy splendourof
his
own
men
This fear
presence
CONRAD'S
MEN
121
by a sort of spuriousdignity,is subtle and grimly has the arrogant superiorityof an pathetic. Wait educated and the sly cunning of a primeval negro, and
He
race.
his
knows
the
to
disease
last
how
ounce
make
to
pity and concession, and yet in making it he is terrified by the thought of extinction. He has a loftygrandeur of manner which is particularlydisconcerting,but it mingles, fantastically, with the whining of a slave. There is a thumbnail descriptionof him at the outset of the book which is very striking: own
the
very
object
of
"
He
held
his head
vigorouslymodelled
up
in the
glare of
into
the
lamp a head shininglights "
and deep shadows and flattened a head powerfuland misshapen with a tormented face a face patheticand brutal : the tragic,the mysterious, the repulsivemask of a nigger's soul. {The Nigger of the Narcissus," p. 24.) "
"
"
As
I
speaking here of the negro it might be as well if I said som.ething now of Conrad's pictures of other non-European peoples. The East Indies have, of course, yielded him the fierce Malays and warlike of those Such races men as half-savage islands. Babalatchi and {An Outcast of the Islands Almayer's Folly),Dain Maroola {Almayer's Folly),Arsat ("The and Dain Lagoon"), Karain (" Karain "), Doramin Waris {Lord Jim), are representative types of East Indian In considering such dwellers. Conrad men neither dehumanises nor Europeanises the Oriental It is true that they are mind. swayed, as are all men, by love and hatred, by happiness and misery, by and still success failure,but, with it all, they remain in the their twilight of certain preconceived ideas horizons to us bounded seem by the things which are And merely part of our emotions. they have a world am
"
of
their
own,
hidden
from
our
understanding "
the
JOSEPH
122 world of
excitement,
which It
alien
and
act
like
much
so
mind
human
yet
other
that
swamp
and
think
they
is this
may
that, in the
beliefs
fears and
of savage
any
CONRAD
excess
in
world
ourselves.
which,
the
as
personality,Conrad portrays such curious fidelity and insight. which the Conrad wild understands And melancholy, heart. In the despairing resignation of the savage the overwhelming atmosphere of his tropicalforests, and the blind and the fatalistic spirit of the wilderness to find their echo seem patient silence of the woods Such stories in the hearts of the aboriginal tribes. ness Heart of DarkAn as Outpost of Progress and ment. bewilderresemble vast a cry of anguish and foundation
all Eastern
to
"
"
"
"
whole
The
minds
I
"
is,as it
"
"
from
summed
were,
of savage
unrest
tremendous
in these
up
savages words
"
of Darkness
Heart
dark
of real, untutored
minds
the
mean
and
sadness
:
"
quiet Perhaps on some tremor of far-off drums, sinking,swelling, a nightthe tremor and wild suggestive, vast, faint ; a sound weird,appealing, and perhaps with as profound a meaning as the sound of bells in a Christian country. (Youth, Heart of Darkness," great silence around
A
and
above.
"
"
p.
80.)
And
Conrad
dignity of an Folly passes with
the
In
ancient
onward
slow
him
is
but
And as
career
step of
measured
a
True
Believer, "
knows
relaxation
no
throughout
dignity there is,too, in such a [Lord Jim). They are aristocrats,
natural
Doramin
And
in his
Easterns
of Arab essence courtesy the very hides the pliantsubtlety of the Eastern
which
what
Eastern
and
The
race.
the
high of Almayer's Abdulla of deception and faith
his
to
the
courtesy that mind
impart
can
chiefs and let
us
traders
glance now
of Conrad's at
a
white
life. man
these
books. man
of the
East
look
hang-dog Pole
such.
for is
thing and
Englishman,
"
does
The
succeed
which
as
criticise
to
tiny, rotten
little canker
the
personality
it, but
about
presented
is
Jim
compelled
Conrad
into
his lost honour.
on
that
great ability is the
with
put his back
have
forgotten all
ever
are
we
what
But
then
have
and
brood
would
unfortunate
as
would
and
solid work
some a
CONRAD
JOSEPH
lU
an
him
in
suggesting spot in Jim's the
undermines
keeps him inevitably from cause of true sanity. It is,perhaps, just bethe healthiness character so clearly that Jim realises his own these almost himself his conflict with assumes epic much a proportions and in that light he becomes I cannot But real individual. more help thinking theories of his own that Conrad was developing one tenant Lieuthe theory that in Jim's case (as the French is gone when the honour on says p. 157) is honour that when ah ga ! meaning, of course, living. I call that a theory gone life is no longer worth because he holds it in an of Conrad's especiallyFrench life, which
his
of
whole
"
"
"
"
"
"
sense
absolute,
sense
a
"
drastic, exalted.
It
is
a
constantly notices throughout his books, as and, as much anything else does, it shows the foreign I feel all through Lord blood in Conrad. Jim that regards Jim with pity,yet he regards though Conrad But comfortable him without our English hope. minds would always hold out hope, or, in their more modern manifestations, would probably deny that quated antithan an dishonour, itself,was anything more thing
one
shibboleth. And
now,
opportunity appears in
I
"
not
Heart
have
I
while to
discuss
only of
am
discussingJim, it Jim's friend, Marlow,
in Lord
Darkness,"
explained
in
Jim,
but
also
and
in
Chance.
another
in
is
a
good
Marlow "
chapter, the
Youth," He
is, as sort
of-
CONRAD'S familiar
in
Conrad
Conrad
but
Conrad
a
he
is also
of
few
the
likely that through his
But
i
in
others
echoes
he
though
moralist, in
a
is not.
decidedly
one
125
is
he
totally is not he only a philosopher as is the same sophy), philophilosopher with much
For
(and
Conrad,
respects,
many
different.
is
of
ghost
MEN
bores
I think
in Conrad.
it is because
truth, Marlow
tell the
To
we
Jim
see
in which
sense
a
it
quite entirely
almost
the
eyes that Jim does not greatly move irritation of Marlow' s endless comments
our
finer
Lord
appreciation of Marlow
Jim
whereas For
"
in
makes "
in
other's
and
his worst "
Youth
"
Youth
the
he
makes
he
us
"
spoiling In
character.
longestappearance, by far his best. lyricalfervour
speaks with a is of which Heart In marvellously beautiful. Darkness," too, he is impressive though long-winded, and in Chance he plays but a subsidiary part. On "
the
the
whole,
creation
mistake, though I admit
of his
would
Marlow His
use.
seem
a
wisdom
is the
of
void of illusions but cherishing experience,a wisdom still the might and glory of their charm. For at heart Marlow, with all his cynicism and sober melancholy, is
true
a
Of
sentimentalist.
other
white
of
corners
Africa
living
men
or
the
East
in
out-of-the-way has
Indies, Conrad
Kayerts and Carlier,the two foolish and inexperiencedwhite agents who An of begin Outpost of Progress," the two men with and end with who ever^^ good resolution every evil passion,the two who victims the to are men spirit
drawn
portraits.
many
There
are
"
of the of
"
wilderness. Heart
stony
face
of and
And Darkness
his
with
their
lost
souls, and,
more
greed, their most
there " "
are
the
all the
important
lust for of
men
with
manager
stony heart, the shameless
white
his "
pilgrims ivory, their
"
all, the
extra-
CONRAD
JOSEPH
126
a ordinary Kurtz of imagination, and by the mad
There
is
a
intellect, of eloquence, has
who
man
darkness that
doubt
no
of
man
"
there
of
a
is
an
slaved utterly engod-forsaken land. abominable depth there is something
Kurtz, that degradation about unspeakable about his surrender to I can but somehow depraved delights, of
than
I
stand
can
rate, is not
He, at any And
(" Falk pathetic,a man
repulsiveand unable
his
whole
meaning, that
and
life "
there
spiteof
realise that
must
we
is Stein
tolerance is
in
romantic
and
himself,
to express
is
perhaps
finest
the
To
and
love
associates.
male.
in
for
his
the
glance,and
in the
is
desire for And
girl. and
whose
novel.
whole
Falk
That
distinction
whose
first
of Conrad's
better
him
understand
for the
attraction
at
one
stands
Jim,
in Lord
strike
a
in his
his
stand
criminal
himself.
he
and
instincts
base
solelyfor ivory. "), a strange figure,a man throbbing with life and self-centred, man solitary,
there
is Falk
there
and
his envious
been
wise
picture Stein
is,
remarkable
figures a of genuine of sensitiveness, of discernment, and man study, ability. One can almost see him in his shaded and his splendid entomological surrounded by his books collections, or walking slowly with a candle through the shadowy gloom of his empty reception chambers, or sittingin the deep solitude of his great garden. He is a living figure,a figure of romantic and of absorbed adventure solitude, a figurefrom the dim, savage past of a vanished epoch. Outcast is Captain Lingard oi An there And of the old bluff, domineering, tender-hearted Islands, a overwhelming in his affection and terrible seaman, indeed,
in
his
one
uncertainty. old
man,
His
revenge. He
into the
is clouded
end
melts haze
most
away,
of
a
Europe,
in
ruined and
"
sadness
and
and
broken
is heard
of
no
And
more.
and
conceited has
"
there
"
made
is Willems
in
the
fraudulent
clerk, whom
and
he
whom
12?
MEN
CONRAD'S
book,
same
Captain Lingard in the
rescues
the
of his
hour
belongs to the large class of only creed is their utterly unmoral people whose ously treacherpersonaladvantage. That he should behave that to Captain Lingard is to be expected but he should be capable of reallypassionatelove is harder is like the craving of His love for Aissa to credit. Willems
exposure.
a
madman
and
into
of his selfish energy. because Conrad man
and
he
it is too
Islands to
of
is, but and
Conrad's
The makes
is, I
drawn
out.
both
is
all the
pours
study
pent up forces
of Willems
is
exactly the think, exaggerated us
ful success-
type
see
But
Almayer's Folly in
appear
it
it he
the
Almayer, inspiration (see
Outcast
in An most
himself Some
in
parts of the
important "
the
of
man
fountain
Reminiscences,
156). He is the white trader of Sambir, the slave hope, the weary, weak, and sullen protegeof Captain Lingard. (Curious it is to note the likeness, in their (the one selfish,the other selfless), great dissimilarity 'twixt the Markelov of Turgenev's Almayer and On the Eve drenched bility). as they both are in futile irritawhose Almayer is the sort of man spirit, tony always peevish, has been fatallyruined by the monoand dreariness of a tropicallife. His hate and his love alike are and tinged with unreal sentiment his whole outlook is vitiated by his sense of wrongs and by his dreams of felicity.He is a fit subject for idee fixe,a man without an reality,a man any grip on view. Neither incapable of a magnanimous Almayer Willems nor are preciselywhat we mean by bad men but they are, in the truest sense of the word, worthless. Almayer stagnates and Willems pushes, but the world cold-shoulders them equally. p. of
"
1^8
CONRAD
JOSEPH
And
is
there
Captain
Whirr
Mac
of the
Shan
Nan
I have had to speak cause "), of whom with in other chapters. It is this densely stupid man, no quaHficationsto attract us but his dogged courage has of duty, that Conrad chosen to and his sense for fidelity strikinglyhis admiration exempHfy most
(" Typhoon
and
The
endurance.
the
greater
I do
wish all
above
the
an
the
real
lose
sort
of
is enclosed And
in
a
there
the
Captain if it
"
His
box
wooden is
is
obvious
point.
"
But
MacWhirr not
were
figure rises
is, so
the
before
figurein these books, the figure and utterlyunimaginative man, mind is peifectlyliteral and who
whose
man
that
man
that
stronger
its power.
vividly as any entirelyproper
as
of
again
things, a
story would us
contrast, the
insist
to
for
reason
Jacobus
of convention.
(" A
Smile
of
Fortune
"),
of Mauritius, a figuresinister ships'-dealer of overpowering greed and of odd, and pitiable, a man who lives in a world compassionate impulses, a man
that
curious
of muffled
innuendo
Jacobus interest
an
that
is
a
and
of clouded
fascinating study.
is doomed
to
emotions. But
he
tainly Cerrouses
perpetualdisappointment,
really is impossibleto grasp his motives. is that be definitelystated only thing that can his respected is a more reputable figure than
because The he
it
brother.
And
then
finally(to close
this
haphazard list)there
Lieutenant Heemskirk Jasper Allen and the Dutch of Islands." in Jasper is one Freya of the Seven clean-cut throughout, Conrad's fine figuresof a man whose enthusiastic seaman, a man a capitaland simple are
"
"
fired with the has been straightforwardnature His devotion of a great love. passionate romance to Freya is as much part of his existence as the very the tragicgloom of this story beat of his heart, and
and
is darkened
faculties in the
of irretrievable
shock
realise
has
clearly that actually given way
the
last stages of his
we
truth
on
and
taut
himself
Heemskirk vilest
but
cannot
Unless
his
blow
that
beneath we
disaster.
active
rebel
sanity against the
psychology. But, indeed, that when Heemskirk managed to run a reef, something vital snapped within And brain of Jasper Allen. as eager
is
Bonito
all his
collapseof
dreadful
the
by
1S9
MEN
CONRAD'S
I
in all Conrad
man
inclined
am
"
a
think
to
blackguard
he
the the
for
is the
heartless
as
as
the gorge rise thought of him makes with intolerable raged an loathing. From jealousy and outhe wrecked the lives of two dignitj' happy lovers with no have felt in more compunction than he would squasliinga fly indeed, with fiendish and oilypleasure. The soul of Heemskirk is one of unmitigated darkness. of the characters in And let me now speak of some I ago.
The
very
"
Nostromo
the
"
greatest I
written.
ever
have he
Garibaldino, but
the
of the
romance
already is only
Western
mentioned one
old
of
out
world
a
Viola, of
crowd
not enthralling people. For only in its general in the characters that atmosphere but very pass is the most through its pages, Nostromo imaginative books. and There is, for original of -all Conrad's
instance, Charles and
the
Gould, of
owner
the
the San
husband Tome
taciturn, inwardly consumed
of Dona concession.
by
Emilia
wardly Out-
passionate so English yet so subtly with the rigid a
this silent man, inefficiency, amidst the excitable Costaguanos and a Costaguano himself, pursues his aim of a fanatic. And, indeed, he is a fanatic, inevitability of one a man idea, a man intrepid,dangerous, incapable
hatred
of
of
turning back.
an
slow
integral part victim
of his
His
treatment
of his
whole
consuming
of his wife is,of character idea.
"
she
course,
is the
CONRAD
JOSEPH
130 And
Fidanza), command,
with
man
a a
(Gian'Battista, Captain genius for initiative and
is Nostromo
there
then
a
craving for
man
the
of
romance
narrow
and perpetual recognition,a man perpetual success but of morbid of strength and sensibility, courage with imaginary slights,a man always brooding over he could expressed a hardly have grievance which leads him into which but in words deception and of the people truly, but a man dishonour, a man with
aristocratic
an
think
that
Nostromo
aloofness
of
not
was
a
heart. success
I
used
but
I
to now
He man is, perhaps, the one quite otherwise. books. For he has the of real genius in all Conrad's to genius. And, type of personality that amounts and his capacity for of a situation indeed, his grasp His have genius in them. carrying out a scheme show ordinarily extrawhole actions an during the revolution fertile brain. Not only did quick and with silver but it was the deal efficiently he really Dr carried the out at his suggestion that Monygham brilliant idea of making Sotillo drag for it in the bay that could wasting precious time in the one manner have appeared genuine to that rapacious and gloomy And rufhan. then, again, his ride across country feat of genuis. But the gnawBarrios was to warn a ing think
"
of
worm
material
immense last
ounce
of
follows
discontent
Unable
successes.
recognition "
he unqualifiedfame He has got nothing ! glory nor money "
hard
^the
extract
to
delicate
of it, nothing at
the
flattery of
feels all the bitterness out
these
upon
of failure.
all, neither
Such
the thoughts open path the injustice fall. Brooding upon to his decline and their capacity to take all his abilities, of society,upon and his integrity as his achievements, of matter a course,
he
comes
to
the
slow
conclusion
that
he
will
132
JOSEPH
filled his heart
with
is like
He
hell.
The
from is
a
nothing which
realises
Gould
of her
in
touching
more
Mrs
words
compassion,
Monygham
repays
this outcast
she
by brought
has
an
Monygham outrage
an
He
accord.
own
in himself.
There
is
than
way
in
this in the
her
of
conceals
suffered
Conrad
and
misery.
tonnents
Dr
of its
recover
of
the
For
lost all belief
has
who
man
his
repentance.
it cannot
which
of
nobilityof spirithas
whose
man
a
in
wandering
sarcasm
useless
of
agony is
biting
abasement
utter
an
soul
lost
a
CONRAD
the
his
the
ness exquisitetenderin
way
Dr
devotion.
pure the
back
which
very
To
breath
of
lover
of
life.
Decoud, Antonio
the
Parisian the
Avellanos,
the
mocker,
flaneur of
airy
the
Boulevards,
interestingstudy. It is not quite apparent, I think, what final impression of him Conrad means us the impression of a to retain, but I should say it was sincere patriots,only half patriot,who, like so many believes is the that there is anything in it all. He feelingsare stronger type of universal scoffer whose
is another
than
the
which
reason
them.
opposes
death
His
certainlyone of the most thrilling The in Nostromo. psychology it reveals passages The is marvellously subtle. demoralising,mysterious the Great
on
effect
Isabel is
of silence
presentedwith And
then
His
Sulaco.
never
before
been
intolerable is
Captain
lovable is
has
insomnia
such
there
ineffectual,and at
and
a
old
power. Mitchell
"
the
port Captain of
chaiacter
of
pompous, the
guilelessand
O.S.N,
upright
selfof the absorbed most simplicity a character unconditional belief in the most importance and authority. He is serenely ignorant of the real world, of pleasant illusions, living,as he does, in a realm "
but
in his
consequentialfussiness
and
in his
garrulous
MEN
CONRAD'S
13S
Moreover,
he is a genuine character. good-nature and has the qualities of personalcourage to a marked degree.
And
is Don
there
Jose Avellanos
of faithfulness
'the
"
he
aristocratic
statelyand figure tragic
patriot of the old regime, a of in his unswerving idealism amidst the memories There sufferingand the horrors of present disaster. is something at once splendid and melancholy in the old man, struggling to picture of this disinterested regeneration of keep alive his belief in the ultimate his country to through the blind chaos that seems have swamped his life's work at the very hour of its triumph. And of the most one singular and vivid people in this
book
and
regiment, In
leader
a
of
Colonel
Sotillo, the
is
of
the
the
Esmeralda revolution.
Montero
is
epitomised that spiritof cowardice, greed, ruthless cruelty underlying a certain type of semi-
him
and
educated
vSouth
furies, pent
vicious
heart
is
at
cupidity
and
part of
so a
He of
most
has
his
irresistible exterior
let loose
Conrad
which
for
up
languishingand killer but
American.
strikingthat longer passage
of
a
the
beneath
career
notorious
lady-
of appalling avalanche The picture in savage anger. of his the shocking blackness I will give it here though it is I have : quoted elsewhere
last in
describes
soul of all the
the
an
"
with a slam of the in and came out Every time he went door, the sentry on the landing presented arms, and got in return a black, venomous, unsteady glance,which, in reality, saw nothing at all,being merely the reflection of the soul soul of gloomy hatred, irresolution, within a avarice,and "
fury. {Nostromo,p. 381.) Another the
great but
monster "
a
is General
Montero,
brother
deliverer," and, like him, devoid brutal
lust
for
power
and
an
of
of thing anyinordinate
134 Even
vanity. signals This the
while
Ribiera
the
to
CONRAD
JOSEPH
of
is still
faction
he
he
building of
supposed
shows
all
and
untrustworthiness
is how
On
he
the
appeared at the railway :
the
sullen
banquet
belong
to
storm
contempt. celebrate
to
"
side,General Montero, his bald head covered now motionless on a by a plumed cocked hat, remained skylight of the of folded the hilt hands on big gauntleted seat, a pair sabre standing upright between his legs. The white plume, the
one
tint of
coppery
moustaches sleeves
of the face, the blue-black of gold on beak, the mass
curved
breast,the high shining boots the imbecile working nostrils,
the
gloriousvictor
of the
stare
the
under
and
spurs,
his broad
ominous
of Rio
incredible
and
Seco
with and
enormous
domineering
in them
had
thing some-
of the cruel exaggeration the fatuityof solemn caricature, masquerading,the atrocious militaryidol of Aztec conceptionand grotesqueness of some European bedecking, awaiting the homage of worshippers. ;
the
{Nostromo, p. 103.) There
several
are
like
I should
melodramic),
a
in
hero
diamond, Corbelan infamous
Francia's
charm
that
space
strikes
Hirsch, for
"
as
me
rather
Ribiera, the President-Dictator,
infirm
"
and
But
the
Barrios, the rough body, and Don and Pepe, the old brave, and Father also, I think), and the (too melodramatic, Bento who Guzman only as a appears an
memory with
and
I
always
terror
of whom
in Nostromo
men
had
speak
to
instance, (whose too
other
only a
who
of
mention
I will contains
turn
is
a
sort
Dr
Yet
manner.
of their now
of
to
Francia,
I must
pass
without them
by
names.
another
book
of Conrad's
exceptionallyinterestingpeople The Secret Agent. And in regard to this book, it is to note, as I have pointed out in my chapter necessary Conrad's on irony, that the whole work is conceived of irony. It does not affect the realitj^ of in a spirit some
"
MEN
CONRAD'S the
figures,nor
dishke
of
or
affect
it does
135
whether feelings, we regard them, pity, with which our perspective. This is a point to
of
it affect the
does
but be
remembeied.
principal character the most perfect
The
of
one
as
and
Mr
husband,
her
Verloc,
does
she
her
not
is
a
enter
Stevie,
brother
next
are,
(and
Agent
Conrad)
in
such
but
present consideration,
into
Secret
The
characters
Verloc, and
Winnie
woman,
in
her, of chief
to
"
"
slightly wanting ing mentally, but overflowing with compassion for sufferfull of a gentle pride in the integrityof all and people a simple, unsophisticated nature, good of rage but against cruelty or capable of paroxysms to resistance oppression and of a curiously stubborn the wiles of remonstrance or inquisitiveness.A very marked sympath}^ and intuition have been lavished Stevie' s portrait and lavished, I should suspect, on alone for his sake but for the sake of making us not comprehend the relationshipof Stevie and his sister. interest.
Stevie
is
a
young
man,
"
"
"
"
For
devotion
her
pity
for the
that
emotion of
fragment Stevie'
s
it is not
innocent see
we
is
warped
at
temperament Verloc, is
a
on
the almost
man
theory
of
a
a
"
and
trusting
of
growth, humanity.
represent
the
boy.
hand, though
entirelylacking
of life is contained
For
nature.
alike
its openness
sensitive
other
maternal
boundless
only warped in its lack all in any quality of true and
Its secretiveness
of
helplessnessof a child, and in the pathetic him as he reallyis
beautiful
a
mind
is that
him
to
in the
not
in
word
a
vicious
morality. comfort
"
man,
His fort com-
body. And the tragedy of his life is the impossibilityof attaining this tantalisinggoal He is one of these sublimely for any length of time. be delighted just to live and who would slothful men of mind
and
JOSEPH
136 let live no
he
provided
"
be
could
men
CONRAD well
were
different
more
Verloc, yet they resemble
for it.
paid than
Though and
Nostromo the
single grievance against in
another
one
point that they both have a dumb and from society for whom they have done so much received little. whom so (And, talking they have of comparisons, it is rather odd to contrast Jacobus of Fortune A Smile with Verloc. of They have "
"
"
a
of external
sort
secretive
though they
natures, In
alike.)
the
in their
resemblance
thick
not, really,at
are
all
gence intelli-
of his muddled
darkness
and
mumbling
(sincehis meeting with the That deadly Mr Vladimir) brooding upon his wrongs. is why, throughout the book, we watch him through a Verloc
kind
of veil
is for
the
"
ever
veil of his
uneasiness.
bewildered
own
But
obese an man, physicallyhe is quite plain to us dirty, unkempt, solemnly unobservant, fond of his worth. at the thought of his own moved home, much has given an inimitable Conrad descriptionof him : "
"
His eyes
naturally heavy wallowed, fully dressed, all day Secret
were
he
; on
had
bed.
unmade
an
having {The
Agent, p. 3.)
Conrad is of these [What a master of his description of pictures! Think Nan of the Shan skulking second mate "
second
The
animal
under
of what
or
air of
an
he
mate a
lying low,
was
hedge. {Typhoon,
says
of Dr
"
Monygham
thumb-nail the
small,
"
:
"
malignant little Typhoon," p. 65.) like
a
: "
short,hopelesslaugh expressed somehoAv mistrust of mankind. {Nostromo,p. 36.)
whose .
.
.
immense
or,
again, of what The
bearded
he
says
bureaucrat
of Councillor sat
at
his
Mikulin
an
: "
selfpost, mysteriously
dim, unreadable
possessed like an idol with Western Eyes, p. 93.)] The
Secret
Michaelis, Ossipon, Carl
Yundt,
of
anarchists
The
make
curious
a
group,
gravity of Conrad's them, by the way, of
type mind it
the
of
in
is the
most
of
sentimentalist is
old
but
man," of
man
simply
which
him,
Agent,
sums
strikingeffect And
the
caressed
philosophy
odious
images his
simplicityof
regenerationof full of
And novel
men.
we
must
Secret
of his life with
multitude it.
He
ruin
of
mankind.
of was
and
idea the
His
destruction. "
averting his had
He
force.
a
callingmadness
world.
too,
no
thoughts
He
walked
and
terrible
in
the
and
despair to
the
He him. looked at Nobody deadly, like a pest in the street
unsuspected and (The Secret Agent, pp. 441-2.) may
about
centres we
on
in
picture of The
of
walked
frail,insignificant, shabby, miserable
passed
little
The
by
believes
who
a
"
"
disdained
He
future.
horrid
:
the
from
"
a
untouched
par^aph
last
incorruptibleProfessor
the
eyes
itself.
order.
really formidable
fanatic
a
whole
the
up
in
amiable
an
Yundt
extremist
an
for
fat,
Karl is
indeed,
the
makes
absolute
brotherhood
universal
doubt,
destruction
contrast
something
with
into
away
Professor
the
or
ironic
temptuous consomething of the sheer pride of the subordinate.) whose a man pleasant of them
fraud, and
a
compassion
the
"
idea
one
Professor,
and
the
simply
as
men
non-commissioned
instance,
oozed
all
vitality has Ossipon
this
and
licence
such
the
and
(Under
eyes.
posed as they are in setting. (One should the to Inspector Heat,
Javert
Hugo's
Michaelis
Agent,
corrupt, competent,
mind,
a
"
137
MEN
CONRAD'S
glance
now
lehels"^-Under
at
the
Western
in
that
other
Eyes.
The
book
men
and it is of him figureof Razumov, speak first of all. This, really,is a study of
round
the
CONRAD
JOSEPH
138
despair,for the
angry
and
his
an
himself
to
career
is to
also
unenviable
the
is the
is
which
Crime
Punishment)
and
moral
Razumov
therefore, though of
panic (as he is bound
he As
than
conscience he
can
does
in
to
of
the
grip
of
himself, and
knows
he
basely in the hour betrayal of Haldin), yet
behave his
suffer
within
more
his
and
Raskolnikof
(like the is
Haldin,
his disdain
hides
for
won
idealist
the
the
to
silence, which of
he
But
of his
success
a
is
Razumov
fanatically averse
esteem
under
cloak
life.
make
His
ambition.
his
heart
of extremists.
fanaticism him
he
and
;
realise
must
one
blameless
aim
one
"
his
his
into
brought egoist his
Razumov
against all mankind efforts to justify his own savage by consideringthe ruin that others
futilityin constant
actions have
understand
to
for it
later
hundredfold
a
on.
science gnawing of his conhim leaves never by night or day he tries stifle it by ceaseless explanations,by cynical contempt, of society foreign to his Russian by a view
of
matter
a
fact
the
angry
"
to
soul, but
shortly
There
he cannot.
him
driven
have
fearful strain of Haldin' brother's
last
of his
out
s
protector
nightmare
not
confess
mad
"
sister's
especiallyunder exalted regard for
friend
and
For
"
till all chances
had
into
Razumov
It is
it would
that
doubt
no
of silence
ignominy of confession. introspectionof the Slav. does
is
he
the has
her
burst
not
relief the
the
and
endless
typicalof him that of his being unmasked
he
typicalof a certain order of Russians but to tell the truth to lie while people suspect them of this The when they are no longer doubted. power is, at once, portraitrests in the fact that Razumov and individual a convincing as convincing as an are
over,
for it is
Russian.
The
other
men
in
Under
Western
Eyes
need
not
140 I have
yet mentioned
not
portraitsin "II
in
Mirror
The
Some
in
and
Dominic
Conde,"
real) in
Feraud
and
the
of
Mersch
Tomas
in The
I do
not
"
in
Harry Popolo and
is
a
(both admittedly
Sea, Conrad's
Castro
in
uncle
own
and
Manuel
O'Brien,
To-morrow,"
the
Romance,
his
del de
Due
Inheritors.
how
know
(afterwards than better by saying that of the Captain Anthony
kind
of
Lieutenant
describe
to
General) D'Hubert he
Cesar
II Conde
Duel,"
The
Captain Hagberd
Reminiscences,
son
"
those
portraitsas
such
"
finished
of the most
some
books
Conrad's
of D'Hubert in
CONRAD
JOSEPH
French
has the He sensitive, and sane, Napoleonic wars. captain compassionate gallantry of the English sea Feraud, a just and delightfulpersonality. And irascible of a fiery and the charm too, has charm whose true Gascon, oppressed by spirit has been "
"
and
rancour
these
two
men
The
misfortune.
gives
a
us
contrast
brilliant
between
picture of they are
either.
because affection really our They have presented sympathetically. II Conde, too, is presented sympathetically,though before us perhaps with a touch of irony. He comes has passed who faded, rather solitaryold man a rather eternal gentleman and graciously through life an an
eternal
dilettante.
We
see
him
at
the
moment
disturbance, quite deepest perplexity and but unable with his difficulty to cope remaining, as a ever, gentleman to his fingertips. II Conde is the whose portrait of a man only aim in life is to slip peacefully downhill, indulging a little his cultured of
and
his
mature
tastes, and
treating
the
world
with
the
is a of a philosopher. There benign friendliness us only faintly tragictouch in this story but it moves wish. II Conde, indeed himself, would as Strong "
MEN
CONRAD'S be
feelingswould As
Dominic,
to
but
I will say
little of them
and, in regard stand
they
Cesar, and
scheme.
present
my
to
Conrad's
have
uncle, particularly,must thousand
a
warm-hearted,
so
"
comprehending. Of Captain Hagberd He
is
a
who
man
I
been
a
and rad's Conin
man
mde-minded,
have
in
creates
clearly
lovingly drawn, living people.
as
pages
fall into
characters
are
of them,
two
uncle,
own
they hardly
as
They
of the
out
this refined
to
old aristocrat.
undemonstrative
and
place in regard
of
out
141
elsewhere.
spoken
us
emotion
an
and
of true
is radiantly pity though he himself, of course, session. obhappy with the hopeful certainty of an insane But if his illusion is tragic to us, his rare and still more of doubt are fleetingmoments tragic. "
That
in her
of belief
of
and
with and
the
of
out
it
a
the to
the
on
the
sea
have
his
it
were,
That
about
lurks
semblance Conrad
undercurrent behind
nearly
figure startlingnot
a
he
contrast
night
mysterious wall.
He
person,
fascination
that
is
son,
of the
different
symbolic
curious
presents
glamour of his significancethat
dusk
again
very
a
self, her-
set
Captain Hagberd
strange
without
It is not
with
man
which
shyness
she
of delusion.
form
in
old
when
great skill,the
Harry Hagberd, only in the absolute but
knew
In
interest.
misgiving
every
Carvil
pity,to pacify the
drawn,
has
Bessie
is what
and
sound
of
a
should
he
should
of the me
Balzac's
his father
personality.
own
reminds of
to
swell
into
ing breakof
somehow
Vautrin.
strange,
appear
melt
Both
gigantic, and
personality a personality shrouded, in a romance. conspiracy of silence and
both them
"
have I
certain
a
admit
"
but
melodramatic then
I
doubt
as
touch whether
JOSEPH
im
conceive
could
one
is
O'Brien
fastened
It is
top. and
with
of
fluctuations
portrayed,
his
lazy existence of his vitality. But But perhaps Tomas and
"
of
creation
is
soul
his
of
has the
to
way
touches
extravagances.
Cuban
a
drama. melo-
who
curious, vivid
some
wicked
lives
He
wormed
vagaries
it were,
as
Irishman
romantic
the
The
poet.
a
and
Popolo
"
all \vithout
at
has
portraitwith
del
type
them
and
obvious
Manuel
and
Cuba
a
some
lowest
of
revolutionary
a
upon
CONRAD
a
of
Lugareno of the beast, a demagogue,
his
conceit
and
the
and
impressible heart are mosphere. through a golden flood of atfor us in the settingof a tropical and that setting is the secret in it he is astonishinglyreal. Castro is the most triumphant This
Romance.
saturnine, and
stumpy,
has the very instinct of Spanish dignifiedlittle man is a quite of his bearing. He pride in the reserve amazing figure with his humanity peeping out of his sufferingswringing from him his contempt, and "
the
probably
the
certain
realityand
I will
only say that figure in that
successful The
book.
Inheritors.
certain
a
Conrad
whether
doubt
Mersch
most
successful
very
de
Due
the
About is
of defeat.
confession
bitter
had
but
presence, much
very
He
to
he not
has
a
I should do
with
his creation. In
thinking of
the
in Conrad's
men
books
I cannot
help being struck at the insight and patience with rad Conhe develops quite secondary characters. which his people too clearly for his pictures ever sees be to slovenly. Just think, for instance, of men like the the
French
cabman
in
naval The
in
lieutenant
Secret
dramaticallythey rise before
Agent. us
"
and
Lord
How
how
Jim,
or
of
plainly,how
incidentally.
CONRAD'S of the
Some have
in Conrad's
men
call minor
to
is Sterne
There
MEN
stories whom
"
The
End
of
the will
of
glimmer
apart from
and
conscience
what
touches
but his
through.
Tether,"
the
nasty, pushing, plausible scoundrel,
would
one
complete through
are
in
143
that
out with-
man
without
ill-
any
fortune
own
that
;' there
is the
Captain of the Patna, hideous in his gross and this inimitable abounding vitality; [do you remember the beginning of the book ? : descriptionof him near "
His
skipperhad
come
in pyjamas noiselessly,
up wide
with
his
of face, only half Red sleeping-jacketflung open. awake, the left eye partly closed, the right staringstupid and glassy,he hung his big head over the chart and scratched his ribs sleepily. There was something obscene in the sight of his naked flesh. His bared breast glistenedsoft and out his fat in his sleep. He greasy p,s though he had sweated in a voice harsh and dead, remark pronounced a professional resembling the rasping sound of a wood-file on the edge of a plank ; the fold of his double chin hung like a bag triced up close under the hinge of his jaw. {Lord Jim, p. 20-1)] ;
'there is Brown his
malicious
Laspara
in
of ape
of
Progress,"
so
terrified list
Lord
and Under
kind
some
a
in
so
evil
might
cover
range
psychology.
I do
not
successful
all his
not
that
in
his
the
I
will
effort.
novel
would
scrupulous
find fault with
with
is
only quality of
and at
mean
all that
figures, nor,
Conrad's
whole
demand
observance
Conrad's
continue
not
I
pages.
in
he
wish
but is
idea
a
is
equally
I do
there mean
similar
of the
that, quite apart of
to
Conrad's
fact, that
positivefailures amongst them, each of his figuresthere one of
of
there
passions ;
However,
the
are
freebooter
"
demonstrate
in
the
Julius Western Eyes, a man resembling is Makola in An ; there Outpost respectable,so deeply cynical, and
of devils.
which
Jim,
reality. It is figures,to pick holes
tensity in-
unity from
easy
to
in their
CONRAD
JOSEPH
144
psychology ; but, indeed, Conrad
observer
mere
a
always
will
laid
have
attack.
A
undue
arouse
rather
creator
a
must
such
to
particularlyopen Conrad
as
than
himself like
creator
observer an praise, whereas perhaps undue be universallyaccepted. may Jane Austen tried solelyto present In this chapter I have to me. as they present themselves men it is
main,
right one.
a
a
Of
it
I believe
but
view
biased
daresay
like
rad's ConI
is, in the
said before,
I have
as
course,
and
antipathy,
psychology in has to give alone One should. a general the way one can only impression that general impression which add, from a minute study. be gained,I may And general impression is simply this ^that my follow
cannot
one
individual
the
out
"
"
is
Conrad is
there
a
great psychologist. I admit
very
deal
portraits,and a good his later portraits,but "
realism,
the
are
"
melodrama
as
always
there.
unnecessary essentials of
detail, the
Conrad's
is but
as
the
Conrad's
of romance,
overflow
is but
hension compre-
all, such
after
And
earlier
irony in psychology
of
creation, the
the
irony
such
and
the
his
in
melodrama
of
deal
good
a
that
the
of
wisdom
is seldom indicative balance experience. Perfect Conrad of the may highest originahty. Though do injusticeto some types, yet to .others he has givf^n His intolerance of fade. never can a reality which of his appreciation of certain people is the meed
Monygham
Dr
about
What
he
lacked
was
world, the callousness for
oneself
from
true
p. 441
")
and
others
sympathy
these
remember
should
We
others.
of
words
his
:
"
the
polishedcallousness
from ;
the
and
which
springsan
tolerance human
wide
as
of easy
men
of the
tolerance
poles asunder
compassion. (Nostromo,
VII
CHAPTER
Conrad's
To
it
as
say,
blindness. the
But
from
probably, love
the
fact
that
his
finest
than
of
Of
course,
and
I
merely
one
it
is
pathetic
in
Secret
Agent
speak
first in
Mrs
of
is
always
It
maternal.
Gould
him
of
emotion
such
gives
the
"
the
might
the
husband
little a
of
boy,
little
boy.
only
the
I
In
still
these
brother
in
the
of
Mrs
in
The
characters.
something her
childless
love
that
always
must
Verloc
by
which
think,
female
Winnie
that
steadfast
Verloc we
has
is
exalted
portraits
compassionate
their and
to
not
Conrad's
husband
her
most
Winnie
sipid in-
instinctively
and
which
of
if
even
not
the
to
patra. Cleo-
are
mean
just that,
of
considering
Gould a
is
and
portraits
is
love
beauty
Nostro^no
do
are
rarest
of
marvellous
a
inconstant,
they
Desdemona
they
have I
They
order
that
mean
what
that
in
For
the
but
but
of
fiery
figures
women
implies
passionate. women
not
romantically
not
are
and
the
from
women.
order
merciful
do
"
they
good
make
not
and
stories
are
ardent
thrilling reality
and
his
women
the
great
all
does
his
arises,
said
being
Conrad
that
of
theme
charming
his
"
fact
its
are
all
of
poignant
for
reason
the
centre
the
rather
the
portraits
women
and
delicate,
revealing
observation
an
his
indeed,
finished,
most
of
is
does
Conrad
that
said,
women
For,
portraits.
To
sometimes
understand
not
are
is
women
has
invincible
in
brother women
wrapped bonds 145
146 of
maternal
a
choicest
of
natures
stillness. her
affection.
They
the
Gould
about
force
of
both
in "
is
Verloc
light
of
darkness
the
of
the
concentrates
Stevie alone, but upon It of stillness is the same.
effect
the
Mrs
Gould
One
heart."
of the
wisdom
compare
the
protecting love
her cases
the
all
is their
both
spread
over
Winnie
whereas
very
singleness perception.
of
them
to
seems
benign understanding
the
to
of devotion,
natures
wonderful
so
Mrs
Nostromo,
belong
exquisite sensitiveness
is
what
CONRAD
"
heart, and
And
JOSEPH
Verloc, it is true,
Winnie
and
exactly
cannot
Conrad moreover they are quite distinct, and has subtly suggested in their portraitsthe difference refined and educated between a lady and an ignorant in them, of the people, but one sees woman very basis of a great love and a touchingly, the common describes in which Conrad words deep pity. The both : Mrs be used absolutely of them Gould can for
"
It
must
be
not
masculine.
A
with
woman
masculine
a
mind
Gould's
Mrs
that
supposed
is not
mind
a
was
being
perfect simply a phenomenon of imwithout differentiation" and interestinglybarren being feminine led importance. Dona Emilia's intelligence
of
she
is
the conquest
of
superiorefficiency ;
her to achieve for
way
unselfishness
her
charmingly^but having no
of the heart
of theories any no
random
have A
the
value
woman's
expressedin It
was
not
with with
the
of
of
a
they
She
talkative.
The
the erection defence The
of
words
could
or
verse con-
wisdom
demolition
has prejudices,
it pronounces
tolerance,and compassion, integrity,
tenderness,like
action
is because
sympathy.
its command.
at
of acts
true
and
concern
than
more
words
she
the Sulaco, simplyby lighting
the
true
of virility
conquering kind. are
feminine
man,
is
(Nostromo,p. 55.) in
this
still and
that the outrage to their love harrows perfect sense this touch of femininity us so acutely. For it is precisely that gives the real beauty to their faithfulness
148
CONRAD
JOSEPH
lapses in Henry
when James' portrait,moments he seems nods there to nod (not in his style he never but in his psychology) ; whereas Conrad's portrait is invariably fresh and It is of Mrs Gould exact. when Henry James is at his best that his Isabel Archer Is there reminds Gould, me so strongly of Mrs heartbreaking in literature than that anything more is sittingby the side of the when Isabel Archer scene dying Ralph Touchett, trying to tell him all her unhappiness, unburdening her heart at last in the bitter griefand solemn gladness of their parting. It is at are
"
"
such
of
me
I
moment,
a
Gould.
Mrs
Isabel
repeat, that
is, indeed, something
there
For
reminds
Archer
She is not only intensely tragic about Mrs Gould. of her life the powerless to avert the great sorrow Gould's love she but is at slow fading of Charles last, this fragileand pathetic figure,invaded by the She has succoured who poison of doubt. one, every "
"
is unable
by
to
awful
an
says, towards Mrs in
a
white
Gould circle. hands
herself, is filled in her
succour
to her
misgiving as the
end
in the
back
leaned She
of the
lying idle
lightunder the thick of her face prettiness
the
on
book
Conrad
: "
of the her
big trees planted closed
eyes
of her
arms
As
power.
shade
with
back
leaned
own
loneliness
and
half-
The
seat.
her
of leaves
brought out the youthful the clear lightfabrics and white ; made luminous. Small and dainty, as if lace of her dress appear in the deep shade laced of the interradiatinga lightof her own boughs, she resembled a good fairy,weary with a long touched of well-doing, by the witheringsuspicionof career of her labours,the powerlessnessof her magic. the uselessness (Nosiromo, p. 442.) But the
even
surface
unable
the
bitterness
of her
to believe
mass
of lost
compassion, that
she
would
hope
and ever
but
can
that
is
have
scratch
why
I
used
these
am
CONRAD'S words
of
Conrad
because
not to
biting cynicism into
puts
it is
the
me
I
false touch
one
here,
scene
it
because
this
in
the
quote
itself but
striking in
Giselle, which
fair
the
to
mouth.
her
149
WOMEN
seems
beautiful
most
of
portraits: "
"
yourself, child.
Console
Senora,
have
would
he
soon
for his treasure."
forgottenyou "
Very
he
loved
me.
He
loved
"
despairinglv.
He
me/' Giselle whispered,
loved
me
as
no
had
one
been
ever
loved
before." "
been
I have
too," Mrs
loved
said in
Gould
a
tone.
severe
(Nostromo,p. 476.) As
Conrad of
moment
the
could
have
had
with
and
the had
silver
has
unwittingly, I decline
and
escaped for her
her
still.
She
world
her air of
Dr
for
Her
As
me
Nostromo,
the
sense,
Gould's
to
us
deep within gentle wisdom
look
fathom
at
herself, keeping and
character, because
devouring passion
brother.
character
Winnie
than
to
is
maternal
tragic
in
the was
reverence
easier, in Mrs
fathom
it is concentrated
of her
Verloc
It is
to
It
sympathy.
Verloc.
Winnie
her
very
"
suffers
let
of her
secret
before, she is still
I said
did,
she
cynicism ever too genuine
was
heart
her
his life
as
in
of
compassion from
talk
silver of the mine.
word
a
I
death)
to
characters
that
last
a
wrecked
spellover
the
she
when
wounded had
all
that
even
from
only
but
"
alone, who, in his unbounded Monygham of her secret. her, guessed all the darkness
Now
one
her
cast
loosed
that
life
not
:
"
believe
to
^the accursed
"
over
lips.
have
to
silver
to believe
unhappiness.
own
a
the
"
first and
her
had
hers^
Gould
moment
a
just come lover, (Giselle's
wrecked
No, Mrs all
she
Nostromo
about
in
bring myself such
that
remember
the
was
bitterness
cynical
I cannot
same
"
it
remarks,
in
the
love
for her
the
terrible
150
JOSEPH
directness
intensity of
and
from
quite apart
mean,
CONRAD
her beloved.
She
Gould.
of the
the
her
devotion
fate
tragic, I
"
and
her
overhanging
Uves
only for Stevie, she has married for him, she has sacrificed everything for his happiness. She is not like Mrs her the Gould, spreading around instinctive and magnetic power of her sympathy, for she exists entirelyin this one passion of her laborious herself for Stevie ; and secluded days. She suppresses she does not expand with the natural warmth of Mrs One of
suggestion abandon.
We
think
to
attractive in that
"
told that
are
of
she
fierce
the
"
underworld
is this
and
passion
allowed
never
Ossipon Everything seems
whole
her
about
of
Comrade
to her. a
force
reserve
a
touches
truest
herself
secretly
man
contained
be
to
of emotion
damned
by
selfless love for the half-witted Stevie. pure and of herself ; her is quite unconscious Winnie Verloc
her
love
is the
natural
real maternal
outpouring derived
affection
of her from
compassion,
the
years
a
when,
girl,she protected a still smaller brother in the brutal from And onslaughts of their father. her this conception of Winnie Verloc one to see seems physically from Conrad's descriptionjust as clearly little
as
a
as
one
with
a
Gould
with
a
Winnie
Verloc
contained, world
that
dark, of
one
face of active
is still
wordless, didn't
and
sympathy dissimilarity.And
given to worrying Hers bear looking into." self-suppression.That not
and
pent-up river, and
outrage held
her to
to
her
Gould
Mrs
her
She
fair, very
tactful
tragedy of a sublime the breaking-down of dreadful.
full build,
a
very
stiller than
even
"
"
other
in all their
alike, somehow,
so
the
"
expression,the
steadfast
slight,and "
Mrs
sees
is
a
love
conventional
fortifications is
she
loses the
ties.
The
one
so
"
over
a
is the
is
why
sudden
in the shocking
thing
frenzy of
that
Winnie
CONRAD'S Verloc's natural
last hours "
is not
natural
as
alone
terrible
it is
absolutely
frenzy. By losing Stevie
Lear's
as
151
WOMEN
speakable only lost all,but she has suffered an unhad injury. It is as though the heavens fallen on her in the mad deluge of a final reckoning. what But must we speciallybear in mind both in Verloc and, indeed, regard to Mrs Gould and Winnie in regard to Conrad's other principalfigures,is their in their rooted inner reality a reality,as it were, I emphasise this obvious point simply very fibres. because demonstrate it by examples. cannot And, one them after all,it is the one thing that actually makes On of a novelist the important. puppets every be showered other gift may profusely and yet they For it is only remain as uninterestingas stones. may when they have breath in them that the words which Mrs hue of colour. describe their qualitiestake on a she is so is affectingbecause Gould entirelyhuman is Verloc in her compassionate philosophy, Winnie the unconscious her has devotion tragic because lack of an ordered sense grandeur of a real woman's of proportion. number finest women In the gallery of Conrad's a
has
she
not
"
of faces a
before
come
I
me.
grotesque figure,but
in the We
do
Verloc's the whether
of her
strength of
very not
know
even
intentional
character.
not
or
I
And
Spanish
in
Her
Nostromo. a
proud
of the
and
heart
"
name
it
subtle
a
mother,
moving
gold "
unselfishness. is
just Winnie
touch, suggesting
spirit? But heightens the impression
see
Antonia
statuesque
the
English
more
spiritthan Mrs
brave
the
foil to
made
she
"
stillness is
exalted which
humility and
of her
effacement
utter
of
heart
a
this be
Avellanos, the of
her her
Can
mother.
with
Verloc's
Winnie
see
the
Gould
Mrs
Gould
immobility simple wisdom so worshipped. the
"
152
JOSEPH
And
I
CONRAD
Nathalie
Haldin
Eyes) enthusiastic, full of high and shining thoughts, young, her and I see capable of devotion suffering,and unconsoled and mother, an tragic figurewaiting in vain for the return The of her son. picture of this bereaved mother is one of the most piteous things in Conrad
see
Western
{Under
: "
lamp, in the deeper dusk of the distant end, Mrs Haldin, her hands, her whole figurehad the stillness of a sombre painting. Miss Haldin stopped, and pointed mournfully at the tragicimmobility of her mother, who seemed head lyingin her lap. (Under to watch a beloved Western Eyes, p. 350.) Away from the profile of
And
in
the
the
same
Under
book,
Western
Eyes,
I
see
the
incorruptible, unworldly-wise,and fanatical Sophia and Tekla, the despised slave of freedom, Antonovna, and the whose tunate, unfortender pity for the outcast the eccentricity softens into loving devotion of her character. And looking at Tekla I remember like hers Foster the figureof Amy a figuresomewhat see a woman ("Amy Foster"). There, too, you ennobled whole that her ennobled by pity, so "
nature
seems
Foster
has
to not
compassionate survive a
dumb
And
all
the
creature
of the
same
flower the
before
steadfast
devotion
philosophy enables
which
disillusionments unable breed
to
eyes.
your
of
control
is Bessie
life "
her
Amv
But
behind Tekla she
likes and
her to
is like
fears.
Carvil
(" To-morrow "), whispers of romance
figure of tragedy. The and love sigh in her ear for a second and are gone for into the darkness of a night without ever hope. Her of her and loathsome unsleeping care tyrannical a
true
father
and
her
show
the
full sweep
friendshipwith abiding gentleness, in
of feminine
old
Hagberd
its
delicate
renunciation,
touching in its regard for the
is
sensitiveness adventurer
of
Harry
old
insane
an
153
WOMEN
CONRAD'S
Hagberd,
of all
lover
that
it is
But
man.
the
pretty
pluck the very heart of her body. out Again, the tragedy of repression! Another of Conrad's most moving figures is that Islands "). of Freya Nielsen (" Freya of the Seven Hers is a character confident of loyal and goodness, a staunch, straightforward, joyous character, sure Her love for Jasper Allen of itself and of its powers. is without domineering to alloy and just sufficiently be maternal, but she has to manoeuvre to gain her end with her And old father. it is in this manoeuvring that life but her lover's she ruins not only her own well. In this story of simplicity and as deception of hand there shows up something of the real, dark I cannot fate. quite accept the later psychology of such Would Freya Nielsen. strength of character, such such have utter collapsed resource, reliability, when at And so a completely without struggle? last she heard from of Jasper's desperate her father who
women,
with
a
condition
would
had
planning
been
I think
there
is
of her does of
a
play
she
a
to
word
have
not
certain
error
that
can
to
gone
elope with
psychology
tricks
can
in
unless
him
"
she
who
spiteof all ? ments accepting the develophim
admits
one
stagger
in
"
even
the
that
fate
constancy
faithful heart.
And
one
feels,to begin with, somewhat
of the
same
Cornelius' misgiving, too, about daughter in Lord this true companion to Jim have failed, Jim. Would so tragically,to forgive him in the end ? One has of course, that she lacks all the subtlety to remember, of education, of experience,of knowledge of the world but love generally supplies a profound, intuitive in this case, of character. But although one grasp "
has
doubts
at
first,one
comes
to
see,
I think, that
154
JOSEPH
Conrad's
CONRAD
is
quite right. To an untutored mind like hers no act of reparation could pardon the callous treachery of this last desertion. (For such it must inevitablyhave appeared to her.) The concrete has little to do with intelligenceof primitive woman the endless niceties of personal honour. Cornelius' be who would never daughter is the sort of woman comforted, and who, in her dumb misery,would revenge psychology
herself
forgive anything loyalty.
their The
will
character
Conrad's
amongst
his
de
of Flora
discuss, is
now
faithless
of her
memory
will
women
is
the
upon
a
far
save
offence
an
Barral
against
Chance, which
in
intricate
more
Such
lover.
greatest, although
This
one.
not
I
amongst
sympathetic, creations. (The real beauty of her mind is a thing developed, as it were, outside the story.) For her nature has been embittered as embittered a girl, by brutality,by poverty, by neglect; and through nearly all the book we see her under the this starved cloud of her suffering pride. It was in Captain Anthony the unhappiness that roused chivalrous of his pity. One feels that Flora torrent de Barral has been warped and stunted in her mind most
"
she to
has
been
believe
so
misused
in, but
almost
sympathetic kindness. so clearlythat, though is
no
child
than
more
a
she
that
That is
bewildered
in
of her
And
while
consider
knew
her
what
is
why
a
woman
(and
feeling. It needed to thrust a Captain Anthony and to mis-shapen intelligence story
ceased
realise, such
to
she
has
the
read
a
thing
as
understands
one
in years,
she
often
disagreeable) compassion of
rare
aside
alone
not
the
of her
barriers
miserable
arightthe
life. we
are
friend he
was
discussingFlora and
protector
about
when
de Barral
Mrs
he
Fyne. drew
Mrs
we
may
Conrad
Fyne.
CONRAD
JOSEPH
156
sewing ; her neck was the Hght of the lamp ; but Falk, hiding his very white under face in the palms of his hands^ shuddered faintly. {Typhoon, "Falk," pp. 236-7.) with
bowed
head,
went
with
on
her
of her
she is all unconscious strong because it is that, in Nostromo, which strength. And She
is
fair Giselle
the
much
so
fatal than
more
renders
the dark
Linda,
sittingalways with downcast secretly stealing away silently absorbed, eyes, Nostromo's heart, resembles deadly a lovely and of her The flower. triumph is sleepy luxuriance the yawn of a playfulpanther. to her than hardly more But against that yieldingsoftness the passionate love for nothing. In the seductive counts of the dark Linda Giselle Viola,
her sister.
of her
innocence
of centuries
of
fair Giselle has
the
nature
charm
the
experience.
perhaps, be said of Nina Almayer [Ahnayer's Folly), of Aissa {An Outcast of the Islands),of Alice Jacobus (" A Smile of of that very shadowy lady, Miss Fortune "),and even Etchingham Granger {The Inheritors).Nina Almayer for Dain attraction of her is certainlyunconscious Maroola, though she yields to love with the abandon The wild and of her glamour passionate nature. Nina of mysterious romance Almayer hangs over almost
than
more
her
sea
with
the
wilderness
of her
any
of her
weariness note
the
how
blood.
The
wonderful
and
her a
sombre
the
gloom
own
"
a
woman
to
of
power
attraction
very
call of
tenderness
reviving freshness and
Sambir
of her
the
fly across
fierce
white for
over
the
It is
interesting
blood
gives her a figure
past existence.
immensely greater
like Aissa
father
white
in Conrad.
character
other
lover, suggests the
dark
throws
love
across
an
over
in
should,
same
girl,forsaking her
This
to
the
of
Something
us
than
equallypassionateand
untamed.
CONRAD'S For as
WOMEN
Aissa, too, is unconscious
she
it
as
soon
arouses
response
it with
all
not,
I should
her
167
of her in the
might, though,
breast
of Willems,
barbaric
cunning. As for Alice desolate Jacobus (an even more figure than Flora de Barral),her attraction is not only unknown to her but actually incomprehensible to the disgusted sulkiness of her mind. She is a very singularcreation. of Watching her is like watching the emergence of feminine personality from the wilderness caprice. In regard to Miss Etchingham Granger (a figure of uses
and
wood
all),she
at
dimension
has in
the her.
invention suspect, Conrad's charm, so to speak, of the fourth She
attracts
the a
I suppose super-woman, fortuitous circumstance.
"
because
men
what
one
she
may
is call
In
has drawn, in Taminah, Almayer's Folly Conrad the girlslave, a strange and tragicfigureof voiceless grief a. figurealmost as strange, indeed, as that of Nina Almayer, and more tragicin her unrequited love. She is a true child of the patient wilderness, typifjdng impressivelythe speechlesssufferingof savage hearts. In Romance there two are delightful women There is nothing Seraphina Riego and Mrs Williams. deep about them, for they are intended, after all, to be figuresof pure romance ; but they have the fine traits of courage, of compassion, and of noble simplicity with them lovable. enough of realityto make In their inconceivable and hopeless difference (the one Cuban a aristocrat, the other the puritanical young and middle-aged wife of a Bristol sea captain),they show qualitiesof a similar spiritedand delightfulorder. But could similar disthough Conrad imagine two very "
"
"
women
en
rapport with
also
imagine a mother is estranged. There
and the
case
one
another
he
could
daughter fundamentally of Susan
Bacadou
and
CONRAD
JOSEPH
158
ties
of the
flesh
"
Levaille, in
Madame
mother,
her
this
in
instance
The
spirit of the personality. of
elder But
by the independent asserting itself over
instinct
I
this
daresay
drawn, de
Madame
women.
fired
been
"
is
pretation inter-
fanciful
a
times, definitelyoffensive
at
in
S
Western
Under
Eyes,
,
is
excellent
an
sinister
as
"
in
The
the
evil
though
Return," in
a
the
is
so
women)
girl
Chance
in
governess
Balzac's
as
part, is
most
example,
and
Informer,"
the
of
submissiveness
tragicoccurrence.
a
has
Conrad
have
to
seems
younger
natural
the
rebellion
of
final
her
in
"
act
only
self-sufficient
jointhe cowering daughter to the strong-minded mother although
ties that and
the
almost
are
The
Idiots."
but
"
in
different
The
(a person Hervey,
unattractive
very
rather
Mrs
"
the
for
It
category.
is
of instills all the venom figuresthat Conrad For it is his hatred of insincerityand vapid pose. real who understand can women only those who with unmask frauds such tempt. a degree of bitter conis why, in certain I do think that people,
in
such
great tenderness by great I have
devoting
much
if I
of others, I
to
space
a
figures that Conrad, himself, carefully. In such portraits as Verloc
Winnie
and essence
he
has and
of his conclusions
important
few
that
has
of his
women.
"
that
feminism/'
an
I
says "
say
attitude.
women
for
the
pense ex-
are
the
elaborated of Mrs
concentrated
in his
Observe
these
those
everything else, he requiresa Marlow
panied accom-
blamed
figuresat
above
As
be
should
only reply
can
often
so
others. of the
most
And
books.
over
is
some
dislike towards
considered
now
Conrad's
in
towards
most
Gould
the
very
For, sympathy. subtle femininity
:
"
femininity,"
(Chance,p,
privilegenot 133.) a
"
CONRAD'S Conrad's
In in
finest
all the
eyes
from
spring
women
muddle-headed
is unconscious.
they
would on
their
Meredith
drew
splendid with
are
characteristics. because
the
they
are
and
temperament. the
It is And
it.
sex
only the
Conrad's
their
"
two,
femininity
but splendid women glitterof typicallyexalted
Conrad's
But
of character
between
deny
pity His
another.
one
and
femininity.
feminine
the
with
trade
not
women
antagonism
who
do
women
subtle
are
have
they
only is there no they are in accord
but
this
159
of intuition
graces
it is true,
women,
resolve, but Not
WOMEN
women
of
unaware
beautiful
are
their
gifts
and
are
heaped-up glories. In individualised more portraits than that Meredith's, and, consequently, they possess which, so often, is just lacking in magnetic charm is my his. Such opinion, though I will add that a that it is the converse that me assures lady I know pictured without short, they are
is accurate
that
says woman's
of
me
a
(It
matter.
apart from
"
is
the
man's
admit to
that
one
there than
sex
differences fact
are
is,that
of view
of
point
or
in relation
to
view are
to
"
woman
sex,
a
it is
certain the
accentuated
when
a
looking at "personality"
man
talks
to
merely
types
talks about
they always
and
a
a
man's
have
last
that
is
I
quite sympathetic
so
far
as
type is morbid. about
as
passionate com-
that
true.
more
in
other, but the
say
the
in
charming
it is ridiculous
nature
the
of
of
a
does
This
I discussed
has
woman
a
stands under-
only
of view.
way
character," that a
from
Conrad
question
She
typical.
are
point
fallacious
who
women
women
whereas
man's
a
very
If
chapter.) a
view
from
who
understands
Meredith
point to
Conrad's
and
them seem
of
that, indeed, it is Meredith's
"
individual
are
aid
the
woman's
point of
in mind
the
these The
point view
point
JOSEPH
CONRAD
typical
narrow-minded
160
of the
of view
I
woman.
Meredith's
women
That,
and, in the
sense
into
the
is, in
of
The
better
versa,
that in
is
But
to
in
the
build
up
his
to
Ruiz." of
deep,
the
Dona
"
I
his
work.
intense
which creative
of
glow under
these
eludes realism.
the
of for few
or
the
of
one
description.
in
these
some
of
them
are
the
"
in
It
is
even
Caspar
in the
is, indeed,
very
others
not
stand
certain
high
referring
course,
ruddy
feels
the
are
I should
who
of
be
may
polemical,
there
skin
sex
instance,
that
suppose
ment. estrange-
of
For
do.
Such
speak
am,
sex
mutual
a
less
types vice
to
one
other.
I
such
of
tion considera-
chief
of
of
some
not
and
own
of life,reminding
things all
their
is the
barriers
of the In
sunsets
lie
to one
speak
certain
eyes
Erminia,
No,
will
the
creations.
and
people
it is fanciful
I
for
case
and
women,
"
admit
even
of women,
of
when
opinion
rigid conception
types
of
than
strong
is, surely, that
something that
finest
Turner's
seems
is
this
in eyes
sketches,
mere
convincing
of
reader
Conrad's
of
terms
to
return
the
remind
only
on
a
that
Reality
is individual
that
errors
hope
members way.
of
I will
do
that
possible
admittedly, probe
quite
certain
the
is
matter
a
women,
character-drawing,
only typical
of
truth
than
by
what
that
are
I
understand
men
But
but
arguments
personality.
in
fanatical
or
individual
can,
appearance,
"
their
found
is
Meredith
crises
it
more
presume,
that
contention
the
I
nervous
there
that
be
may
Conrad's.
that
denying
not
am
man
front forekind
a
somehow,
one,
health
which
people. strongly the
secret
It but
of
CHAPTER
Conrad's
It
requires
the
irony
irony
of
It
is
irony
ranges
the
of
it
all
is
an
actually
which
gives brusque
Austen
is
the
in
its
of
Turgenev
or
ironic
depressed
because
futile, and
their
sensibility "
of
his
as
a
But
of
but this
melancholy
shelter we
from must
but
in
alone
not
Slavonic
the
its
is
ceaseless
Conrad
is
description. "
he
does
pessimistic remember
of
sort
untouched His not
We
of
fall
back
Latin
the
Conrad's
like
variety
but
melancholy quite They is
for
their
by
irony
know
of Jane
beautiful, shield
is,
melancholy
Conrad. is
life, which a
ironic
something of
melancholy
is
irony
the
For
Galsworthy
irony
It
irony
suave
an
root
rather
singular quality.
"
foundations.
very
the
egoism
mind
the
existence.
representatives
enough
France
But
of
and its
pervasive
a
disillusionment
view
Voltaire,
Anglo-Saxon
bewildering
from
of
irony
typical
"
of
sarcasm
Anatole
Beckford.
northern
irony
to
His
it.
simple
of
of its
Indeed,
about
breath
kindliness
sceptical
his
to
elf-like
mere
William
works
subtlety
field, from
melancholy
tliis
perhaps,
and
of
the
a
the
savagery
than
the
from
from
and
the
attention.
and
spacious
a
in
present
escape
that
discover
to
wideness
elusive
humour,
atmosphere,
often
may
over
humour
astuteness
the
only
something
broad
to
is that
there
sardonic
is
contrast
ramifications
to
and
particular
no
of Conrad.
VIII
is
the upon
apart are
also own
artistic cause
irony
conclusions. that
with
Conrad
irony
CONRAD
JOSEPH
162
philosophicconception, but is also of presenting a picture or artistic method even an of creating an atmosphere. There is a certain unity, certain a perspective to be gained from viewing men is ironical standpoint. And, indeed, Conrad from an solely a
is not
Lord
of Darkness,"
is the
Conrad listens
Marlow)
to
much
like The
book
delicate
more
Secret
very The
Secret
is
Agent
when
In
more
that
other
with
Agent,
words,
in its very
one
no
"
a
the
ironic
and
"
sider con-
we
For
is ironic
in
a
irony of philosophic
the
artistic than
an
who own
faced
are
we
Agent
misses
Secret
The
attitude.
course,
of the ironic method.
use
appreciate it who impersonal way.
can
general
a
Conrad's
give us philosophy,but Agent
may
background
to
Secret
The
of
fabric
whole
serves
"
in the
person
ironical
and
melancholy a
shadowy
who
is
(there
"
Heart
as
himself, but, of
is Conrad
Marlow
that
idea
devil
familiar
"
tales
such
Chance, Marlow,
and
Jun,
Conrad's
called
be
In
method.
of this
fond
very
a
idea, is studied
probing, but quite emotionless. the sting and the laugh. Meredith It is satire minus his theory of the Comic with Spiritmight well have though the Comic Spirit is, appreciated this book cruel,
irony, not
not
"
in
judge, the imagining a state I
can
often
As
exist.
only
in
the
true
irony
aloofness.
yielding an
in
and
immense all its
often
The
far
as
as
Spirit feeds its vitalityupon of things which positivelydoes not it is a mere over, not as paradox. More-
rarified is not
For,
Comic
its creator's
by
invention.
inhuman
an
essence,
definition
own
air
of
a
universal
necessarilyother Comic Spirit is a
occasional side
branches, of bitter
is but
whereas the
than
experience.
In
a
But
form
brilliant
leaving
the
wisdom
breathe
can
culture.
but
revelations of life ;
it
ironic
of
fancy, dark
spirit, of knowledge reading such a
CONRAD
JOSEPH
164
intellect, extraordinarilyincompassionate and
cruel
They pass and are gone, but they are ever They resemble ready to leap out upon the unwary. thrust and sudden piercing stabs unbaring at one of the heart. nakedness the hideous They are simply sardonic terrific. The spirit is more prevalent in In his books than in his early ones. Conrad's recent be violentlysarcastic, as in his he can earlier books The Return of Alvan Hervey's description in for supporting a society publication or, as in reason Heart of Darkness," of the glorious his descriptionin activities of the Great and Company ; but civilising moments.
"
"
"
in his "
later
of
Freya
the
such
work, the
Seven
shafts
aimed
"
work
"
Islands at
"
Anarchist
An
as
cences, Reminis-
Some
or
have
rottenness
or
the
biting,
irony that eats into the very But that all this implies a change in Conrad's flesh. than attitude to a life, other development in his whole conception of the writer's art, is questionable. No doubt one change might reasonably imply the other, and
mordant,
I
Conrad,
but, with
it is with
his
later has
of his mind
humour
pessimism
of
his
We
revelation.
inclined
am
the
philosophic.
sardonic
less
this
notice
that
manner
more
grown
philosophy can
than
of
reserve
think
to
is artistic rather
of influence
balance
For
sombre
to
prone
that
the
and
the
obvious
particularlyin
his
last four books.
However,
in
differences
down out
that
to
a
of its
earlier
his
and
work
mouth.
own
in
unearth his
care or
which
definition
could
one
take
I must
later
what
I say
I shall find can
be
made
myself to
I don't
that
would
nailed
refute
deny for an examples, both in work,
the
about
me
instant
Conrad's render
a
theories different reading to my (forexample, precisely is almost tender of Fortune A Smile the irony of "
"
IRONY in
AND
regard
in
Jacobus
to
in
sardonic
all,I
regard to only trying to
am
Conrad's
attitude. sarcastic
was
once
SARDONIC and
HUMOUR
165
his
daughter though it is the smile but, after itself), point out the tendency to change I only state that where he "
is
he
"
sardonic,
now
and
for this is, in the main, probable reason precision of style and, roughly, I
most
"
to be
that
the
altered
has
method to
that
no
what But
truth.
There
is every
sign that
an
the creased in-
believe Conrad
his
style,not only in its form but in its of presenting his opinions, but there is next proof that his philosophy to-day is different from
it
was
fifteen years
all this is
only
ago. one
aspect of Conrad's
irony.
touch a Incongruous association, for example, throws of pensive and all the four premeditated irony over This specialaspect of the irony stories in Typhoon. has of contrast acts a as a philosophic basis which if a telling,even risky, dramatic expedient. It is the unimaginative MacWhirr (" Typhoon ") who has to face the might of the storm, it is the dense Amy Foster is captivated by the ("Amy Foster") who brilliant Yanko Goorall, it is the respectable Falk is guilty of cannibalism, it is the (" Falk ") who lives doting Hagberd (" To-morrow "), a father who for his son fails to recognisehim when he alone, who Such roundings irony takes on the colour of its surappears. being, let us say, epic in Typhoon and pathetic in It is true that To-morrow." in a skilful hand like Conrad's it avoids practised and the unreality that lurks in wait for every variety of "
"
"
"
coincidence, but, all the to
A
be more
same,
manipulated with the strictlylegitimate use
is in
the
contrast
from
the
concealed
it is
a
nicest of
of character
antagonisms
medium artistic
that
has
balance.
this
to
of
type of irony character, arising
personality.
For
166
CONRAD
JOSEPH
in the latter
case
avoids
one
the
danger (a true danger symbolism. When stupid the fury of the typhoon there is something symbolic
though a splendid one) of Captain MacWhirr conquers feels instinctivelythat one of the
here in
indomitable
Charles
of
soul
when,
fades
love
Gould's
but
man,
imperceptibly into his passion for his mine, such symbolism as there all is is swamped in contemplation of the tragic and Nostromo,
too
likelihood
of
ironic and
both
common
situations but
the
are
material, whilst
it were,
and whole
situations
"
threads
too
"
To-morrow rather
setting that is symbolic relationships. However
spin my
realistic,
are
overwhelming and, as the second it is gradual
in
in
Even
inevitable.
Both
occurrence.
first is
in the
contrast
the
it
is
than
I have
the
the
wish
no
dividual into
fine.
ative irony derives, at times, its accumuling effect from the junctionof numerous streams, flowfrom his main impulses. In the pages of Nostromo, Dr Decoud and sum Monygham up in their caustic phrases the futilityand meaninglessness of South American civilisation,but before ever they spoke an the impersonal and subtly ironic voice had breathed same through every line. Melancholy and message mockery often go hand in hand in an ironical mind. is not mentally fundaHere, in Nostromo (though Nostromo ironic at all as is The Secret Agent) Conrad's irony touches all the sides of life. It touches, as we for ever have noticed, the Goulds, sundered by the Com
power killed it
ad's
of
touches, in fears
method
interests," it touches
material
his
tragicallywith
throwing he
"
of
sense
a
grosser
himself most
of
into
of all
"
sense,
the
a
on
of the
arms
Conrad
irony
of
his
lips,and
like Senor
man
very
death.
picturingthe
secrets
two
Nostromo,
has
"
now
one a
and
Hirsch,
thing striking then
"
in the
of such
case
HUMOUR
SARDONIC
AND
IRONY
people
former
of their by the poUtest reminder So politeis it repeated several times. taken
as
I will
ironical aside.
which
abject Hirsch, usual
very
method
give
than
might as
an
instance, apropos of the
one
be
may
state,
it
that
rather
observation
mere
a
does
He
Sefior Hirsch.
as
it
be
167
of Conrad's
taken
typicalof
as
a
:
"
slightquiver passed up the taut rope from the racked business limbs, but the body of Sefior Hirsch, enterprising from man Esmeralda, hung under the heavy beam dicular perpenthe colonel and awfully. (Nostromo, silent,facing of a longer passage I have quoted part p. 381. This makes A
in another
It is
unassuming
as
he
in
when,
chapter.)
worthless
And
it is trenchant.
as
times some-
by a single word as The Secret Agent, he is describingthat quite Ossipon : person, Comrade will
achieve
the
result
"
the Doctor, Ossipon, anarchist, nicknamed author of a medical (and improper)pamphlet, late lecturer the social aspects of hygieneto working men's clubs, was on of conventional trammels the free from morality. (The Secret Agent, p. 422.) Alexander
and
then
is
result
the
still
if
illuminating
more
possible. contrast, milder
and
instance,
occasionallyhe of ironical
form
sits there
repeat, is addicted
I
Conrad,
of the
one
to
will
this sort
present In
comment.
assessors
at
it in
positionof authority with thoroughly bored
and
tried
Mikulin
Under
of
the
Western secret
Eyes
police
there who
integrity of
weakness to
"
In
even
Jim, for
Lord
the though Conrad but suddenly pauses humanity suicide how Captain Brierly committed later.
an
Jim's examination
in his
as
of ironical
a
is
few
explain weeks
Councillor
cross-examines
168
CONRAD
JOSEPH with
Razumov influence
but
"
of
terrifyingreserve again, Conrad pauses a
Mikulin, himself, fell
some
how
recount
to
the
into
afterwards
years
and
power
depths of suspicionand degradation. Here you have two safe, feared, respected,facing commanding men, two unhappy wretches, and it is just as if Conrad all at once to whisper in your Yes, but ear were I'll show wait moment a something," and you to give you a glimpse into the mysterious workings were "
"
of
fate
and
of
This, indeed,
hearts.
men's
is the
melancholy side of Conrad's irony the realisation that fruitless but and not only that life is obscure it. people are, in truth, completely ignorant about As he says in The Return (talkingof Alvan Hervey and his wife) : "
"
"
"
They
skimmed
and
pure
the
over
frosty atmosphere
hand, in
a
cutting
slcilfulskaters
like two
"
in
of life hand
surface
of the beholders, and figureson thick ice for the admiration restless disdainfully ignoringthe hidden stream, the stream and of life, dark ; the stream {Tales profound and unfrozen.
of Unrest, It is
a
"
The
Return,"
178-9.)
pp.
Something of this blindness ironical background to Under view
of
reminds
the
Genevan
one
of
The
the
so
pretence
elevated
of
genev
and
as
to
Conrad
cynicallyamused
is
Nevertheless
show
the
singlenessof
Turgenev,
whose
I will
grander figure in
Baden-Baden
of the
spiritin both sunning itself in the
enthusiasts.
Conrad
nobility and from
and
causes,
of gullibility
Eyes. Conrad's Russian conspirators
sardonic often
work
merely
Under
the
as
Western
view
Turgenev's
noted
be
may
ciicle of
circle in Smoke. hates
intensity.
ironical in its very
remark
sincerest
heart. is
so
mention
Western
I
writers
shelter the
at
Tur-
both
admiration need
not
quote
widely known, that
Eyes
there than
for
and is
no
Haldin
AND
IRONY
SARDONIC
HUMOUR
figure than Peter in the vanguard both, ostensibly, are and
his
genuine, from
sustenance
sincere is
first is
the
But
a
ever
Ivanovitch.
meaner
no
fanatics.
been
the
This from
weakness
whereas
which The
immune.
of the the
credulous
unfounded
last
and
of
page
Yet
same
cause.
second
draws
admiration
states
no
169
of
unseeing faith of society have Under
Western
ironical light of knowledge, is a most the whole footnote subject. upon Conrad's melancholy irony often reveals itself in it might be called, then, the irony climax dramatic of his success that Jim of pity. It is at the moment his death, it is at the moment of {Lord Jim) meets relief that Carlier Kayerts and (" An Outpost of Progress ") break down completely,it is at the moment of safetythat Charley (" The Brute ") loses his beloved, it is at the moment when their long wait is all but that triumphantly surmounted Jasper and Freya (" Freya of the Seven Islands ") are cheated of the very which their hands are happiness over closing. I need such instances not continue because, naturally,they in writers as dramatic Conrad must as ; always abound but I may point out that they do show conclusively
Eyes,
in
the
"
how
in
urgent
tragic fate.
The
climax
the
a
in
as
suggestion of
is the
mind
his
ever-present idea of of it is that, in the irony of
worst
irony
of
symbolic which
coincidence
is
leave
to
apt
is
there
contrast,
one
proportion as it is perfect. To deal and in such thrilling crises is to play with fire to get and again. singed now There is another irony and that is danger about
uncomfortable
in
"
that, in the words
by deceiving because into
this
I
of
a
writer
I
its author."
think
mistake
Conrad
in The
Age,
mention
fallen,
has
(hisirony
New
is
this to
usually
"
here
any far
it ends
too
not
extent, clear-
170
JOSEPH and
sighted
humane
in
common
men
and
The
so
of
to-day. The pointless irony of
often
Butler
it is
because
satirists
and
weariness.
but
that)
EngUsh
Samuel
as
a
and
Hilaire
tables
with
turned
are
comes be-
Belloc
a
end
more by dislikingthe authors their butts. have Irony must proportion or it its sting. And what could be more truly ironic the blindness of irony itself ?
vengeance
than loses than And
here
whole
we
I may
add
subject of irony
of life there
act
for
unreUeved,
constant, such
the
CONRAD
unless
is
that, for the
too, the
In every dangerous one. and certain ironic significance,
a
is
critic
a
critic is very careful there is a real chance of his losingall sense of proportion in judging the bounds the
and
of
purposes it and overdo
irony
has
yet, with
the
of
irony
a
irony.
One
English
must
novelist like Conrad
in whom
must
lay particular stress
mind
has, I think, little of the
in its constitution
and
not
subtle
distinct, individual, and
such one
For
intentional
little of the
festations, maniit.
upon
-finesse
bitterness
melancholy of irony, though, assuredly, it is rich in ironical resignationand revolt. And that, will is not Conrad's precisely, type of irony. You find it in thoroughly English writers like Dickens and Chesterton (it goes frequently with bursts of but will not find it in a Slav writer irritation), you is not such To humour Conrad Conrad. a as guise for resignation (or its converse, although rebellion), is so often tinged with his humour irony. But then ulterior it has no philosophicbasis and is ironic without even
the
motive.
In
or
of
his
a
nutshell, Conrad's
special ironic
he
must
not
between
be
When
realism.
half-caste, tells Willems that
humour
[An
brutal white
to
Outcast him "
men
is the humour
Leonard,
of
the
because
there
is
the
Islands)
it is
"
becoming un-
something
m
JOSEPH "
Is there
CONRAD
"
?
caught sight on under chest, painted brown But
he
with
lashed
manila
new
the
of
quay
heavy seaman's
a
fringed sailcloth He eyed it with
a
line.
and
cover,
awakened
interest. "
I would
Siamese
talk and
flag. Nobody
him.
The
fraud
for
fraud you
ignorant
to
had
that
to
go
lost
sailed
ever
that's
"
No
seas.
for
another
greatest lot
The
the
damned
it hot
make
engineer
nerve.
my
for that
I would
or
"
his chief
Told
! I
"
fools
think.
can't
You
!
of
." .
"
raise trouble if it wasn't
.
Got
your
all
money
right?
"
ance inquiredhis seedy acquaint-
suddenly. "
'
Get "
Paid
Yes. your
breakfast skunk
Mean
passed his tongue of
?
sort
some "
He
struck
"
No
!
began
Struck
talk here.
I want
fellow
"
shore,'says
commented
his
on
the
lips.
"
second
the
mate.
he." tall
vaguely, and having a drink
man
about
What
me," hissed the second
bustle
a
!
on
board," raged
on
"
to
get
off
me
to
!
don't
You
about
"
?
say
The
sympathetically.
to know
carry
mate.
all about
your
it.
chest.
I
in
man
"
Can't
Struck know
possibly
eh ?
"
blue
Let's
quiet place
a
where
bottled beer. ." they have some Mr had been Jukes, who scanning the shore through a the chief engineerafterwards that pair of glasses,informed late second hasn't been long in findinga friend. mate our A I saw them chap lookinguncommonly like a bummer. walk togetherfrom the quay." (Typhoon, Typhoon away .
.
"
"
"
p.
IOO-2.)
people, I wonder, have noticed what a is. It is marvellous piece of art this conversation finished things of its kind in Conrad's of the most one works, and, as a finaleto the horrors of the typhoon, is as visible The soft spot tremendously effective. board here as amongst the officers on the Patna [Lord Jim)]. [How
many
"
Conrad's
whole
sense
of humour
"
is, in fact,
extra-
IRONY
is
ordinarilyinteresting. It that
has
connects
with
Slavonic
The
sense
a
"
which
flit
that
Smile
less It one
of all those
spirit. Think
A
no
Dostoievsky.
tales,for instance,
Sharerj"
Secret
of
stewards
startled
tales, through such "
in
realistic bizarreness
and
the
unique
humour
the
pathetic and
quaint
is
than
absolute
173
HUMOUR
SARDONIC
AND
"
as
through his Typhoon,"
of Fortune,"
Chance,
figurelike Captain Mitchell imagining [Nostromo],sententiously(and quite falsely)
and
so
forth
the
himself
the
of
centre
a
of
affairs, or Or
Duel."
in "The
Feraud
of
think
or
;
just take
poor, a
deluded like
passage
following: "
major
old
The
battalion,a stupid,suspiciousman,
of the
distinguishedhimself life, by putting out suddenly the binnacle light,the only one of navigation. He for the necessities board allowed on who
had
could
afloat in his
been
never
of what
understand
not
use
it could
be for
findingthe
protestationsof the ship'scaptain, he stamped his foot and tapped the handle of his sword. unmasked ! I have Aha you," he cried triumphantly. You are tearing your hair from despair at my acuteness. Am I a child to believe that a lightin that brass box can I ? I is the old soldier, am. harbour where show am an you You wanted that gleam I can smell a traitor a league off. to betray our approach to your friend the Englishman. A the
To
way.
vehement
"
"
thing like Que
that
show
picardia!
those
But humour
Conrad's
the
you
Sulaco
You
way
What
!
people
a
miserable
all in
are
the
pay
lie ! of
foreigners."(Nostromo,p. 243.) I will not of
this
give kind
humour,
at
examples for, after all, only on the fringe of irony.
further is its
easiest, has
the
keenness
of
deadly suggestion. It is,in truth, with of humour dyed, instinctively, simply a sense unusual and of Conrad's the colour always slightly ironical personality. a
blade
There
without
is
a
its
trace
of Dickens
in
Conrad's
humour.
JOSEPH
174 but
a
with
much
a
rarer,
actually the is
Flora
nothing much
a
Barral's
give
here
For
subtler
character
manufacturer
is my
it is
mingled genius. Perhaps
more.
Dickens-like
most
de I
passage
and
trace
mere
CONRAD
in his books The
cousin.
for justification
this
ment state-
:
"
He
the gazed contemptuously round prettilydecorated in a puzzled way at the dining-room. He wrinkled his nose dishes offered to him by the waiter but refused none, devouring the food with a great appetiteand drinking(" swilling Fyne called it)gallonsof ginger beer, which was procured for him (in stone bottles)at his request. The difficultyof "
keeping up
conversation
a
Fyne herself,who resolution.
had
come
with
that
being exhausted
the table armed
to
with
Mrs
tine adaman-
thing he said was when, only memorable in a pause of gorging himself "with these French dishes he deliberately let his eyes roam the littletables occupied over that his wife did for a by partiesof diners,and remarked think of coming down with him, but that he was moment She wouldn't have been at all happy glad she didn't do so. Not at all happy," he declared seeingall this alcohol about. weightily. {Chance,p. 120.) The
"
"
It is
probable, as I said in my introductory chapter, that this omnipresent irony is one of the reasons for Conrad's comparative lack of popularity. Sophia in
Antonovna
Western
she says
when "
Under
Remember,
revolutionists
Eyes
as "
no
fectly per-
"
Razumov,
that
hate
discern
it up
:
children, and negation of all saving
women,
irony,which is the of all faith, of all devotion,of instincts, Western Eyes, p. 275.) I
sums
double
all action."
{Under
irony in that remark had been though Conrad thinking to himself. That's what But people will be saying of me." doubt it is a purely fantastic notion on my part. Because irony is the foe of fanaticism and of the seem
to
a
"
AND
IRONY
certitude
unruffled
Secret
The
for
"
the
though,
"
more
artistic
an
great thing
to
startlingfact that, deep tragicthan comic irony is more than
French.
for
his mind France
Anatole that
the
than
Moreover
the
for
that
cosmic
this
that the
irony
wliich
and
the
of
the
of his
epitome
than
of that
ironic.
long but I will give it meaning so perfectly:
drown of
here
a
his
creator
is concerned
into
merges
except
ironic
most, utter-
concerning it.
hope.
two
or
of
one
the
to
Islands, the
of vanished
last page
tragic
all
as
men
I do believe
hardly enter of irony that
sort
Outcast
An
very
more
is the
tiate differen-
of such
irony
ironic at
more
say,
must
theories
of his
rather my
is to
fundamentally
with
can
irony
in his heart, his
that
"
worth.
Gourmont. is
which
This
disillusionment think
than
is not
sense
like
book
are
down
the mind
de
melancholy
calculations. a
from
Remy
or
existence
melancholy 'a
philosophic the gravity
Conrad's
Conrad's
with
more
before, it
a
grip on life is realistic and consequently his irony cannot in actuality. To say that he is more that he a philosopheris only to say
faith
of
than
It is that
ever
reason
realism.
stated
about
grasp
is this
Slavonic
Eyes extremists)
about
I
as
suppose,
Western
only in such a spiritcould be proportioned to its actual
of fanaticism But
novels
175
may
Voider
Agent (thetwo
be
to
appears device
conceived
entities
ironical
as
HUMOUR
of the idee fixeis,one
Conrad
partly why and
SARDONIC
in
kind
a
into
our
pervades irony of
I sometimes
strange book
melancholy
The
"
quotation
because
a
it
an
is
represents
"
He out
dozed at
the
unchanged listeningto above
off.
Almayer
bluish and the
their dark
sheen
stood
of the
sombre,
by
the
moonlit
seemed
to
hill
on
night.
hang
unceasing whisper of wall the
balustrade
which
the
over
The
looking forests,
the
great river
Lingard had
water, ;
and
buried
JOSEPH
176
CONRAD
prisonerrose in a black, rounded mass, for a the silver paleness of the sky. Almayer looked upon long time at the clean-cut outline of the summit, as if trying and distance the shape of make to out through darkness When he turned round that expensive tombstone. at last his arms his guest sleeping, the table,his head on he saw on the
of his late
body
his
arms.
"
look
Now,
the
here
shouted, slappingthe table with
he
of his hand.
palm
naturalist
The
"
!
woke
up,
and
all in
sat
heap, staring
a
owlishly. "
Here
!
thumping have
went
books,
Rotterdam the
or
runs
and
ruined poor
miserable
Providence world's
What He
howled
out
fac
"
the
like you
his
ruins
knows
be treated
ought
fellow, don't
so
balustrade. he
He
"
him
scheme
of the
the
been
a
rail,he
face towards
to
last
at
^he
"
by
a
him
all about
Where's
your
I suffer ?
professormade
distinctly "
don't
you "
see
that
ba-bare
the
offensive,
I .
.
I
"
.
.
on
the
drank
his
own
ended
and
trade
his remarks
walked
assume
a
rebellious
by to
an
the
seldom, but, the stuff could
attitude
towards
the
throwing his body over shouted impudently into the night,turninghis that far-off and invisible slab of importedgranite universe.
And
back
gin very
small quantity of did, a ridiculously
induce
Nina
"
have
to
table,and unexpected and prolonged snore. Almayer shrugged his shoulders when
?
of
employer,
anybody Why should
!
of your existence is off like. ."
fell forward
He
shot
end
stringof questions,and suddenly became
who
.
in
in all this ?
for
good
other
my
this ?
all
swindle
A
and
me
nothing at
fact "
nobody,
to
his
here, robs
out
effort to articulate
dear
My
!
to
man
tremendous "
the
the
place at
of
Where's
I done
The
that sense
swindle
a
harm
you
damned
like that is born
gets himself
and
"
the
have
silent. a
?
Done
and
say
such
why
.
scoundrel
a
wife, and
savage,
Where's
.
!
am
travels
tell you
I
me,
really. The
his
You, who
.
damn'd
such
some
from
away
I
loud
very
.
.
somewhere,
world
justtell me
life .
know.
to
Here
born.
ever
honest
an
I want
table,
all the
read
Almayer, speaking
on "
the
thingsare lived
"
now,
IRONY which upon and Willem's "
to
was
wrong
?
Hey
for you
? .
river and
forests,the with
attention
must .
hope repeated in
Hope,"
waiting
You
I
"
his
God's
mercy
his
on
he
for
smart
it !
"
I
.
want
Where
Where
?
Hey
.
yelled.
are
is
there
.
.
"
!
the
whisperingecho
a
hills ;
the
head
!"
wrong
"
it.
for
smart
mercy "
record
fit to
escape.
Willems
youj no
Lingard had thought
Father
you
177
HUMOUR
SARDONIC
AND
on
side
one
heard lips,
but
other
no
who
Almayer, and
startled
smile
a
stood
Outcast
(An
answer.
tipsy
of
of the Islands,p. 390-1.) But
hark
to
back, Conrad's
irony is
in its
French
clear-headed
He is not to be perception of motive. deluded there is by grandiloquent phrases. And his something tragicallycomic in the way he makes of progress) exploited people (exploitedin the name realise the utter vileness of the exploitersquite naturally, In An matter of course. a as though it were it is Makola, devil- worthe shipping Outpost of Progress "
"
understands
native, who better
actually
than
their backs
he
useless
station
for
knowledge He
men
moved
succeeds
towards
ears
the
in
exchanging
The
:
"
Kayerts
store.
their
tusks.
follows
as
agents
themselves.
admirable
some
to their
comes
white
understand
they
Behind
the two
him
followed
mechanically,thinking about the incredible desertion of the men. On the ground before the door of the fetish lay six splendidtusks. did you give for it .? asked Kayerts, after surWhat veying "
"
the "
No
lot with
satisfaction.
regular trade," gave it to in the wanted
ivory and most
station
can
show
such
station.
in books
all correct."
;
Kayerts nearly M
were
burst
no
them
is
It
Those
tusks.
our
"
Makola.
I told
me.
badly, and
men
said
good
with
They brought to
a
what
beautiful
traders
here.
take
No
trade, no "
they
lot.
wanted
indignation. Why
the
No
carriers
entry 1"
he
178
CONRAD
JOSEPH
shouted, Makola
"
stuttered "
for these tusks
I believe you have sold our men stood and silent. impassive "
Kayerts.
I did the
best
imperturbably.
for
"
and
you
Why
"
fiend !
You
he
the
I
I
"
will
"
I
"
" "
yelledout. said Makola
Company,"
shout
you
"
!"
much
so
Look
?
at
this tusk." "
I dismiss
I forbid
tusk.
into the
them "
the
You
very
sun,
you
I will
!
you
river.
You
red, Mr
!
you
"
you
I order
If you
die
and
look to
you
throw
first chief ! "
like the
"
irritable in
so
are
pronounced Makola impressively.[Tales of Unrest, Outpost of Progress,"pp. 150-1.) But
the
result
Makola's has
beautiful
a
"
(and profitable) fortune. unconsciously exquisitely and
something He
forseen
evil
to
in
be
may
these
gauged
the
of
treatment
two
the
at
"
Kayerts.
will get fever
I won't
"
them.
touch
to
you
report
v^hite
An
nation resig-
There
is
sardonic
men's
feelings. the
reckoned
has
men,
"
value against the their profound powers greed, not through any ledge psychology but simply through his ordinary know-
value of of
their
of
of
the
sentimentalism
white
That
country. meant
was
his
to
who
men
have
to
come
tion civilisa-
blessings of Could ! intelligence any what
his
the
fact
be
withering ?
more
And
Sarang He for
what
remember "
in
The
End
Conrad
little "
{Youth,
againstthe The
End
doubt
of the
servant
the and
in
death
"
but
what
:
"
such
certitude counted
a
be
would
answer
pleasing.
sardonic
remark
in the whole
into
mouth
of the
works
is
Heart
of Darkness,"
of Mr
Malay
Tether," p. 252.)
But, perhaps, the most of Conrad's
"
old
"
of the Tether
certain of his facts
was
of the
says
put
the
who
has
to
black
announce
Kurtz, that great apostle of progress
enlightenment
: "
CHAPTER
IX
CONRAD
The
thought
very
curious
write
the
in
yet,
(for, with
;
a
it is
Yoshio
Markino's
whereas
compliment the
the
paid
spirit and
regarding earlier
books
is
tongue
is
of
long
it is and
of
annals
because not
one
of
the a
new
its
mere
music
thrilling ISO
the
foreigner It
which
His
originality. of
enlargement altogether of
"
the
another
of in
adventures it is
And
literature.
profound
in
treatment
exciting
most
of
manner
evident
so
older
his our
the
exciting is
music
His
English
romantic, race.
does
which
exotic
is
in
element
prose
strange,
of
subject
foreign
a
Conrad's
instance.
English
music
reason
a
the
outside is
of
That
an
The
praise
Englishman.
an
there
language
our
of
pseans
is considered
quite
substance
analysis.
require
de
tour
perfection.
to
proficiency,
nition recog-
enraptures
quaint.
not
considered
and
same,
technical
is
Markino is
loud
matical gram-
the
English
hear
prose
tiny
against
quaint not
his
extraordinary
any
all,
prose.
of
occasional
an
is
there
Conrad's
militates
English
Conrad
about
to
come
is, after
it
of
a
once
course,
correctness
of
to
do
this, that
fact
at
Pole
a
Of
?
very
correct)
Conrad's
All
the
you
does
thing
yield
simply
a
the
people
because is
but
exception
critics, but
the
how
"
nature
sense,
the
error
force.
style suggests
this
astonishing
most
And
is
of
answer
PROSE
Conrad's
speculation
English real
no
of
S
strains,
mysterious, There
is
a
CONRAD'S
PROSE
Latin, harp-likerhythm
about
intensely individual.
is
realised the and
prose
all the
it is Conrad's that
But,
in the
from
"
details
has
concentrated
language
our
his method.
to
in his
note
A
Eyes
onward
face
This
which,
"
while
keeping
revolution
smoothed
the
For
"
the
untouched.
Conrad's
schools.
of
easier
have
revolutionarychange a change just visible prose of Typhoon, and in full force
"
Western
revolutions, alters
evolution)
English
all this is much
Foster
Amy
Under
mainly
the
between
of deep originality
Conrad's
over
come
the
in his later work.
earlier than has
the
us
I say,
as
of
prose
which
prose
people, I think,
difference
mastery of
from
hides
Conrad's
Few
fundamental
181
the
away has
(or, if
toned
like
the
heart
you
cadence, down
all
like, has
the
style of Conrad's former exuberance. At first glance the later and the earlier Conrad two totallydifferent appear The has men. murky splendour of the one given elastic suavity of the other. subtle and to the way Perhaps I can explain the difference better by a simile. It is as earlier work free were a though Conrad's and a a swinging wire, with glorious sweep deep the same wire, booming note, and his later work, were with a tightened up, and vibrating and humming tense, no
manner,
swift, and
doubt
that
almost
Conrad's
invisible earlier
action.
prose
is
is
There
ately immedi-
more
stimulating and, indeed, there are individual in it which actually are his finest things passages but his later prose is undoubtedly a subtler achievement. "
"
It is fuller
It
is
like
heights His
breathing
after
earlier
walking
prose
exaggerated, temper of
of
but
absolute
concentrated
nervous,
the the
atmosphere of the wooded valleys below.
rare
is sometimes his
later
mastery.
energy.
uncertain, sometimes prose And
has it would
the
uniform
be interest-
JOSEPH
182
ing a
whether
to know
there
other
are
whether
this also
its very
From
question.
but
But
we
remember,
must
the
to
become,
by
as
less
that
and the
is
it were,
recent as
past And
strong.
Conrad
a
be
is in
his
too, that
present from
necessarilybe possible that
evidence
sense
sea,
it must
nature
internal
tinged in a familiar the tropicsand the divide
this
change is not partly due to conception of EngHsh. Of course, influences obviously at work ; but for something is the not count may
accurate
more
CONRAD
its
left
favour.
early work
was
association
the years such
answered, un-
with
gradually
influence
must
then, again, is it
not
deliberatelysetting himself more purely literary,more
the artist is more and impersonal ? For in Conrad more predominant. But, indeed, the change is perhaps a natural development that could have been the beginning foretold from a development inherent I wonder. The in the of the work. nature only certain thing is that there is a change, obvious The more idiosyncraciesof Conrad's style would Books as one expect, in his early work. appear, "
like
Tales
Unrest
and
generally considered
the
of
Youth
bristle
with
what
is
typical Conradesque prose. his most The triolets of sound by which gorgeous effects are words secured, the repetitionof formidable of tropicalforests in our which instil the very breath suggesting lungs, the langorous roll of his sentences the motion of sluggish and steamy rivers, abound ever^'^where. Yes, it is very rich, this early style of Conrad's. It would extent his be interestingto know to what with the sea has helped to create not long association only its spiritin his books, but its very beats within the swell of his periods. For, at its typical,that is what and it is like monotonous a golden rhythm. "
magician in the use ally, dangerous things" adjectives. Just occasionI say, this does result in a feelingof exaggeration,
of those as
"
in
as
and
ebb
sonprous
a
183
PROSE
CONRAD'S He
is
of Darkness
"
flow.
Heart
a
"
and
Return,"
The
generally it is extremely eloquent and has the effect of a symphony. in another his language is musical sense. Moreover will occur theme As in a composition the same every and now again, so it is at times with his stories, in
but
like
illusion of sound The
shall return,
good
and
repetitionof such a clause the Return" produces almost
"
terrible for the
hearts,too
veiled
for
the
evil,to
Master
and
268
of men,
Creator
of
impulses. {Tales
and
of doubts pp.
timid eyes
Inscrutable
the
to
ever,
Return,"
"The
of Unrest,
sentence
same
:
of
secret
the
intervals
The
"The
of
out
at
repeat
refrain.
slow
a
this
as
will
he
which
different) (slightly
254-) This At for
is
its best the
instance.
just one
sheer
false note
early styleof magnificence of
this
dies
away
before
Conrad's
and
the
For
heights.
of beautiful and
ironic do
cannot at this The
that
the prose
it is endowed
of Conrad not
glowing descriptions of
efforts of
romantic
untamed,
The
its achievement.
imagination. It is in tropicalnights and primeval forests,
and
is unmatched
alone
of
a
nature
vast
rises to supreme with
the
poetry of melancholy
language' but with a sort is strangely moving. philosophy which than better give a few examples. Look
I
:
"
far-off blackness
ahead
of the
ship was
like another
the starless night seen through the starry night of the earth beyond the created universe, night of the immensities low fissure in its appallingstillness through a revealed "
CONRAD
JOSEPH
184
in
glittering sphere
the
{Typhoon, Or
"
Typhoon/'
this
at
which
of
the
is the
earth
kernel.
32.)
p.
:
"
coming out into the clear night as if alive peopled the emptiness of the sky. They glittered, the all the running ship on above sea ; they surrounded intense than the eyes of a staringcrov/d, and sides ; more of men. inscrutable as the souls (The Nigger of the as multitude
A
of
stars
"Narcissus/' p. 41.) Or
this
at
She
voices
head, and
her
of the
world,
as
she
if her heard
ears
had
beyond
been
the
opened of
rampart
yesterday'sgale breakingon the beach and solemn monotonous vibrations,as if all the earth bell. been a tolling (Typhoon, To-morrow," p. 294.) the
wall
sea
"
dropped
the
to
:
with
swell
of
"
had
Or at this
:
"
and faint ; vast pov/erfuland gentle,a murmur of trembling leaves, of stirringboughs, ran the murmur the over through the tangled depths of the forests,ran of the lagoon,and between the water the starry smoothness pileslapped the slimy timber once with a sudden splash. A air touched the two faces and men's breath of warm passed A
murmur
with
on
a
mournful
sound
sigh of the dreaming Lagoon," p. 290.)
uneasy
Or
this
at
breath
a
"
earth.
loud
and
short
like
(Talesof Unrest,
"
an
The
: "
between
crossed obHquely islets, the anchoring-groundof sailing-ships, through half swung circle in the shadow of a hill, then a ranged close to a ledge of foaming reefs. The Arab, standing up aft, recited aloud the prayer of travellers He invoked the favour of by sea. the Most on High upon that journey,implored His blessing She
men's
was
toil and
on
pounded
steamer
and
headed
far
astern
of
the
secret
in the the
two
dusk
small
of their hearts ; the purposes of the Strait ; the calm water
pilgrimship a screw-pilelighthouse.
planted by unbelievers wink faith.
Of
its eye
her
at
of
{Lord Jim,
course,
and
could
But
where
prose
only
be
on
if in derision of her
flame, as
to
of
errand
14-15.)
pp.
like this is open used safelyby
write
shoal, seemed
treacherous
a
it is successful To
185
PROSE
CONRAD'S
objections
to many
very great master. is it is tremendous. That a
descriptionsis like creating for language, like giving it the attributes new use a of several senses. Perhaps it is not strictlyproper, but that does not matter as long as the result is what Where it is. does feel the strain of such a style one of a is in its ordinary application to the purposes whole book and also in its tendency towards tion exaggerain and portentousness not only in itself but and later the emotions it depicts. Conrad's scenes style is, in the main, a far more supple instrument. the tragic For it conceals a spiritof irony to whom would of his early sentences forbidding. appear sweep it is wonderful to note And how, in his descriptionsof darkness has the slowly faded into light. scenery, The Heart of heavy gloom of the descriptionsin has Darkness yielded to the tender fancy of the With descriptionsin Freya of the Seven Islands." the changing of the point of view the prose has become delicate, more sustained, and more more finelytuned. But I admit that in making a comparison one tends It is not at all my it at either end. to overdo opinion point.
my
such
"
"
"
that
Conrad's
it is not its
earlier
is all of
constantlyalteringin
choicest, which
vanished
which more
some
one
way
or
that
other.
At
genre or
of lost illusions
is in the recreation
or
of his latest work flexibility of his first period. But richness it is of the atmomonotonous sphere by reason
pictures,it has
joinedto the soft always somewhat been
prose
surrounds
the
it.
Conrad's
imaginativelybeautiful
than
prose
has
in such
never
stories
CONRAD
JOSEPH
186 "
the
shy
The
and
Youth,"
as
of its
notes
the
fragrance of
and
fail
people early work
while
they
the
in the is
why
realise
many
Conrad's
all the
magic of its general impression wealth of language.
the
that
but
glamour so
of
sensitiveness
do
it is true
Narcissus,"
"
That
scene.
realise
to
But
colour.
Nigger of the beauty are drowned
overpowering imagery and in its broad effect. is quite different His later work And we begin to feel this difference in books that, period Nostromo properly speaking, form a middle Secret The and Agent. The prose, in particular,in is written is almost perfect. Beautiful which Nostromo
is
of
one
"
it is not
full of nuance,
and
Western
Eyes
than
more
any
the
prose of Tales of Unrest. self-conscious in Conrad. the potent veritability,
In
ironic
it is the
prose
of Under
purely
romantic
fact, its prose is the least
It is canvas
designed to create, with of a huge panorama ;
hardly falters in its stride. It is in Nostromo that the most style appears originalityof Conrad's unique and most unapproachable. For it has neither and
it
the
mannerism
of the
later
of
the
earlier books
No, it is like
ones.
flowing assuredly into all the Let me of the land. give two meaning : my
nor
the
attitude
river
flowingcalmly, complicated interstices quotations to represent a
"
At
night the body
of the
the
advancing higher up
clouds
the whole quietgulfbelow with an impenetrable sky smothers be can darkness, in which the sound of the fallingshowers there. heard beginning and ceasingabruptly now here, now "
Indeed,
these
cloudy nights are
proverbialwith
the
seamen
Sky, land, along the whole west coast of a great continent. and sea disappeartogetherout of the world when the Placido the as saying is ^goes to sleep under its black poncho. "
"
The
few
shine vastness
stars
feebly as your
left
into
ship
below
the
seaward
the
mouth
of
floats
unseen
a
under
frown
black your
of
the
cavern.
feet, her
vault In
its
sails
188
JOSEPH
CONRAD
that
language a foreignlanguage has given his prose a totallynew significance)though I would except from that the earlier part of The Nigger of the Narcissus," which does show to to me seem definitely the "
,
"
influence of
the
of
Narcissus
of
beginning remind
(To
I will
in
the
of
this
mention
in
Conrad
on
in
touch
certain
a
this
on
from
Flaubert
of
Flaubert's
there
mind
criticism
November
just
he
had it is
moreover,
Conrad's
romantic,
so
that
gained his knowledge Indeed, considering how
is between
(both
part
has
crowd.
managing a sympathy
much
Conrad
that
mood. my
very
Rhythm,
And,
reading Salam?nb6.)
the
at
that Conrad then informed me 1912, and before writing The Nigger of the "Narcissus" finished
to
little sentences
fancy
mere
I made
that
forecastle
Hamilcar
sharp
Flaubert
is not
here
article I wrote
an
These
the
similar
a
of
garden
Salammho.
that
prove
sailors in
filled in with
exactly
one
The
are
barbarians
the
in
Flaubert.
mind
and
pessimistic,and
admires sardonic) and considering how truly Conrad Flaubert (see Some Reminiscences), and considering that almost the only obvious resemblance in Conrad's is to
prose
fetched
to
strongest the
the
in
whole,
are,
I
that
say
of
prose
the
Conrad.
think, very
of
influence Not
is at all like
do
Flaubert, it is that
Conrad's
alike
that in
far
very
Flaubert
Flaubert's, but much
not
is the
prose, their
their
on
aims
general
tendency. Conrad's from prose.
and
early easier
And
to
that
is, of
course,
easier
fix in the
memory
than
prose
is, partly because
its
to
his
quote later
romantic
the purple patch, quality is always tending towards partly because it is full of strikingmannerisms, partly because its rhythm is more transparentlymusical, and its appeal is altogether more to the partly because
PROSE
CONRAD'S than
emotions I have
doubt
no
the
book earlier
is the
in the
of
majority
the
style.
chapters of quotations are from
regret it,
I
works.
fabric of his later
close-knit
that
189
this
various
form
it does
because
the
impression,but I cannot help it. If one that sure (and I am give quotations from Conrad must give quotations if one writes on Conrad) one wrong
a
is to one
has
,
to choose
the
whole
aim
the
such
books
part of
their
context.
at
in
Under
Western
whole
the
method,
whole
I
that
praise "
or
to
bear
of
the
that
later
Conrad's
that
prose
is
reveals
late
show,
But
that
too
from
these
paragraphs early ones.
will understand
are
removal
from
quote
choose
influence
of Conrad
do
Chance
Eyes
body
When
nearly always
least, the
student
of
I
the
of the later
as
much
books
And
styleis againstthat temptation in outstanding in patches. The sentences
be
to
suitable.
most
a
the
form
itself,
all its subtle
beauty, only to the careful and the imaginative and mainly in relation to the whole book. I have However, as given quotations here from his early and middle periods, I will give one quotation I will not give a description,for his from his latest. descriptions,even though they do differ very much, all tend to be romantic, but I will give a conversation the the beginning of the first conversation between Smile of Captain and the impure Jacobus in "A "
Fortune
By
"
:
"
in
half-pastseven
inside the harbour
the
last and
morning, moored
the
within
ship being then
long stone'sfrom stock of philosophywas throw the quay, nearly my I was exhausted. dressinghurriedlyin my cabin when the steward came trippingin with a morning suit over his arm. head engaged Hungry, tired,and depressed, with my stuck together by too much inside a white shirt irritatingly heave with that round starch, I desired him peevishlyto I wanted breakfast." to get ashore as soon as possible. at
"
a
JOSEPH
190 "
CONRAD
Yes, Sir.
Ready at eight,Sir. There's a gentleman from the shore waiting to speak to you, Sir," This I dragged statement was curiously slurred over. the shirt violentlyover head and emerged staring. my I cried. he .? he So early ! Who's What does "
"
"
?
want
On
has
one
sea
pick up
to
existence.
peculiaremphasis
the
of
the
ditions con-
Every little event I
novelty.
greatly
was
for
no reason early caller ; but there was foolish. look so particularly ? ask for the name I inquired in a
that
surprisedby steward
to
Didn't
you
"
the
utterly unrelated
an
first has
my
in from
coming of
at
"
"
stern
tone. "
His
"
Mr
with at
so
say
?
once
stout
cloth
had
scuttled
already laid
was
dazzlingwhite.
and
was
dressingand
the
assurance
visitor's dared
cuddy by "
So
would
with
be
afraid you
am
"
apologetically. We
Through
room.
glimpse table
the "
on
of
tall,
a
which
the
table-cloth,stainless
in
cup will have been
door, that
closed a
time
was
I
In return
moment.
hurry reached His
a
have
the
him no
was
givehim
I would
couldn't
far
there
that
my a
harbour
a
;
had
I
deep, quietundertone.
say
I
door
the
of
out
good. courteously through
shouted
I
"
feeling. Why
of
"
standingin
man
facedly. shame-
surprisedthan
loudly,more
change
momentarily opened
the
"
I exclaimed
total
a
fellow
the
But
"
mumbled
believe,"he
I
Jacobus,
Jacobus ! but
ever, you
name's
my
me own.
in
the He
of coffee
presently. a poor breakfast,"I cried sixty-onedays at sea, you
know." A
quietlittlelaugh, with
"
a
That'll be all
rightCaptain,"
this,words, intonation,the glimpsed in the cuddy, had an acter, attitude of the man unexpected chara something friendly in it propitiatory.Andjmy did this call diminished not thereby. What surprisewas ? Was it the sign of some dark mean designagainstmy was
his
All
answer.
"
innocence
commercial
While
we
were
?
taking our
seats
round
the
table
some
disconnected
words
panionway
reached
to
down
come
to
of
altercation
an
interview me,
in the
going on
com-
stranger apparently wanted
A
ear.
my
191
PROSE
CONRAD'S
the steward
and
opposing
was
him. "
can't
You
"
Why
"
The
can't I ?
"
"
That's
"
I've had
"
Oh,
fair.
not
do with
nothing to
deck."
on
"
let
You
going
He'll be
Captain is at breakfast, I tell you. presently,and you can speak to him
shore
on
him."
see
that."
ought
Everybody yes, you have. You let that fellow
the
have
to
same
"
chance. The
steward
the
flushed
he
"
with
that
when
he
a
was
dishes
puttingthe
The
lost.
I
rest
down.
came
mulatto on
having
person
the
but
"
I
he
looked
flustered.
After
can't
looked
he
table he remained
something
done
afraid of
gettinginto a expressionof Mr Burns's
face
was
reallyextraordinary.
had
stung
the
mate
it.
over
scrape as
The
looked
he
sideboard
the
used
by
clever
too
say
by
lackadaisical air of indifference he had
cessfully, repulsedsuc-
been
to
and
half
was
contemptuous from
him
imagine what
I couldn't
assume
to
me
bee
new
now.
Captain being silent,nobody else cared to speak, I was is the way in ships. And as saying nothing simply dumb I had because been made by the splendour of the I had entertainment. sea-breakfast, expected the usual of shore feast whereas I beheld spread before us a veritable plainly did not provisions: eggs, sausages, butter which dish of potatoes. Danish from a a come tin,cutlets,and even The
It
three
was
weeks
contemplated himself of
as
a
a
them
man
of
since
I
with
interest,and
had
human,
seen
a
real,live potato.
Jacobus disclosed thing homely sympathies,and someMr
thought-reader.
"
Try them. Captain,"he encouraged me undertone. They are excellent. Grown They look that," I admitted. I suppose."
in
"
"
Oh,
no,
friendly
a
"
"
"
imported.
Those
grown
here
on
would
the
be
island, more
expensive." I
was
I
grievedat
the
of ineptitude
the conversation.
Were
192
CONRAD
JOSEPH
these
to prominent and wealthy merchant he made thought the simpUcity with which
topicsfor
the
discuss ?
I
himself
home
about
at to
days one
who
at
sea, out
has
never
of
comes
before
seen
of conversation
in
Of
raised
He
managed "
look
to
"
time
then
! You
Oh
It
eyelids distinctlyat me, and somehow rather more sleepythan before. with owners' plained. instructions,"I exmy
him
letter,of
his
raised
then,
brother's
My
in
known
say
Oh
this
a
!
"
But
I
different person. of
part
no
I asked He
was
...
I
But
am
well
probably
You've
world.
the
me
that
hope
voice when
in my
pleasure. pocket leisurely.
very
struck
he
the
owed
I
without
but
too
brother."
my
surpriseappeared inside
an
to
"
"
?
course
eyebrows
thinkingof
be
what, then,
to
reachingfor
"
heard I took
in every
he extended
card
a
Alfred
I've
His
A
by never
contract
heard
will be very
('TwixiLand
and
thick business
on
of
you,"
well
Sea,
moderate
"A
dealer
salt and
Provisions
Ships in
harbour
not
brusquely. him.
abandon
he breathed satisfied," Smile
"
card,
terms
I said
did
Ernest
was
etc., etc.
canvas,
low-pitchedassurance
You
me.
"
fresh,oils,paints,rope, victualled
to
Jacobus the other ! of ship's stores description
I lived !
"
their
had
had
must
civil
than
you
I concluded.
he
for me,
was
more
"
pointof caUing on
a
On the contrary particularemotion. as absolutelyimperturbable.
any
as
made
have
have
You
that
By
"
his
accordance
In
"
I would
two,"
or
were
?
course,
day
a
island
an
(besidessugar) its topics earth, its gossip,
of the
crumb
talk
to
one
in
little town
What
?
is
what
suddenly, after sixty-one
one
on
but
;
totallyunknown
a
the interests of that
"
attractive
rather
man
a
a
of
Fortune,"
out
pp.
quietly. 5-13.)
of the necessity this is a long quotation one longest I have given for it is difficult to suggest the later style in a short specialquality of Conrad's that the most odd to say seem specimen. It may Of
"
"
CONRAD'S of Conrad's
finished
of
snatches, but
impervious into
the
and
very
PROSE hardest
is the
prose
193
quote in finish gives it an
its very
course,
uniform substance
to
coating,welds
it,so
of the
The
story.
to
speak,
Conrad
of
all the constituents phase is a writer in whom of art have only one final aspect the aspect of perfect balance in the complete representationof the desired effect. That is why the undue emphasis of an impressive into the and originalpersonality has matured aloof ironic but ever perspective of an powerful the
latest
"
artist. "-^It
is
singular thing
a
changes
which
Conrad's
I
reason
to
to
consider
the
remarkable
It undergone. is like a snake sloughing its skin and appearing, at each metamorphosis, with a covering of rarer texture. see
no
final in its Conrad like
is
prose
that
suppose
has
Chance
is any
stylethan was Almayer's Folly or constantly shifting his ground"
Flaubert
that.
in
His
prose
is the
more
Nostromo. he
servant
is not of
a
livelyand unbiased imagination than Flaubert's. It has passed with it through all the phases of romance and sardonic philosophy, and it accompanies it always strides. For on a level equal to its swift, incalculable one's prose more no adequately represents the changes of its author's It possesses, indeed, something mind. equivalent to the changeless qualities of Conrad's his way art of approaching a subject,his view of the more
"
of prose,
purposes
within
the
respects
his fundamental
eloquence
it has
altered
of as
his
reticence But
phrases.
Conrad
has
concealed
in
altered.
other The
rhythm of the first books has died away into Of course, the finished there precisionof the latest. is always a rhythm in Conrad's but it is no prose the as longer the obvious rhythm of melody so much It is the same delicate rhythm of harmony. pen that musical
"
is
CONRAD
JOSEPH
194
it is
writing,but
a
checked
pen
and
schooled
in
mid-career.
certain
and
regret "
yet
For
writer.
command
cadence
the
over
the
the
of
"
the
harmony
in
reallymore is
Flaubert
value,
to
his
a
stylist
a
"
whom
people do
because
is
Conrad
later
Why
terious," mys-
of
music
sombre
too
he
It is the later Conrad tropicallands. individuality,less apparent at first sight, is
whose
the
"
immense,"
of
darkness
and
a
frequently in the envisagesthe splendour
almost
in which
rolls of sound
three
its
is echoed
wilderness
a
change was, decidedlygiven us a more has more early Conrad the of language than over vocabulary tends towards
"
the
filled with
am
that
see
style. His repetitionof such words as impenetrable," and
subtleties
I
Conrad
I do
has
and
perhaps, inevitable brilliant
later
of the
thinking
On
with
the
stylistin a
man
every sentence realise that not is neither
prose
very
whom
to
For
tradition.
great
a
in which
way
has
word
every its
significance. fullyis simply
has more
eccentric
mannered.
nor
crudity,which certainlylurks in his earlier prose, touch there is no of the florid here. has entirelygone And when, It is absolutely compressed and finished.
The
"
as
stories
three
in the
the
joined to
romantic
Land
of 'Twixt
spiritof
his
Sea, this is
and
earlier work,
the
buoyancy and ease. the resiHency of the finest steel spring the It has resiliencyand the responsiveness. that Conrad's be no doubt there can I think early style has created a theory about his style in general
result is
a
prose
of most
delicious
"
that
prevents people realisingthe
extent
It is a pity, for prose has altered. Those class of reader certain away.
prose
of Swift
likely to
admire
or
Thackeray the
earUer
as
their
Conrad
to
it must
model
his
keep take
who
but
which
are
a
the not
they might
CONRAD
JOSEPH
196 in the world
seemed
would
but
equally you describing the Indian
to
come
end.
an
{Lord Jim,
p.
346
"
mine.)
italicsare
the
to
find any
not
of the
voyage
like those
passages
pilgrim ship
across
the
Ocean.
I had to opening chapter of this book theory of stylein relation speak shortly of Conrad's to that of some of his contemporaries and recent decessors prethere which is reallyso and I made a remark applicableto his whole prose that I will repeat it here is essentiallydignifiedand his work quite untinged by the pettinessof conscious self-approval." How absolutely true that is of his prose ! It is that,
In
the
"
"
...
combined at
with
optimism
vague
I
For form
is
England,
the
of
such
Some
write
"
of them
with
in
have
only in
puts him
said with due
the
bility. responsiof
distinguished sense current
have
we
we
as
of Arabia
Doughty
but
literature.
are
we
In
living writers
many
talent, but
excellent
stylists and
is not
a
thing
for instance,
high and
the
that
know
rarest
This
reviewer
a
force, that
creative
step in the front rank.
one
of
his vast
have
very
very
few
little known.
obscure
papers, others, like of Green Dcse?ta, the Hudson
astically enthusiDouglas of Syren Land, are admired by a few and ignored by every one else. No doubt Conrad, James, and Hardy are known (though Hardy, apart from his introductory chapters the
Mansions,
and
his
peasant conversations,
but stylist), the
in art
so
far
as
of prose
is often
a
and they are stylists they are probably
very
bad
do understand distrusted.
distinguishedwriter, as apart from being a fanciful or preciouswriter, is to be, in England, almost is really the tiuth of entirelyunappreciated. That To
be
the
matter.
a
Though
Conrad's
individualitylies transparently
CONRAD'S
in
the
be
of
for
the
It
artist
the
in
his
the
earlier
The
end
who
itself
in
it
regards
not
of
trace
a
mannerisms
is
in
of
the
prostitution, artistic
his
later
attention
appreciated Flauhert's
its
prose
the
in
quite of
may
not
extraordinary is
now
prose, so
appreciated.
For
generally be
value
Its
order.
is
of
is
prose.
may
but
reason,
very
artist
There
race.
attract
style
truer
different
fiction
the
upon
Conrad's
Conrad's
egoism.
this at
in
in
of
and
rarer
mannerism
prose,
for
a
prose
whereas
of
that
step
one
motive,
lacking
looks
who
preciosity
are
preciosity
form
as
of
picture,
single-mindedness
artist
but
books
ulterior
"
an
This
story.
the
eccentricity,
has the
not
of
characters
though
one.
or
prose.
his
(as
even
picture,
heightened
a
is
unity
"
smartness
Conrad's
great
whole
case
obscures
may
either
the
197
it
yet
prose
to
seldom
itself,
as
his
always
nearly
he
as
of
subordinate
are) is
line
every
PROSE
a
mere
quite
and
larly particu-
much
present it
course
later
pure
will
on,
be
just
X
CHAPTER
In
and
now was
of
past chapters of
the
all the
the
the
reader
Conrad's
effect
whole
understand
we
must
which
the
upon
The
question
It
points. words,
of
obscured
often
too
of less
is not
influence
but
my
in
a
by
to
of
his
artist
Conrad
a
must
in
is
a
good
repeat
his
very
but
a
writer
a
a
writer
be
of
attitude
be
distinguished
his
vision.
greater artist
is
individual
repeat
to
strain
to
in
be
may
Moreover,
redundancy. certain
not
he
in its
artist
an
perfect
but
prose
in value
than
than
words
work
any
itself
thing
may
completed
proper
over-emphasis
an
novelist
technique
opinion, 198
makes
balance
and
The
his
what
Again,
requires
in
result.
it is better
through
work.
total
entire
character
a
its in
importance
Conrad
the
to
nor
to
scheme.
the
the
appeal
have
not
is, for instance,
synonyms.
rhythm
does
of
of
chapter
a
which
books
Conrad's and
is neither
underlies
encloses
that
final
the
impress
story by
or
proportions
gives
There
art.
the
his
subordinates
part
novel
any
perspective
a
is
it that
structure
individual
to
to
that
unity
some
up
both
had
which
sense
every
it in
For
thing.
that
gather
have
It
artist.
regard
of artistic
properly
see
I
discuss,
to
as
I will
in
atmosphere
"
had
Conrad
chapter
sense
work
To
of
his
and
of
instance,
For
threads.
the
this
I have
book
this
subject
In
inevitable.
characters on
the
then,
ARTIST
AS
CONRAD
That
is
than,
say,
artistic inart
his
towards not
the
merely why,
in
Henry
CONRAD For
James. into
and
artistic
novel
a
by
eternal, subtle
These
be
tea-cups, cannot
with
and
consequently James
Henry
end-all
his
be, it
may
triviality.
these
in
storms
I
And
of art.
art
skilful
However
conversations,
the
actual
more
a
its air of boundless
through
one
199
channels.
natural
more
oppresses
James,
Henry
falls
ARTIST
is concerned
Conrad
than
world
AS
think
over-emphasis in of a of the importance of shades Henry James' mind well, not peculiarlyinexpressibleand spiritualkind much of their individual so importance as of their importance in comparison to that of other emotions. It is as easy to miss the realistic effect through overdetail as through want of perception. If you look too closelyat a picture it is as meaningless as if you look at it from too far away. Broadly speaking Conrad is feel that
does
one
it arises
from
an
"
artist because
an
alone
not
careful
more more
is
he
to life.
but
to art
in his
It is
a
invincible a
that
includes
is
For
one
is,no
doubt,
reality Conrad
that
this in
stress
on
fundamental,
spiritof
tion in rela-
impersonality,all
has
lay
manner.
as
romance
to
and
creates
realist
a
artistic
of his
The
curious
as
powers,
had
one
beliefs. and
rare
I have
point
For
once.
in
of his
co-ordination
Flaubert
Conrad
detail, but
effectively.For it is most impressive. All his
the
in focus
his work
sees
his
a
more
than
one
of his
is realistic
work
it is
view.
realism
which
but
which
of its chief assets
realism This of falsehood. positive horror air of sincerityand encloses all his writing with an other modern distinction which tone no gives it a Let me work seems quote two short quite to possess. to Some Reminiscences show, in paragraphs from has
a
"
"
Conrad's
own
whose .
.
words, his idea first virtue
is the
of the
limits traced
by
the
realityof
novelist
: "
understanding of the his time to the play of
exact
.
true
200
JOSEPH
his
invention.
has
past,
a
the
before
mindful
that
of
sentiment, in without
from
seductive
most
the
earth, which
which
alone
it,such
the
form
feels
able immut-
remained
asceticism
that life,
naked
one
as
and
reveries I have
interior
sobrietyof
conceives
one
as
Inspirationcomes
history,a future,not from the cold {Some Reminiscences,p. i68.)
a
heaven. Even
CONRAD
of
of
truth, such be
it,can
rendered
{Some Reminiscences, p. 194.)
shame.
leading out of this realism we notice a significant his short stories. It is this, that thing about stories and sketches. never mere they always are in so Even there is a slight a tale as "II Conde realism at work to create convincingly the illusion of through imagination, upwards veracity. It works of detail. into an into grasp atmosphere, downwards And
"
For
life-like
of
of
realism
the
Conrad's
actuality without
it that
gives
art
which
art
is
so
touch
apt
to
degenerate into artifice. realism And (a realism arising,also, from Conrad's I have as said) is his dramatic tinged by romance, of certainly think, is one intensity which, I most the secrets of his genius. By his dramatic intensity his marvellous I of mean throwing his power his work, of making his descripown vitalityover tions, his crises, his whole picture, thrilling.This the of tragedy servant dramatic intensity is more be than of irony. Conrad, indeed, must placed And the in saying amongst great tragic writers. of tragic this, I am referringequally to his power "
climax
and
his
here of
in my
of the
of
the
murder
in
tragic
An
Outcast
of Verloc
deafening
in The
of Razumov
an
of
fate
of climax
power
Think, for
mind.
Willems
of
it is his
But
character.
grasp
in
relation that
to
I have
instant, of the murder
the
Islands
(pp. 383-4), Secret Agent (pp.372-3), in Under Western Eyes
AS
CONRAD
(pp. 359-65),of (pp. 379-82),of (pp. 423-5),and of
and
Hirsch
full
torturing of
the
suicide
latter
this
close
the
of
those
book.
this
are though the}/'
stupendous
last
in Nosfromo
Hirsch Decoud
of
I will
not
201
ARTIST
in
descriptionfrom This
short.
which
passages the
quote
Nostromo
description in
Nostromo
is the
first
:
"
working himself up to the rightpitch of ferocity. His fine eyes squinted slightly clapped his hands ; a ; he bare-footed a : orderly appeared noiselessly corporal,with his bayonet hanging on his thigh and a stick in his hand. colonel The his orders, and presentlythe miserable gave found him Hirsch, pushed in by several soldiers, frowning awfully in a broad armchair, hat on head, knees wide apart, arms akimbo, masterful, imposing, irresistible, haughty, terrible. subHme, tied behind his back, had been Hirsch, with his arms bundled For many violentlyinto one of the smaller rooms. hours he remained apparently forgotten,stretched lifelessly From that solitude, full of despairand terror, the floor. on with kicks and blows, passive, sunk he was torn out brutally, He in hebetude. listened to threats and admonitions, and his usual answers afterwards made to questions,with his He
chin
was
sunk
swaying When
he
his
on a
breast, his hands
little in front
of
forced
hold
was
to
and Sotillo, up
his
never
head, by
his
back,
looking up. of
means
a
a chin, his eyes drops of perspirationas big vacant, trance-like stare, and down the dirt,bruises, and scratches as peas were seen hailing of his white face. Then they stopped suddenly. Sotillo looked at him in silence. Will you depart from he asked. obstinacy, you rogue ? Already, a rope your end whose fastened Hirsch's wrists,had to Senor one was
bayonet-point proddmg
him
tied behind
under
had
the
"
"
been
thrown
over
end, waiting.
He
a
beam, and made
Sotillo
three
no
answer.
made
a
soldiers held His
heavy
the
other
lower
lip
jerked up sign. He was off his feet,and a yellof despairand agony into burst out the room, the of the great buildings, filled the passage rent air outside,caused every soldier of the camp along the shore of the officers in to look up at the windows, started some hung stupidly.
202
JOSEPH
the
CONRAD
hall
babbling excitedly,with looked gloomily at settingtheir lips,
shining eyes the floor.
followed had Sotillo, by the soldiers, the landing presented arms. sentry on
screaming all
alone
behind
the
others,
;
left the
The
room.
Hirsch
went
on
while jalousies,
half -closed
the
of the harbour, made sunshine,reflected from the water an ever-runningripple of lighthigh up on the wall. He with upliftedeyebrows and a wide open mouth screamed full of teeth comical. incrediblywide, black, enormous, In the still burning air of the windless afternoon he made the waves of his agony travel as far as the O.S.N. Company's offices. Captain Mitchell on the balcony, trying to make what out went on generally,had heard him faintly but distmctly,and the feeble and appallingsound lingeredin his "
"
after
ears
had
He that
he
had
driven
been
off
the
balcony
consultations
with
there had
pervading the whole be long and awful
would
entered
the
I
longer.
That
with
But
of the
in
door,
reality,saw
reflection of the
sun
carried in
"
The
set
his
where
when
hidden
Jewish !
he
the
he
sentry
truth to
went
the
on
wait in and
now
?
much came
landing presented unsteady
black, venomous, nothing at all,being merely soul
a
"
in
went
and
it ?
child
of
is it ?
Where
Confess
slightquiver passed from
time
times
whip, sword, horsetable,to ask
the
afford
not
times Some-
of
gloomy hatred,
once
A
more.
slunk
out,
soldier
shuttingthe
noise.
Speak, thou silver,I say
limbs, but man
during
fury.
lightedcandles
two
without
rogues A
had
Several
a
within
soul
irresolution, avarice,and The
the
got in return,
and
glance,which,
he could
just it. Every
was
slam
a
arms,
door
silences.
torture-chamber,
wait."
can
edifice.
empty
"
?
the
times
several
were revolver,and field-glass lying on forced calmness, Will you speak
with
out
cheeks.
restlesslyabout, held contradictoryorders in
walked
his officers, gave
this shrill clamour
No
blanched
afternoon.
Sotillo,irritable, moody,
he
with
indoors
retreated
up
the
devil !
The
silver !
have
you
foreign
Where "
or
the
taut
rope
from
the
racked
business body of Serior Hirsch, enterprising the heavy beam Esmeralda, hung under per-
the
204
JOSEPH
immediately proceed the
His the
of his uniform
noise
half turn, and
this
Nostromo,
the
gun
from
lancha
him.
but "
"
did
you
know
Ramirez
the
in in
thief of his honour,
the
He
spot.
grasping the
hand
carrying off
not
to
seem
Nostromo
you
have
killed ?
"
near
for
the ever
stopped
up,
of her
aware
calmness, she cried
forced
whom
be
stood, his
barrel
shore, Linda, coming
left the
losingher
when, Do
the
He
final
paragraphs thrillingparagraphs
stirred from
not
After had
the
fired at
his
her
before
murmurs
"
he
had
"
most
grounded,
muzzle.
of awed
a
:
moment
GiorgioViola old
the
of Conrad
From
in the midst
rest
a
second
is the
perhaps
the whole
pulledhimself together.
he
shuffling.(Nostromo,pp. 379-82.)
uneasy
And
tc
Passingthe
itself.
swaying imperceptibly,made
after
came
breast,
slowly here and there, checked the stiff body of the late Sefior
it fell ; and
where
into his
swords
asserted
his face
over
glance turned
truculent
Hirsch, merchant, and
plunge their
to
side of his character
brazen
sleeve
CONRAD
presence,
out
he answered
the
vagabond." White, staringinsanely at her father,Linda laughed in his face. After time he joined her faintlyin a deepa toned and distant echo of her peals. Then she stopped, and the old man spoke as if startled and
"
cried
He
out
in
Gian' Battista's voice."
son
his gun fell from extended for a moment The
it
remained opened hand, but the arm if still supported. Linda seized as
roughly. "
He
You
are
too
old to
let her lead him.
understand. On
Come
the threshold
into the
house."
he stumbled
heavily, daughter. His
nearly coming to the ground togetherwith his of the last few days, had been like the excitement,his activity flare of a dying lamp. He caught at the back of his chair. In son Gian' Battista's voice," he repeated in a severe "
tone.
"
Linda into his
I heard
helped ear
him him
"
Ramirez" into
the
the miserable
"
chair,and, bending low, cried
CONRAD "
old
The
ARTIST
205
killed Gian' Battista."
have
You
AS
smiled
man
thick moustache.
hi
under
Women
strange fancies.
had "
is the
Where
child ?
Bible
could
observed
bear
understand
Give
the
me
Linda
that
he
had
what
laid
leather cover,
him.
at
open
filled her
He
him.
over
came
done
and
;
He
incomprehensible.
said
He
She
would her
to
even
morrow." to-
with
feelingof pity.
unbearable
change
remained
thing difficulty
look
to
almost
an
the
whole
"
the
a
not
with
and
never
night with
half the
of the
"
She
had
sit up
to
trating pene-
dimness
unwonted
then averted her e3''es. moment, We shall talk of her is asleep," she said.
hesitated
She
terror
used
he
the
him.
before
Linda "
which
the
asked, surprisedat
he
air and
chilliness of the
lamp by
"
the
with
book."
on
the
table
the
the
given him
Bible
closed ages
in
volume
by
ago
an
its
worn
Englishman
in Palermo. "
child
The
to
be
protected," he said,in
a
strange,
voice.
mournful
his chair
Behmd noise.
had
Suddenly
Linda
she
wrung
started
for
her
the
hands, crying without door.
He
heard
her
move. "
Where
are
you
going ?
"
he asked.
Hght," she answered, turning round to look at him balefuUy. The light! Si" duty." Very upright,white-haired,leonine,heroic in his absorbed he felt in the pocket of his red shirt for the spectacles quietness, He After a long on. put them given him by Doria Emilia. period of immobility he opened the book, and from on high looked through the glasses at the small print in double A rigid, columns. stern expressionsettled upcn his features with a slightfrown, as if in response to some gloomy thought But he detached his eyes never or unpleasant sensation. the book from while he swayed forward, gently,gradually, "
To
the
"
till his
snow-white
wooden
clock ticked
head
rested
the
upon
methodicallyon
the
open
pages.
white-washed
A
wall,
JOSEPH
206
CONRAD
growing slowly cold,the Garibaldino lay alone, rugged, undecayed, like an old oak uprooted by a treacherous gust
and
of wind.
lightof
The the
lost
of
treasure
of
sheen
Great
the
San
the
night without
a
peacefullyabove
burned
Isabel
mine.
Tome
lantern
stars, the
Like yellow lighttowards the far horizon. the shiningpanes, Linda, crouchingin the upon
of
Below, from
foot
passingboat
a
!"
Linda
Linda
The
a
beam
a
black
speck gallery,
outer
drooping in
moon,
the
radiantly. of the cliff, the regularsplash of oars stood up in ceased, and Dr Monygham her
at
sheets.
stern "
the
at
rail.
the
on
board, looked
western
the
head
her
rested
out
sent
bluish
the
Into
stood
"
Is he
dead
"
Yes,
my
answered
She
up. "
Linda
she
cried,bending over. coming round," the girl. I am poor Pull to the beach," he said below. ?
doctor
"
from
!"
voice.
recognisedthe
had
"
his head.
shouted,throwing back
he
to
the
rowers.
Linda's
with
of the lantern
she "
It is I who
and
white
She
will
into "
one
!
I
successes,
ring
over.
whispered,with moonlight. I "
In
aloud
her
understand.
cannot
!
for
miserably
a
face
!
as
set
I !
Only
pretty face. But
I
shall
"
cry.
Gian'
Battista ! "
that
true
from
cry
Punta
of
Mala
heard police-galley,
in the
pulling round
It his head. pass over the greatest, the most
name
all.
Never
as
if collecting her strength to as still, her pain, bewilderment and despair fidelity,
Monygham,
Dr
the
head
her
light though
silent and
great
Never
she
killed
understand.
all her
throw
in
marble
forget thee,
stood
She
herself
the
uprighton
raised above
arms
you,"
forgetthee.
never
of
loved
as
I cannot
the
her throw
goingto
were
itself
figuredetached
black
love to
was
another
enviable,the and
of Nostromo's most
griefthat
Azuera
and
sinister
seemed
to
to
the
away
horizon,overhung by a big white cloud of solid silver, the geniusof the magnificent shininglike a mass the dark Gulf containing Capataz de Cargadores dominated and love. his conquests of treasure (Nosiromo, pp. 477-80
brightline
of
the
.
CONRAD I would
AS
ARTIST
207
like to
point out one thing that these two in common, moving descriptions have strange and and that is the effect produced on in each instance us of the utter to the by the contrast serenityof nature disastrous of human turmoil passions. When, upon of Hirsch's the agony torture darkness begins to fall, the inflow of the night air, cooled and by the snows of the Sierra, spread gradually a delicious freshness "
the
the dead
body
the
only
of
of the old
and
Linda,
of
heat
close
through
the
"
the
room
Garibaldino, above
wreck
of
lives, we
above
when,
;
the
despair
feel around
great peacefulness of the
us
night, and
"
the
board, looked at her drooping in the western [Linda]radiantly,"we experience an intense, dramatic These emotion. contrasts heighten for us the whole effect the still calmer, softer, make night appear moon,
"
make
immense,
more
vivid, and
the
dramas
absorbing. These last paragraphs of extraordinarily beautiful. whole
more
does
book
the
Placid
does
the
Gulf
the
weigh
wonderful these and
and
velvety
and
secret,
an
darkness
The
whole
a
starless can
of
scene
book
out
the
of the soundless
studied He
more
has
the
contrast
or
The
silence
close
details
the
of
never
appear A unobtainable.
through mystery
is muffled
almost
of Conrad's
me
"
mine
night.
closes the
the
senses,
eloquence vibrates with eloquence touched
despair.
Indeed,
our
Tom6
more
cry that over
to
seem
throughout gloomy vastness
upon
of the San
do
sombre
sentences, with
Never
heavier
lost treasure
"
Nostromo
smooth
enticing,more
more
terrible,more
more
be
And
the
heard
in the
great
ringing
gulf. art
can
seldom
be
than in his terminations. satisfactorily capacity of ending up on a note of splendid in a final burst of eloquence or memory. of Almayer's Folly, of an Outcast of the
JOSEPH
208
CONRAD
Islands, of The Nigger of the of
and
of
stories
short
truly impressive. Throughout of these quoted a number passages,
this
I will
give here
Jim
ceased, and
Marlow pose "
bank
meditating
a
ends
uttermost "
seemed
{Youth, The
"
while
"
sat
he
such
before.
his hand
waves
of Darkness
sadly at
":
apart, indistinct and
"
in silent,
the
Buddha.
flowed
sombre
lead into the heart of
Heart
of
under
immense
an
overcast
an
darkness.
Darkness," p. 182.)
calm
has
settled
peace as it brings is the second The
dramatic
ending
alike
are
have
the
very
curious
context to
outside
emotion
be
never
modern
more
the
drama
of
stormy
sea,
what
was
it
form the
of
a
story.
we especially when moving, more It is, indeed, clearly in mind. in regard to art study Conrad's
manipulation of mood opening to the close, the the
the
upon
can
in
his
upon
all this ; preparing
451.)
p.
Heart
of the earth
to
a
"
Both
leave
preparingto
himself,and
quotations has the restful sadness Shakespearean ending of typical of the
tragedy but
"
feels it
He
late.
first of these is
that
first
for a time. Nobody moved denly. have lost the first of the ebb," said the Director,sudThe offing head. barred by a black I raised my was the tranquil waterway of clouds, and leadingto the
of
We
sky
is
is from
the second
And
he
{Lord Jim,
his butterflies.
The
"
"
leave, ..."
to
of
use
story.
a
but
:
that
often
says
yet made
not
from
one
aged greatly of
Stein has
Darkness,"
I have
that
two
novel, and
a
Lord
is from
Heart
"
are
I have
from
of
novels,
Return,"
"
his
book
one
his
Agent, amongst The Progress," of
Jim,
amongst
of
Youth,"
"
of
Outpost
An
"
of Lord
Secret
of The
of Nostromo,
Narcissus,"
"
in
a
march
exact
story. of
ratio
From
events to
the
the
presses desired
CONRAD effect.
It
is like
AS
the
rise
ARTIST and
209
faU
of
a
Beethoven
symphony. And
another
dramatic
form is
in
in
Conrad
which
pictures of of feeling or states In such of events. things he the eloquence of high prose-poetry. They shows are dramatic in the concentration of their imaginative appeal, and artistic in the choice splendour of their I language. Let me give a few examples of what mean
sense
his
his
reveals
swift
short,
: "
clock
The
filled the
began
room
with
though
as
tollingfar
bell
strike,and
to
He
away.
deep-toned vibration
the the
sound
counted
the
of
enormous
an
strokes.
Twelve.
Another
had the come begun. To-morrow day had ; that lures men, disdainful mysterious and lying to-morrow of love and faith,on and on through the poignant futilities of a grave. of life to the fittingreward (Talesof Unrest, The Return," p. 262.) "
she
and .
.
about
had
coming
the
from
ends
far
truth, for in her short
verily,even ship
her
the
worn,
of
the
world
.
the to
returns
ever
(Typhoon,
earth.
"
she
passage coast
of the
"
been
had Great
weary
air of
and
indeed
very
Beyond,
to give up her crew Typhoon," p. 100.)
the
ships with
ing, sight-
far ;
whence dust
of
no
the
The regained his freedom. spectre of the unlawful treasure arose, standing by her side like a figure its pale lips. and secret with a fingerupon of silver, pitiless (Nostronio, p. 460.) He
in
had
not
guor sleepy too, and felt a pleasurable lanrunning through every limb as though all the blood milk. his body had turned to warm (Lord Jim, p. 20.)
He
was
The
white
earth
a
like
snow
Higuerota soared frozen
a
bubble
stamped
Razumov of
little
felt the
inert, like
a
sullen
hard and
his
under foot
of the
out
the
"
shadows
moon.
and
under
of rock
and
(Nostromo,p. ^^.) the
soft
carpet
ground of Russia, inanimate,cold, tragicmother hidingher face under a
CONRAD
JOSEPH
210
I have
winding-sheet. {Under Western this
quoted
of
part
as
Eyes, p. 30. longer passage
a
in
already
previous
a
chapter.)
,
[And then, in thrilling storm.
a
of course,
the
kind
He
knows
of
how
of suspense. Typhoon," justbefore
"
just before before are
the
pauses
confession
Just
remind
which
create
the
uneasy
before
the
typhoon
in
Under
"
in
climax
the
in
can
to
debacle
the
be
extraordinarily eloquent silences that precede
Conrad
"
Heart
Western
of the calm
one
in
of Darkness," "
Return
The
citement ex-
Eyes,
just there
treachery
of
whirlpool. These passages of Conrad's are amongst effects the effects of a his most cunningly dramatic (In this view of Conrad's very great and daring artist. dramatic extent, putting my intensityI am, to some in my foot on chapter on ground already covered that I said there Conrad's atmosphere. But when his atmosphere was thrillingI had in mind his whole vidual I am Here idea of atmosphere. thinking of the indiinstinct.) applicationof the dramatic let me And a point out that Conrad possesses to which probably no other novelist possesses power the same degree the capacity for marking a sharplycall this his We defined edge in a few words. may
a
"
"
particular stroke," and it other men. effectivelyfrom "
own
very
artist's
"
stroke
instance,you
can
"
which see
it, as
moulds a
friend
does
separate
Indeed, his
it is
ideals.
of mine
him an
For
observes,
by metal-workers, woodwho have and stone-cutters gained their carvers, all quite distinct,from are ideals, which having to the word different strokes work with use (you can of varying poshere in its actijal sense) in materials sibilitie in
the
different
But, measure
ones
with
of romantic
held
all,Conrad and sensibility, it
retains
his full
therefore
there
coherent.
(The
only
construed
reahsm
in
and
I have
to his
life, not
the
was
careful
that all like
it.
Uved is not
selection
The
Street
he
whether
to
who
author
Grub
Gissing'sNew as
of
"
up like
is that
truth
a
reallyis would be incomprehensible the production either of a God or
be
lunatic.
Conrad.
When
his
he
story
wishes than
picture just
to
His
are
means
and
effects
I think
only
it is true
it
suggests the and
minutely
and
less
so
the
as
not
them
carry
but
Marlow,
method
realist
a
therefore
I do
recollect
could
be
can
I
the
too
far,
daresay
this
of
so
result
accepted.
his
like
events
the
of
account
on
tell
realityhe
explain his position.
to one
no
does
to
suggest rather
must
real
are
he
that
proper
that or
strained
narrative
all art
as
defend
I
form
a
legitimate. Personally
means
it is
it because
does
that
standpoint
a
chooses
he
assert.
no
such
it is from
And
is
in
heard
it
as
it would
"
But
at
of life
chronicle
but
a
doubts
grave
opinions.)
actual
a
I ever person stricter sense
Bailey, Grocer,
of Mr
of
CONRAD
JOSEPH
212
quently elo-
is not
Conrad
than,
say,
his marvellous
Maupassant is a realist on judgment in knowing what
account
No, in the result it is
proof
of his great realistic
great
realist
power.
For
realityfrom Again, we sometimes
no
so
one
narrate
even
but
a
take
and
what
could
to leave.
conjure
exaggeration. Conrad that (as in Chance) a story through the nwuth
obvious
know
to
an
will not
only of one but of several people. This is a cuiious it shows his close point in his technique, because comprehension of actual life. Apparently misleading, this is, in reality,the epitome of everyday very experience. Any affair of complexity that comes notice one's own under generallyimpresses itself on under a variety of shiftinglights affected, as' one "
CONRAD
AS
S13
ARTIST
of transmission. particularmedia event total impression of an sum Just as be derived in an is ordered and logical and yet may form, so is it in inverted, piecemeal, and scrappy is actually Conrad's books. This method of Conrad's a cunning touch of vivid realism. it must
be, by the in life,the
Indeed,
have
we
to
it is this
admit, I think, that force, and
overflowing vitality,dramatic
ness unexpected-
obviously remarkable, at the expense, perhaps, of real appreciationof his other qualities the qualities of subtlety, balance, and perspective. For, after all, it is the creative which is really vital. That is why it is impossible to be a great artist without being a great imaginative creator. simulacrum. But Otherwise art is a mere though a that
make
Conrad
so
"
great artist need not
be
not
great
a
things
best
consciousness
be
great creator, a great creator is For instance, Meredith great artist.
must a
artist
a
(though
"), whereas often
Conrad drove
while preciosity,
robust centred
first of
he
is.
him
Conrad's
all
upon question of
do
could
"
artistic
the
Meredith's
best self-
form
of
self-consciousness
is
towards
a
Of
achievement.
parisons compersonality does make of this sort almost hopeless,but the general And law the general law is simply this, holds good. that there is no such thing as great art without great be true to not imagination, though the converse may the same tempted to say that degree. Indeed, I am it is very in England. seldom true Amongst wellknown and novelists, Henry James contemporary as are George Moore certainlyartists, but, suffering, of their imagination, they do, from a sort of anaemia their art is too a thing still transparently artistic
course,
the
"
obvious
more
In
the
in their
followers.
previous chapter
I
pointed out
that
it
was
CONRAD
JOSEPH
214
Conrad
Flaubert
from crowd. which
This the
amateur
is the
touch
is the
learnt
and
of
handling a novel-writing in
art
stage-craftof succeeds.
never
firm
the
suave
one
But
of
a
Conrad's His
master.
grouping of people conceals the machinery behind. is His angular or gauche. That pictures are never lies in invisibility, whole merit the sort of giftwhose But and consequently it is apt to be overlooked. himself in fiction reveals the amateur as surely as in play writing. The crudities of entrance the amateur their analogiesin the novel and exit on the stage have obvious crudities of falsity as certainlyas the more It is the fine handling of a crowd and bad taste. of people which of a group or gives a novelist that is always so telling. It is grasp of a situation which like Scott, Balzac, of the chief gloriesof men one Flaubert, Tolstoy, Meredith, and Conrad. made before I have is that, Another point which are always changing though Conrad's artistic methods Alike constant. and developing, his artistic aims are in his earliest
end
in view
sense
of
Therefore
building
a
"
as
in his latest
to
create
definite
in the
situation
books, he has the of his reader
mind
and
same
of
a
definite
the
mood.
it is very important to realise the artistic takes and place moulding process which
Many speak, in Conrad's work. of such novels peoplehave complained of the structure Lord as being too roundabout, Jim and Nostromo as that this arises partly from but they do not see phere intense desire to create a convincing atmosConrad's and partly from his own graphic and enquiring his causes imagination which imagination that powerfully subtle brain to follow up the winding idea into all sorts of bypaths and involved clues of an
before
our
eyes,
so
to
"
as hypotheses,forgetting,
it were,
the
presence
of the
CONRAD reader
"
unbare
tries to
he
while the
AS
ARTIST
discover
baseness
secret
215
the
hint
that
of motives."
will
Perhaps,
of his books
exemplifiesthis better than Reminiscences Some (though, in this direction, it is child's play compared to Henry James' A Small have the ordinary facts Boy and Others). There you all,none
after
"
of
reflective tvhere
that
manner
And
is.
one
be
may
life treated
adventurous
an
further
in such
hardly
really one with
so
advanced
some on
knows
ever
of his novels.
eight than
page
and
curious
a
They on
page
eighty.
[Conradagain that
his works
plots or
realism
overweighted
coincidences.
improbable
life has
his artistic
not
are
fit into
in the
with
fact
mechanical
character
No
it is obvious
actual, when
appear its
shows
from
the
can
first that
preconceived dovetailing. like Hardy's The denouement Look of a book at the Mayor of Casterhridge it is too absurdly obvious himself is pullingthe stringsof fate. that the author to
a
"
Conrad write
can one
write
novel
a
called Chance, he could
called Coincidence.
There
never
is all the difference
in the world. Of
this
course,
artistic
all Conrad's
underlying no
doubt,
to
the
realism, this
fact
that
much
work
dramatic
is
of his
tensity in-
largely due, material
is
experiences. (This is a point I his and made previously in regard to his characters the of yesterday requires scenes stories.) To recreate an absolutely sure grip on the essentials of Conrad romantic triumphs is that he verity. Why Other effect. loses sight of his main men can never artist to it needs but true a picture past events of detail without his way thread through a maze of proportion. losinghis sense I want chief ground for here my to express But
founded
upon
his
own
CONRAD
JOSEPH
216
He it is this. genius. And has that power, astonishing and very rare, of very a extracting from a thing already intenselydramatic and further existing unimagined eloquence. In an can nearly just as in a piece of music, one scene, is why so that always foretell the next step. And exhausts its pitch is too one's emotions much drama
believing in
Conrad's
"
uniform
and,
moment
of
from
to
his
in
that
of
create
a
It
world
at the
just that in
which, at
feet.
our
very thing some-
a
flash,
You
see
description,of tragedy, and of the of surprising out power hlase imagination of the sophisticated of
is
cynical and
itself the
material
new
passages
romance.
extract
can
the
But
ordered.
too
crisis Conrad
more seems
it were,
as
reader. reveals nowhere art originalityof Conrad's of inanimate itself more clearlythan in his treatment of the story objects. They live for us in the emotion I will with kind of crooked a vitalityof their own. in The the marble Return," woman only instance not often and the piano in The Secret Agent. They are makes other Conrad or mentioned, but by some means feel their presence as us though they had an almost The
"
formidable
influence
aristocratic
touch
and
in Conrad's
mastery
dog
apt in
to
be
Chance
That
it is very
of all such
in his treatment it is
the
on
misunderstood. if you
greatest kindliness sentiment
but
The
art
Conrad's
see
animal without
with
events.
ness (forin its fastidiousis apparent aristocratic) things. And, of course, Look at the Fynes'
would
excellent
of
course
which
real
spective. per-
is
presented with the of the anthropomorphic any Galsworthy would
the of Conrad's For pictured him. purposes charming, is still a dog. It may art, a dog, however a dog incident is play a significantpart (in a sense have
the
Lord
characters,
the
and
Jim
Agent does,
Secret
in The on
of both
pivot
not
but to
217
ARTIST
AS
CONRAD
Chance) is
that
piano
to its effect
owing
in
capacity
inherent
any
the
as ,
itself. In
his
of titles Conrad
choice
and
singularlyhappy What
could
be
better
What !
Nostromo
Nostromo
is
book Nostromo
real
a
it
why,
"
is
the
For, indeed, convinced
have
is to
this ordinary extra-
laughter. nothing ! A
than
this
for
devised
been
romance.
I
is
this book
the
Conrad
study
far his
by
more
greatest
understanding
with
highest pinnacle of Conrad's art most perfect,but the highest, the
reach
or
for ironical
less
Nostromo
read
To
achievement.
subject
more
I that
am
this most
cover
conveys
thrillingtitle should thrillingand beautiful
That
particularlybad.
morrow." To-
Jim
Lord
than
worse
title should
unattractive
most
be
"
Youth,
Chance,
than
could
times,
at
singularlyunfortunate.
times
at
been,
has
the
"
not
most perhaps the dazzling. Here aie the birth-throes of a vast creative vision the flightof romance, and the inward energy, Nostromo of psychology. But, we can apart from most suggestively in such study the art of Conrad The novels Narcissus," The Secret as Nigger of the The Agent, and Chance, and in such short stories as "
"
"
Return," of the "
The
"
Tether," Duel,"
Sharer."
"
A
and
most
Heart
Smile
imaginary places are Think
sort
of
Falk,"
of Fortune,"
of
"
and
characters
"
The
and
is immediate
and
as
MacWhirr,
most
books
They
surnames
Secret
his
astonishinglygood. which
End
The
To-morrow,"
of Conrad's
some
of his
of conviction such
"
"
Darkness,"
are speaking, these original achievements.
Though the names unsuccessful, the names that
of
Typhoon,"
Roughly
typical
"
Youth,"
are
of his carry
final.
Hagberd
218
JOSEPH
CONRAD
Podmore, Bento, Jacobus, Singleton, Guzman Verloc, de Barral, Roderick Monygham, Anthony, of placesas Costaguana, Sulaco, Higuerota, such names Mala, Pantai, Batu
Azuera, Punta
Indeed, it is the
Beru.
details of Conrad's
anything else does, his In the first chapter of this book I about Conrad's of duty and sense supplement them here in relation to much
as
studies
who
it all An a
as
Conrad's lies
there
of
agony
like
work
and
has
Nostromo
one
to
even
volume
a
"
said
a
few
I
would
like
his art. see
words
No
that
to one
behind
pitilessconscience.
gone is
show,
artistic rectitude.
fail to
can
austere
an
creation
volume
unwritten
art
that
art
In
line.
every
of
aware
whole
the
enclosing
huge
a
history of Costaguana. For books such as Nostromo of a titanic imaginative effort. are, merely the essence It is said that his novels at length Turgenev wrote and
then
them
cut
down
their
to
present modest
feel that we proportions, and, in a similar sense, but Conrad's the are published works gist of his profound conceptions. It is this tireless and earnest preoccupation, this ascetic faithfulness to an ideal, which is the of artistic morality. We know root from
Some
Reminiscences
during
when,
the
blind
of
horror
underwent
Conrad
what
"
creating Nostromo, be perfectly must
that it to him lady observed delightful to sit all day writing novels. had come. though the end of the world a
"
into
enter
can
books.
signs
For, of
a
his
emotions
Flaubert's
as
conflict
any
conflict could
but
beneath
the
be
if
we
books
do,
"
surface
of their romantic
as
was
And
we
his
read
have
devastating and not obviously,you
as
It
they
give
terrible
understand, and
ironical
exterior.
In his earlier books
Conrad's
as
imaginationsometimes
220
JOSEPH
CONRAD
beautiful
of artist, kind simplicity (which is one certainly,but only one). You can always refute or such substantiate examples. arguments by concrete For instance, Ruskin is a stylist but no artist,Flaubert is a stylistand is an artist but an artist, Hawthorne of a stylist, not much Turgenev is an artist and a is both contention is, that Conrad stylist. And my but more stylistand artist equally both in his later "
than
in his earlier work.
Huneker
James
"Conrad
takes
of
(And,
somewhere
says
interest in
an
:
"
everything except
bad
art."
speaking of Conrad's has to remember art one that, in its genuine meaning, it includes his whole it here largelyin the work. I use for the obvious that through all narrower sense reason I have been discussingit in the broader sense.) my book That to
remark
a
his
sympathy
whether
his the
question all
as
I
can
his
or
However
never
to
from
prepare
the
thing which placent nothing comliterature
towards
vexed there
aim
His
no
The
awaits chief
to
create
at
the
danger
his conscientiousness. way,
the
question
which
nemesis
"
is fixed
be
may
is
Conrad.
overtake
forsee will arise desire
That
one
is
else's.
of his achievement,
can
is the There
anyone
highest.
vital is his craft
how
attitude
to his intention.
satisfied
art
embrace.
Conrad's own
shows
Bad
cannot
about
is
one
of Huneker's
like Conrad.
man
upon
when
course,
a
In vincing con-
atmosphere, he tends to an over-elaboration of the foreground. But hold he has far too secure a the victim of his own on realityever to become ality, personis only to Which as Henry James has become. be a true repeat once again that the true artist must realist. It is necessary
to
have
clearlyin
mind
this broader
view
of
\vise
we
who
just
which
is
moral
problem.
of in
the
through And
does
in
that also
Conrad the
seem
of
is
mighty
is
unique
as
artist.
an
force
and
though
to
me
well
their
as
His
subtlety
extreme, he
that the
the
ultimate
bad
point. are
artists
personality. other
appeal his
worry
the
whole
whole
of
to
a
repetitions
genius
in
were
or
the
of
men
of
power too,
sense,
as
miss
to
sense.
popular
Dostoievsky,
such
sense
great
narrower
Shakespeare, of
Whitman,
the
other
writer
longueurs
bigger
the
in
the
as
every It
the
grammar
upon
treat
Shelley,
For
bad
as
other-
or
underestimate
to
artists
great
work,
writer's
any
likely
too
incongruities
the
over
of
to
to
not
are
is
that
For
only
are
writers
regard
in
art
m
ARTIST
AS
CONRAD
sense,
rests
imagination.
CHAPTER
Conrad's
I
WILL
literature.
I
estimates
of
"
I
all the
when
start, hundred For
it
to
in
English
literature
as
Meredith
would like
obscure
in
difficulty
and
to
miss as
simple
idea
develops
his
222
from
To
be
to
it
is
whole
were.
most
but
a
Meredith
delicate
almost not
verbal
He
as
a
sense.
a
of
obscure
transparently For
difficulty. word
puts
in up
no
constantly language,
and
of
entirely
obscure.
every
point.
complicated
"
subtly
not
belong
appreciation steeped
Japanese
understand
to
in
a
other
novelists
in
only
an
be
must
In
background
on
am
with
than
big English
anyone
Conrad
I
does
he
repeat,
extent
some
Conrad
the
I
But,
label
times.
justly
chaotic
is
(There
ranks
because
the
my
think
not
modern
of the
most
Meredith,
possible
signals, a
calibre
in
prophetic
Conrad
of
and
definite
a
do
estimate
literature.
Continental
quite
his
experiments. depends
that
to
whereas
speak,
to
so
I
realists
of
tradition,
between
say
easier
writers
English a
is far
he
sense
I
romantic
great
world
the
into
opinion.
judgment.)
comparative
a
exaggerating
to
in
difference
try
said
I
going
reasonable
a
essence,
to
what
these
"
very
intention
without
state
can
it my
undoing
but
their
in
in
place
dogmatise
to
are,
is
thus
chapter,
extremes
a
writers
Conrad's
about
wish
no
living
Conrad,
opening
the
have
literature
in
words
"
place
and
final
]jtentativenor
highly "
position
few
a
say
XI
is
It
Conrad
danger
wraps
whereas
profound
the
up
Conrad
psychology
CONRAD'S
POSITION
in
that
sentences
other that
of
which
difference
Meredith
misunderstand.
between
had
In
is not
them
naturally be
must
it is also power, in point of view.
outstanding
racial
difference
there
LITERATURE
could
one
no
the
words,
IN
between
two
men
and
fundamental
a
just
the
typical English qualitiesin so brilliant and excessive that one form a might almost believe he is not English at all instead of realisingthat he is, in truth, the most representativeEnglishman the other of his generation. On hand fact the very of Conrad's writing in English is obviously misleading. For he is no more completely English in his art than he is in his nationality. His tradition is largely the and that is quite outside Franco-Slav the tradition of the venue English genius. The extraordinary of the English mind has, in fiction,dissipated versatility itself in innumerable eccentricities and originalities of the surface. There is no school in England which has general acceptance from the mature insight of the whole nation there is no school which just because "
is founded Flaubert Anna
that
wrote
national
Madame
here, without countries
there
is
no
immense
of character.
view
Bovary
Karenina, France
their
Our
a
upon
and
or
when
Russia
When
Tolstoy wrote realised
at
once
typical life of But in England
exaggeration, the
them. lay before such thing as high and creative ability is
serious rich
in
realism.
ideas, in
but it lacks lyricism,and in humour, psychological lutely intensity. And, in my opinion,that is the one absoneedful thing to the making of a great novel. If one I think, that the looks closelyinto it one sees,
Continental
tradition
by Stendhal, Flaubert
and
(I
the
mean
continued the
approacliingthe
by Balzac, Russians) is not
novelist's
art
so
tradition
started
and
developed by of really a way
much
as
the
way.
It is
getting down and surely there
"
the
To
studied
with.
is
the
then, that we
that
easy,
of
course,
a
say,
of the is to
point the
one
For,
seem.
to
invincible
get
have to
easy
rapport
en
of his characters
sympathy
"
ing only arise from close understandcongenialConrad view.) The more strangelyfamiliar will his creations
can
of
more
his
reality of
innumerable
subtle
of his
artists
all the
with
as
Conrad
of close individual
matter
but, after all,that
this and
will find
is to
life
that.
admit
we
(The complete understanding
is,of
imaginative
nothing beyond
forerunners "
bedrock
the
to
extent,
understand
the
CONRAD
JOSEPH
224
figuresis only in
touches
class, the
enhanced
by
which
they are complexities,
through their painted. We grasp them though the total result is simple and inevitable. On the other hand, if we are steeped in the English obvious either fruitlessly method, Conrad may appear of his own making. or as one floundering in a morass in England as It is quite true that he is famous a such a writer as psychologist,but it is in the same way as
the
Meredith
is famous
principlesof
action
"
as
a
who
man
rather
than
as
understands a
principles of creation. could tell you exactly how a certain type in a certain class of society in a certain be likelyto act nineteenth century would understands
circumstances,
Meredith
the
but
his
would
woman
not
who
man
of era
in be
woman
of the certain a
real
(or rather, her realitywould be falteringand But be a typical woman. uncertain), she would
woman
Conrad
would
create
the
woman
herself.
In
his
never sparklinggalleryof feminine portraitsMeredith And in saying Verloc. near came achieving a Winnie would Few this I am not wishing to decry Meredith. of the most of his one gifted men deny that he was simply too clever. century. But the fact is, he was
CONRAD'S
POSITION
IN
225
LITERATURE
philosophy,will long outlast has the the creator of The Egoist,and Conrad, who artist's aloofness from problems, has imagined a few when will, I believe, be known nearly figureswhich all the novels of Meredith are mouldering on forgotten the One shelves. could write a tragic essay on in art. It is the whisper of futilityof cleverness
Jane Austen,
devil
the
had
who
in
no
its most
insidious
it is this
And
form.
that is the canker obtrusion of personality scintillating it I do not of modern English literature. say that be defended cannot from one point of view, but I do be defended from the point of view say that it cannot in fiction.
of realism
his
seldom
Conrad
Moreover,
us by expressing annoys it be in the childish manner
opinions,whether of Thackeray, the conceited of Shaw, or the manner he does reveal irritable manner of Strindberg. When himself he does it as Turgenev, himself, did it occasionally, with Of course, dignifiedand quick reserve. own
all
as
but
writers is
that less
was
he
do,
shows
different
a
thing altogether.
than
personal
dislikes
and
likes
Flaubert,
one
no
No
"
one more
was
biased. And
thus
consider
it is I
that
Conrad's
fame
it is, is nothing as England, really considerable his name what it will be. It is astonishingto hear
mentioned
in
the
breath
same
as
that
of
a
in to
dozen
ing Indeed, it is not only astonishlivingEnglish writers. but it is so incongruous that it is laughable. For it is not
(I doubt as
several
that
much
so
of
greater. And
he
whether
them)
beyond
summarise
It
p
he
obviously clever so immeasurably
is he
so
is
it ?
conscious
is,
at
the
poraries contem-
in any
greatness in literature,as
art, is something can
than
that
as
his
is abler
other
ability. Who same
time, ap-
CONRAD
JOSEPH elusive, and
and
parent
But
when
is
vitalisingforce
its
analysed, perfume.
we
quaHties can intangible as
as
be a
Conrad's
what
ourselves
ask
to
come
its
though
positionin English literature,as apart from his position amongst his English contemporaries, really is, then difficult question. face to face with a we are very has For name instance, Meredith's cropped up in this chapter, and minor some comparisons between him
have
Conrad
and
reallycompare
two
It
that
to
seems
me
been
men
whose
aims
is
common
there
no
how
but
made,
are
one
can
divergent ?
so
basis
that
and
only way to do it at all justlywould be by broad a generalisation. And one could only estimate Conrad's position in English literature as a whole on Saintehave such no a system of generalising. We is little there Beuve in England not only because there also because criticism but scientific spiritin our And is little of the ordered spiritin our creative art. this spiritof order, this tradition," gains in depth of originalityfrom what it loses in variety of treatment. of spreading end instead It concentrates one upon the
almost
"
itself in a
and
subtle
that
way
doubt the
national writers the
it
have
whether
in
of his
that
time
English
writers.
That
will be
He
or,
is
is
him we
see,
and
in and
rank
ever
of that
us
an
more
queer
English
other
indeed, between
unique appreciated more
be
in their blood.
none
let
it would
will
Conrad
There
affinity between
"
tradition
"
England
great Victorians he
their
upon
wooden
almost
for
intelligence, actualityin a to an man English-
Frenchman's
the
masters.
great
than
is, is fixed
appear
the French
"
with
For
as
would
Conrad
understand
Englishman.
an
keen
to
easier
be
It would
of directions.
score
Frenchman
for
I
a
between
say,
almost alien I
all
sense. am
sure
nS
JOSEPH
and
lover
of
CONRAD
English novelists and though his novels of the are, essentially,not English novel character (which generally implies exaggeration) still they are quickened by a love of English life. And that Conrad's ideas remember and mind developed late and almost entirelyunder the influence of English and with He is imbued seamen English literature. the No, English atmosphere in a genuine sense. is not English in his art he does belong though Conrad have been to English literature,for he would definitely dumb other in any language but the English. This is not merely an argument to fit the facts, it is an absolute
incontrovertible
and
However,
when
Franco-Slav As
a
as
to
the
of truth
the
Slavonic
French
liken
Russians
Americans.
also
common
realism
but
is
Observe,
as
that
Conrad
have
not
there is
him
is
has
natural that
the
not to
in not
Russians. than
the him
Russian
a
Conrad
Pole
and
"
properly people
But
Poles
Englishmen bond
common
work
traced
be
the
more
a
misapprehension
Conrad's to
to
sufficient.
said
is
to
a
belongs
Conrad
antipathy. he
deal of
a
influence
any
There
a
one
we
Because
care.
not
say
truth.
influence, too, is
immediately are
we
tradition
matter
without
the
has
but the
there
are
is
Slavonic
mysticism. The the is foreign. other is nearest to in spirit,
Russian as
he
Turgenev, is,himself, the most French of the Russians. As to Gogol, Lermontov, Tolstoy, Dostoievsky, Tchekov, Gorky, etc., a great deal of their work would his For, decidedly lie quite outside sympathy. indeed, there is not only a natural antipathy between pathy, Poles and Russians but there is also a politicalantiwhich tends, very naturally,to make thing everyAn Russian offensive to a Pole. imaginative be more Englishman would likely to appreciate the
CONRAD'S of
mysticism Whitman
look
such
is
basis
other
Turgenev.
Victor
is
Hugo
as
it
as
Flaubert.
Gustave
but
romantics
hand
one
Pole
a
of
manner
a
would
who
"
of
or
man. French-
a
entirely French His romantic spirithas a passionate the frothy lyricism of a far from the sombre is from pessimism of a
yet Conrad
which
the
on
in the is
229
LITERATURE
would
than
things more
And
than
Dostoievsky
a
the
on
at
IN
POSITION
no
and
Hugo
neither
more
of
Flaubert had
them
both
were
that
of
quality
Slavonic
full is, at once, melancholy which goodness and full of despair at life. Hugo believed in despair,but goodness, Flaubert
of belief
in
believed
in
of
believed
them
held
without
which
such
hold
to
The
All the
the
a
be
else.
than to
Flaubert
he
to
does
to
attitude
I have
said
influence I
repeat
owes
former
in Conrad it here.
in
chapter
In
both
several
is almost
to art
is the
ably prob-
to anyone
life resembles
a
to
more
Russians, and
his attitude
in
question, I
the
Conrad
the
North.
Flaubert, than
to
and
the
said
mind.
Slav
the
decide
that
say
Frenchman,
one
of Flaubert
and
had
to
of
heritageof
the
with
mockery might be
France
secrets
belief,
double
that
fundamental
the
one
inclined
For
Anatole
of
if
same,
conscious
most
the
as
one
Conrad's
that ways identical.
of
personalityis
French more
both.
man
it, is
dual
should
any
in
neither
the
that
influence there
is
of a
tireless
their preoccupation with their subject and style a completenesswhich is,at once, fervid and rare. (I need hardly state again that this does not imply all it implies is a similarityof alike that they are aim.) The difference is that Flaubert always appears whereas the phases of Conrad's been mature, to have progressionare visible. Moreover, Conrad has a sense would and sympathy which of humour for ever keep "
"
him
from
Flaubert's
hatred
of
a
class
qua
class.
In
230
JOSEPH
Flaubert's
first
CONRAD
novel,
Bovary, dislike of
Madame
but
bourgeoisieis stronglymarked, Pecuchei, it has
et
futilityof
could
never
their
class.
Russian
has
vile
or
but
the
on
Russians
wider
a
were
a
in
obsession
word
the
a
of
obsessions
were
meaning
feels
obsessions
had
novelists
of
use
One
case.
Flaubert
in
it has
than
in
blindness
narrow
subject of the bourgeoisie,whereas sophy. always supported by their philo-
Still it often The
universallystupid
are
The
them
to
Flaubert's
the
in both
theme
ever-present
an
The
painfulobsession.
a
although they
own,
different
regard
men
indeed, the
But, of
that
is
last,Bouvard
accepted by Flaubert, the Frenchman, be accepted by Conrad, the Slav.
be
might
world
the
writers, but
become
in his
the
amounts
of
sadness
and
omniscience
the
much
to
love
same.
obsessed
ing forgivenessthrough sufferof culture obsessed Dostoievsky, the horrors obsessed Tolstoy. But as to Conrad, he, essentially,
Turgenev,
the
doctrine
of
mystical Russian, of untouched by fanaticism the probably, why causes,
is not
a
The
famous.
reason
but
a
man
any
sort.
he
is not
is easy
to
follow
world
of the That
is
already and
of
one more
even
to
Impartiality has the appearance sympathise with. artistic perfectionlacks the and of a negative asset In his own Henry James inspiredglow of faith. way will is as great an artist as Turgenev, but his works he is too restrained live like Turgenev' s because never and by anything as Turgenev logicalto be dominated In the long dominated was by the thought of love. his sanity that than it is Conrad's force rather run his final position. will give him But
There
to
is
Frenchman's
talk
once
something
more
national
of as
Flaubert
well
as
and
Conrad.
personal in
influence, for, quite apart from
the
Flaubert,
231
LITERATURE
IN
POSITION
CONRAD'S
sympathy with the French position. In certain phases his sentences reveal a thoroughly Gallic impatience of the superfluous word
"
inherent
an
it is much
often
more
writings. Just by Maupassant there is an his
of
than sketch which of
shows
work
Conrad's
from
comes
language
Conrad's
earlier
under
finished
most
in
the
air
of
distinction
and
control
exquisite
He
work.
tiniest
as
of words
choice
a
of his later
true
economy
an
so
is
it
with
has, in fact, the
lucidityof vision though, in expression,it is of his language or often clouded by the vehemence has I said before, Conrad imagination. But, as nothing of the Slavonic mysticism. In such a thing he is French to his fingertips. But though he is no French
the and love over mystic he has the French power is more popular in France, the mysterious. Who the Whitman or mysterious Edgar mystical Walt is obvious. Poe ? Bazalgette does not (The answer Maland Baudelaire beside weigh in the balance of the mysterious is prolarme.) This fascination nounced of the last writers in nearly all the French in Balzac, in Hugo, in Flaubert, in hundred years, in the And France. same Maupassant, in Anatole it in the most find curiously enough, we way, Henry cosmopolitan of English speaking writers Turn of the Screw," The James and Joseph Conrad. "
"
"
and
Heart
macabre And
of
dear
and
generous an
intense
Flaubert any
other
influence
to the
Conrad's the
have
Darkness," Latin
French
enthusiasm,
hatred
the
writer
one
of
too, the
sympathies
regard for has actually French
Maupassant
of
the
heart.
shows,
work
touch
that
of nuances
affected must
(" The
French swift
"
cant
or
of Conrad
If
honour.
still allow
Idiots
dislike,
fanaticism,
more
"
judices pre-
shows
than for
the that
SB2
JOSEPH
demonstrably), whose are
of
one
Anatole
(are
ironical
?) whose
three
Turgenev,
and
think, been
of
older
one
can
work
archaic
of
writers
is
with
about
alike
quisitely ex-
of expression
ease
profundity.
writers,
with
tradition
belonging to a great in antiquity. There
roots
Conrad
of
the
Russian
Henry James, have, I immediate importance to Conrad of the moderns. (The influence a question beyond my scope, but some degree of certaintythat any
more
argue
world, and
American
other
any
of the
consummate
French the
of observation
and
he
not
real intellectual
a
powers
wonders
France,
These
the
unrivalled
artistic
the
hides
than
CONRAD
Conrad,
has
its obvious
is
nothing consciously writings are as free from another as they are age
whose
the
literaryaffectations of but they evince, nevertheless, the germ from its spirit, of continuity. It would probably be easier, for instance,
incalculable
any
outside
his recent Mr
which
element
influence.
study
of
As
be
which
remark
Genius
be
may
force.
Flaubert,
but
well have
owed
is
often
immense
it
Ford
of
p.
much
to
but
capacity of genius is
the
it is
observes
in
of say,
the
talent
plenty
of
applied to Conrad. is primarily an mental ele-
been
Conrad. it
is to
true,
had
if Flaubert
of
nothing
"
but it
Conrad,
asks
has
14)
might equally be direct 2d
is not
"
has, that
He
defined.
portance im-
Conrad's
as
his share
course,
past
the
mentioned
Hueffer :
the
to
course,
that
Henry James
James has,
Henry can't
in
{Henry James, personality a
indebtedness
George
be
an
Conrad's
trace
Borrow's.) But, of of these five people I have exaggerated. Originalitysuch
than
to
to
is
never
The
owes
much
alive
he
debt
basic.
of
to
might genius
For
capacity of originality.
the
"
the
23S
LITERATURE
first enters
strictlyspeaking,England
Conrad,
With
IN
POSITION
CONRAD'S
"
tradition
Continental
of
literature, although
Henry James had prepared her for the change. But about want of substance there is just that indefinable of Henry James which the creations precludeshim from realists. and Russian ranking with the great French have finest creations the inevitability Conrad's But if Conrad is the first of Tolstoy's figures. However, he will perhaps, also, be the last English realist of the Continental found
school
any
For
type. in
it is doubtful
England.
You
whether cannot
he go
will
against
will no Continent The more spiritof a country. Continental. become English than England will become Daudet is supposed to be rather English,and Meredith is supposed to be rather French, but as they each retain of their own about nationalitythe idea 99 per cent the
If Conrad need not alarm revolution us. literary'" he it is because is really Continental actually is a His English sympathies Pole and not an Englishman. are personal and have only touched his art apparently in a must always though one superficialmanner, have without that remember England there would
of
a
been in
Conrad.
no
French
he
the
whilst
the
And
large to
his
would
then
but
language
It is true never
a
life
and
have
if he
had
written
written
so
antly, exuber-
language is a precise guage. poetical lanEnglish is a
French
furthermore,
extent
that
this
exuberance
is to
personal idiosyncrasy, partly as are mainly unaccountable,
a
due all
idiosyncrasies. has that Conrad It is certainly the case many English sympathies (hislove of the sea is, in its passionate an form, almost exclusively English trait, and fact that he chose England as his home the very and English as his language are silentlyeloquent),
CONRAD
JOSEPH
^34 but
in
cannot change one's deep conceptions one nationality. In artistic ideals the Slav is infinitely the French nearer point of view than the English. And French Conrad's so sympathies are not so much an appreciation as are his English sympathies, they In such sharp instinctive reflection of himself. an are there is no doubt division some exaggeration (for instance, a fierce love of the sea might, presumably, be inherent in anyone quite apart from an English but in making divisions there must always inspiration), be this danger. I am coining,merely, a sufficiently
generalisation.
accurate
But,
to
sum
first,that the
Conrad
There
great blood
is
a
as
Conrad
in the
war
bulks be
would
Balkans) or
more
fruitless.
discussions
leave
rank
agreement
to
realism.
the
to
or
rails
of
order
bad
much
as
discuss
others
sooner
critical
the
and
than
less
For,
as
at
high amongst
make
(artisticdifferences
men
I said
as
me,
fiction of romantic
modern
universal
no
to
seem
in future
must
of the
creators
it does
up,
whether
of his
class
later, all such and
into
merge
are personal opinions which apt to be as assertive as a religiousbelief and are often quite as illogical.But that the author of Youth, of Nostromo, the really great artists, is securely with of Chance And for doubt. leaves, in my opinion, no matter writer will always and most thrilling yet this romantic all the from us because, beneath be partially withheld faults and obvious more qualitiesof his work, there is an unappeasable melancholy. His faith is too to be popular. In such elusive for him a ever thing
obscure
he
is
nearer
yet the
to
subtlest
of life in them
Tolstoy
or
Flaubert creations
that
is
than of
hardly Dostoievsky. In
to
the
Conrad to
be
that
And
Russians. have
found
a
breath
outside
consideration
of he
LIST
OF
BOOKS
PUBLISHED
CONRAD'S
AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL
Mirror
The
of
the
Sea
:
Memories
and
(Nash.)
1912.
(Methuen.
Impressions.
1906. Reminiscences.
Some
NOVELS
Folly
Almayer's
A
:
of
Story
(Unwin.)
River.
Eastern
an
1895. An
Outcast
The
of of
Nigger
Jim
Nostromo The
:
a
Tale.
:
a
Tale
Secret
Agent
Western
Under Chance
"
the
:
Narcissus
of (" of
"
:
Tale
a
a
(Blackwood.)
of
of
the
Sea.
(Heine-
:
a
Simple
Two
in
Karain
:
Progress,"
"
The
1907.
1.
191
(Methuen.)
I9I4'
STORIES
Memory,"
a
1903.
(Methuen.)
Tale.
Parts.
(Unwin.)
Unrest.
(Harper.)
(Methuen.)
Eyas.
Tale
1900.
Seaboard.
the
SHORT
Tales
1896.
(Unwin.)
1898.
mann.) Lord
Islands.
the
i8g8. "
Return,"
Idiots,"
The "
The
"
An
Outpost
Lagoon.") 237
CONRAD
JOSEPH
^58
Youth
:
Narrative
a
and
:
(Blackwood.)
Stories.
other
two
1902.
("
Youth
Typhoon (" "
(Heinemann.)
Stories.
other
"
Typhoon,"
of ("
Six.
"
Foster,"
Amy
1903.
Falk
:
Reminiscence,"
a
The
A
of
the
Sea
and
Land
("
"
Ruiz,"
Caspar
"
'Twixt
1908.
(Methuen.)
Anarchist,"
of
Smile Seven
"
The
MADOX
:
:
a
"
"
Brute,"
An
Conde.")
(Dent.)
Tales.
Fortune,"
II
The
191
2. "
Sharer,"
Secret
Novel.
WITH
COLLABORATION
IN
Inheritors
"
Duel,"
:
The
Informer,"
Freya
Islands.")
NOVELS
Romance
The
To-morrow.")
Set
The
"
Darkness,"
of
Heart
Tether.")
and
:
"
Narrative,"
a
the
of
End
A
:
an
Extravagant (Smith,
FORD
HUEFFER
Story.
Elder.)
(Heinemann.) 1903.
1901.
INDEX
Almayer's 86,
no,
94,
157. '
Folly, 121,
193.
Amy
207
53,
"
Baudelaire,
Arabia
223
Desert
Art, 143,
198
197,
with 215
;
Bergeret 199,
Blake,
199-200
intensity
of,
be
studied
in
207-8 210
;
Borrow,
;
for
reasons
213
constant,
eloquent,
titles,
217-8 218
brilliant
;
balanced,
;
ideal
of,
66
imagined,
sea,
78-82
figures,
;
84-5 to
makes
his
8S-9 71
noticeable
in
novels
;
loi
;
30,
;
45.
;
;
144,
161,
225
Pierre,
Jose, 22
121
48
;
;
128-9, 28-9, Mrs, 29,
An,
30,
58-9
154.
218
121
;
Avel-
151
;
133;
Babalatchi, Bacadou,
;
;
;
Roderick,
140.
Antonia, Don
Nicholas, 31,
Jane,
113-4. 49-50,
lanos,
122
63,
Nina, "
:
Allen,
Almayer,
;
Captain
lanos,
ferences re-
23,
Anarchist,"
46.
;
books
31,
62,
Almayer,
;
234
from
Almayer,
127
Arsat,
lent, opu86
156
193,
217,
30,
Jasper,
31,
189,
156-7;
Anthony,
his
convincingly roundabout,
153.
125,
quotations)
29,
;
94,
124,
Conrad's
31,
169
88,
174
generally
Captain
30
in
pervasive,
; create
;
the
to
173,
216,
158,
87,
Aissa,
sometimes
214-5
Austen,
162,
in
intensely 77-8
120,
215,
(apart
masterly,
symbolic,
82-3,
74,
desire
212,
87,
45-7,
113-4,
Characters
219
relation
in
magical
169
21
158,
quoted,
high
;
74-7 ;
77
61,
170
18,
no,
bad
details,
;
73
58,
7
17,
195,
in
;
Chance,
154-5.
names,
creative,
;
melancholy, ironic,
in
66-7,
69-70
(quoted)
57,
Lewis,
Abdulla,
romantic,
;
of
and
Conrad's,
thrilling,
Hall,
mals, ani-
220
Atmosphere,
Caine,
97,
very
and
good
;
217
its
;
;
good
;
Samuel,
230
98
The,
Butler,
Carroll,
treatment
;
objects 216-7
in
214
214
216
inanimate
;
ness, unexpected-
finished,
;
C,
tive narra-
in, 210-13 and
232
edges,
long
conversations
vitality
aims
A. "
86
99
Piciichet,
et
Bradley,
thrilling,
;
sharply-defined
210-11;
its
his
The,
George,
Boiivard terminations,
Brute,"
its
7
Series,
200-7
13
9,
F.,
William,
"
can
170
Arnold, E.
Benson,
world,
realistic,
very
dramatic
161
Hilaire,
concerned
;
actual
an
231
96,
75,
231
231
Bennett,
of,
unity
223,
7
Leon,
196
a,
Conrad's,
rad's Con-
215
214,
William,
Belloc,
in
103,
147,
Bazalgette, Beckford,
Karenina,
25,
Florence,
61,
164 Anna
141,
Barclay,
8~,
58-9,
57,
Balzac,
56-7,
54,
basis
fiction,
86-7
quoted,
;
An,
Autobiographical
32,
156,
127,
quoted,
;
181
165,
Anarchist,"
28-30,
122,
Foster,"
152,
18,
5,
Bacadou,
;
Avel-
B.,
Mr 30,
Jean Susan,
240
JOSEPH
CONRAD
Barral, De, Flora Barral,
48,
157-8
94,
218
;
45.
46,
154.
;
155.
General,
157
38, 134
45,
Hermann's
de,
Alvan, 155-6 ; Hervey, 49, 168 Mrs, Hervey, 67, 164, ; 158 ; Hirsch, 166-7, 201, 49,
rios, Bar-
;
Beard,
;
see "Belfast," Captain, 116; Guzman, Craig; Bento, 134, 218 Brierly, Captain, 102, ; ; Brussels 167 ; Brown, 143
Girl 97
"
in
Heart
;
Agent,
169
69,
152-3
142
140,
Castro,
;
Cesar,
;
KarJukes, 54; 47-8 ; Kayerts, 48-9, 169 ; Kemp, John, 64 ; 125, Kurtz, 126, 178 ; 76, 109, 51, Lakamba, Laspara, 29, 31 ; Julius, 143 ; Leonard, 170 ; Levaille, Madame, 158 ; Lingard. Captain, 30, 31, 126 ; MacWhirr, 67, Captain, 53-4,
Tomas, ;
141
140,
Charley, 58, 169 ; Colchester, II, 60, Maggie, 58 ; Conde, Conrad's 16 ; Tutor, 140 ; Conrad's
Uncle, Corb^lan,
;
141 Cornelius'
Chance,
1
95
;
Makola,
"'
in
153-4
Craig,
;
74
120;
118,
117,
120
Miss,
156,
; 173 Nostromo
60, 59, Fidanza,
165
152,
;
Lord
Jim,
Fyne,
45,
46,
Gian'
;
Yanko, ;
104, 151,
Chance,
165
54,
Charles,
38,
37,
Mrs,
Gould, 106,
158
94,
142
158
;
;
;
129, 37,
]
131,
89,
145-9, Governess
150. in
Hagberd,
tain, Cap-
55-6, 99, 140, 152, 141, Harry, 165, 217 ; Hagberd, Haldin, 69, 56, ; 109 77, Haldin, Mrs, 152 ; ; 139 43, Haldin, Nathalie, ; 152 44, Heat, Inspector, 137 ; HeemsLieutenant, 62, 128, ku-k. Hermann, Captain, 55 ; ; 129
43,
Mitchell, 211
166,
Nielsen
136, 144,
147,
Nelson,
see
;
Nielsen, 38-9,
149,
Matara, vitch, 33,
42, 47,
139,
120,
Ramirez,
167 Peter
;
Ribiera,
;
147, ;
140; Pata
Ivano-
Podmore
;
Powell, The, 42,
46 137
Razumov
115;
94.
43-4.
"
169
153,
130-1,
137,
48
169 218;
Professor,"
sen, ; Niel-
62
O'Brien,
156, 166;
Ossipon,
;
139,
Captain,
Freya, 62, 63, Nostromo,
137
Monygham,
131-2, 218
;
no,
Montero,
;
133-4;
130,
149,
45,
Gould,
132, ;
;
in
Battista, Goorall,
;
Dr,
211,
52, 114, 117, Due de, 64,
173,
General,
54,
95,
29,
Councillor,
;
132,
see
36,
84,
Mersch, 142 ; Michaelis, 41,
167-8
140,
46
Fyne, Mrs,
Nostromo
see
94,
102,
97, ;
140,
34,
162,
Dain,
Massy,
Mikulin,
Lieutenant
46
154-5
61,
Franklin,
Naval
French
Maroola,
8-9;
77,
158,
124-5,
1 1
Popolo,
w,
71,
102,
35, 55,
Darkness,"
-Mario
219;
;
217
Manager
del
68,
51,
166,
of
;
142
Granger,
Captain, Foster, Amy,
;
;
;
Lieutenant
165;
165,
177-8;
Manuel
140,
46,
128, 143,
Heart
121
Falk,
;
157
126,
Feraud,
166
;
Etchingham
121,122;
109,
Doramin,
"
125
Decoud,
38, 39, 132, 166, 2oi;LieutenantD'Hubert, Dominic, 61, 59-60, 140 ; Donkin, ; 32, 33, 141 140,
33,
153;
93,
77,
140,
22,
Father,
Daughter,
in
Cousin
15,
62,
125,
;
;
Jacobus,
;
30
no,
ain,
the
Carlier, 48-9, Carvil, Bessie, 56,
143
125,
Secret of
Captain
;
142
Patna,
The
55,
128, 136, 165, 218 ; Jacobus, Alice, 61, 62, 156, 165 ; Jim, Lord, 33-5, 157. 96, 102, 95. 94. 123-4, 107,
61,
Darkness,"
of in
Cabman
Hudig,
;
207
Niece,
96, 137-8, 139. 200 President-Dictator,
BalRiego, Don Serathasar, 116; Riego, Erphina, 64, 157 ; Ruiz, minia, 57, 160 ; Ruiz, Gaspar,
38,
134;
57,
95
158
;
;
S
Second
Madame
de,
,
Mate
of
the
INDEX Nan-Shan, Secret,
"The 33,
116,
77,
;
Sharer,"
218
Singleton, ; Sophia
171
62;
120,
Antonovna,
152,
114,
Stein, ; Stevie, 143
135,
150,
;
133
42,
40-1, 218 ;
106,
158,
224
Mother, Linda, Viola,
12,
156; Wait,
James, 121
157,
127,
Mrs,
Williams,
58, 163
;
157
G.
(quoted)
1
,
K.,
i
difficult
writer
reasons
for
Mr,
96
7,
discuss,
4-6
;
tude atti-
puzzles
;
reasons English, 7 ; his mitigating against larity, popu8-9 ; dignity of his at work, a appeared 9 ; ing fortunate epoch, 9-10 ; feelfor duty, 12 ; his type
the
realism,
of
13
and
birth
16
in, 17-8; leaves book
the 18
works
18-24
;
25
;
28-47
many on
his ;
of
novels ^is
short
; ;
sailed
stories
described, stories
de-
people
of
bolism sym-
some
creative admires
104-5
;
where
tion intui-
his
;
103
he
; 104 energy, in character,
he
triumphs
psychologically, 106 ; where he fails psychologically, 107
;
austerity of aim, 107-8 ; his people ability to make his 108-9 ality, origin; thrilling, his psychology 109 ; his
inductive,
III'; always
109
his
;
his 113-4; his seamen,
other
Easterns,
145-51
other
East, acters char-
the
Nostromo,
'"
129-34
134-43 et
120-2;
the
122-9;
and ;
in
;
; 114-7 his
men,
men
144
Gould
112
finest,
117-20;
men,
women,
seq. ;
of the
old
Africa, in
et
112
masculine,
very
and negroes his white
modern,
very
men,
sensitiveness
described, his
terested seq. ; inidde with
et
touches
people,
his autobiographical and
autobiography,
ness, pervasive-
of mance, rograsp his sympathy
92
what
the
18; first
sea, ;
14
15-6
ships he
;
published,
founded
work,
upbringing,
to sea,
goes
his
about
flavour
aristocratic
;
its
good people, general conception
;
93
and
popularity, un-
critics'
;
2-4
2
fixes,
;
sphere, atmo-
and
character,
his
24 marks
comparative
towards,
his
;
;
82-3
his
figures, 93 ; with his faced people lems, probhis feeling for 94 ; artistic unity, 96 ; his sanity, of proportion, 97-9 ; his sense of influence 100 atmosphere ; his his on ; figures, loi curiosity, 101-3 ; reality of
exceptionally to
simple
in
29,
philosophy
;
;
in
89-90,
epoch,
new
of
200;
104' Confessions, Rousseau's, Conrad, Joseph ; work a
90
70
Conrad's
Conduct, of, 12,
for
Carl, 137
Yundt,
;
Chesterton,
an
of ;
his
88
loi,
X.,
guage, lan-
of
live,
84-5
tain, Cap-
170,
et
67
of
creation
nature
86
136;
Willems,
this,
command
characters
exotic
Waris,
120;
114;
31.
;
82
his
39,
32,
Whalley,
;
52, 30,
40, 17,
77-8 sea,
5-6,
11
Gizelle,
Wamibo,
;
Dain,
him,
207;
39,
Viola,
;
Vladimir,
120-1
156,
atmosphere,
of
;
the
all-important to his symbolism, 75 ; the his feeling for which ; intensity with
Viola,
;
115.
Giorgio, 207
129,
149-51.
Winnie,
39.
his 72
41-2,
145-7.
151
of
masters
;
scribed, de-
of
one
;
atmosphere
Verloc's, 42,
novels
collaborated
instances
seq. ;
Taminah,
Winnie,
135, ;
66
Verloc, 135-6, 200,
94,
74,
great
;
152
Verloc,
104,
;
he
63-5
Sterne,
;
40
Tekla,
;
the
;
scribe which
in
40, 41, 42, Stott-Warten-
;
Baron,
heim, 157
151
47-63
; Sotillo,
174 126
241
seq.
Winnie
good
;
;
his
Mrs
Verloc, women,
CONRAD
JOSEPH
242
of interesting types of 154-8 ; his idea women, his irony femininity, 158-9 ; other of that to compared 1
in
;
51-4
161
men,
often
;
162
device,
language 227-8 ; leanings, 228
of
instances
;
229,
irony, 163 et seq. ; the tion, irony of incongruous associa-
who
his
165-6
167
;
169
;
his
his
humour,
irony
comic,
; 170-4 tragic than
more
175
;
180
177-8 ; his prose, perfect EngUsh foreign, 180-1 ; his
181-2
prose, his
of
186-7 style,
182-5
middle
Daudet, Diana
;
138, 230.
his
of
of
unity
198
his
dramatic
End
stories
sketches,
;
; intensity, 200-6 his 207-8 ;
of
relation,
of
handling
artistic
aims
214
constant,
214
and
217-8
names,
218 219
;
his
;
and
readers
his attitude a
his
who
very
to
false
for
continental
222
his tradition,
reserved,
219
art,
know ;
225
tails, de-
59-60,
173,
;
217
61, 85,
quoted,
225 "
The,
the
Tether,"
53,
76, 114, 117, quoted, 178
50.
143, ment move-
new
of
; lack
lo-i
tradition,"
Evelyn, John, "
Falk,"
18,
110,126,
233
The,
5, 55
25 "
Mark,"
Saint
of
pean Euro-
enters
English Review, Eve
;
first
53,
155,
54-5,
165,217;
The, 57,
85 109,
quoted,
155-6 Fielding,
towards
realist,
understand
196
The, 57,
steps,
characters, towards
C, 196 Norman,
"
;
titles
his
;
position
great romantic
easier
his
229,
Conrad,
'"
;
97,
228,
94,
221,
;
his ; plots natural, 215 216 treatment ; eloquence, of inanimate and objects ^^^ animals, greatest 216-7
217
227 iii,
;
his
achievements,
9,
42
173-4,
living versatility of, Conrad's position in, ; 223 Conrad an 226 definitely ; with English writer, 227-8 ;
power
crowd,
2,
stylistsin, 196
form
211-13; a
170,
173,
in,
his
210-11
his narrative
for
reasons
;
;
;
Crossways,
178, 217; English literature,
terminations,
;
of
51-2,
200
eloquent silences, 210 sharply-defined edges,
11
96,
Egoist, The,
seq. ; novelist's
his
;
mere
as
;
197
in
4-6
85-6
own
the
199-200
never
his
et of
conception art,
work,
the
artist,
;
pitfall categories, 235 8,
13,
88, 94, 140,
whole
the
to
1-2
234
"
subordinate
139
of,
233 the
139,
Doughty, style, Douglas, 189-92 ; varieties in his style, Duel," ; its dignity, 196 ; style 193-5 "
land, Eng-
Conrad,
and
Dostoievsky,
period,
originality latest 187-8;
of
him
and
business
;
pathies, sym-
writers
235
of,
Dickens,
richness
style,
his
in
change ;
early of
prose
yet
9 ; French ; five 231
Punishment,
mistakes
of, 170
et seq. ;
and
;
to
its
lish, Eng-
Franco-Slav
Conrad
relation
motive,
of
perception
clear
in
French
Criticism,
the
save
;
in
influenced
232 233, and
Crime
chmax,
226
written
his
have
most,
contrast,
dramatic
of
and
of
and
;
have
never
any
artistic
an
literature,
English
could
;
227
Flaubert,
2,
220
;
194,
197,
199,
222
;
223,
225,
229,
France,
those
ture, litera-
229,
223
Francia,
;
place
French
187, 188,
107,
Anatole,
218,
214, 230, 9,
232,
86, 161,
193, 220,
234
175,
232
Dr, 134 literature,
Conrad
in
JOSEPH
244 National
Observer, The,
Nelson,
sane,
ii
loi
21
169 Grub Street, 212 Review, The, 19
New
New
18,
17,
"
the
Nigger of
116-7,
195,
208,
32-3.
80-1,
74, 94,
129-34.
188,
208,
4,
12,
37-40,
95,
104,
III,
145-9.
186,
173,
211,
167,
173,
186-7, 187, (2)
209
Day
One
More,"
Outcast 30-2,
170-1,
179,
200,
171,
175-7
175,
quoted, Outpost
80,
18, 177,
13
founded
;
on
experience, 25, ; 103 building from practically spheric, atmonothing, 71 ; 75
sometimes
;
77
exemplified
;
figures, the
"
An, Progress," 169, 48-9, 50, 125, 47, 208; quoted, 177-8
as
romantic,
of
gives
of
personality
of,
his
207;
terested in-
much
as
kind
Fever el,The, 69 Islands, An, 29, 122, 126-7, 156,
121,
79,
sonality, per-
;
absorbed Conrad's, his life, 10 ; special
actual
55
;
104
own
with
power
the
of
no; in
REAnsM,
201-4,
Eve,
95 of Richard
his
character, no; modern, in no; Purple Land, The, 3
201-7,
115-6, 131, 133, 146, 148, 149,
70-1,
136, 144,
46, 115,
2.ii\ 234;
217,
134,
204-6,
195,
creative,
by
impressive its through reality, 106 ; universal disregards types, entirely with 107 ; concerned its characters, ling, 107-8 ; thrilenlivened 108-9 ; by of flashes ductive, ingenius, 109 ;
156. 166-7,
151.
193,
214,
quoted,
Ordeal
186,
42
viii,
70-1,
the
101-2,
79,
120-1,
and
tinged
105-6
217;
Mrs,
Nostromo,
On
The,
quoted, 79, 117(2), 118, 121, 184
Norton,
on
intuitive
Narcissus,"
19,
III,
;
all
atmospheric, curiosity, 101-3 ; actuality, 103 ; ;
97-100 full of
founded
Age, The,
New
"
CONRAD
92,
106
151 ; inevitability,
112,
illusion
of
invincible
;
symbolic, in
belief
in, 199-200 66 Rembrandt, Return," The, 47, 49, 50, 76, 164, 168, 183, 208, 210, 216, quoted, 68, 168, 219; 217, 183, 209 "
Paradise
Pater,
Lost,
19 8
Walter,
Pepys, Samuel, 25 in authors, Personality Poe,
E.
Portrait
Prose,
A.,
of
6, 89
Romance,
231
Lady,
a
Conrad's,
The,
dignified,
10
180,
;
but
shows 195
;
183-5
.'
of
;
character,
193-9
originaUty of, 187-8
;
Flaubert, 188 of, dignity 196-7 ; idea of, Psychology, Conrad's, indebtedness
to
in
developed realistic,
92
;
hints, tends
to
9
;
the
id"e fixe, 93 study of the occasionally symbolic, 93-4 subjective and objective, 95
;
in
imagery
24 ; power understand
182-3 ; musical,
186;
some,
foreign changes
185-6, 188-9, of, idiosyncrasies 182,
Conrad's, to
147
mannered
influence, in, 181-2, rich,
188
Rhythm,
earlier
88-9
over,
it
142,
64-5, 157
Rousseau, Ruskin,
;
1
99 ; 216 ;
force, basis, 229
passionate
his
drama melo-
from,
realism,
Romance,
must
;
his
no;
dramatic
full
work,
know
to
derived includes
thetic antipa7 ;
3,
89,
quoted,
116,
; its
144
its
140,
89
24 220
Russian
literature,
;
relation
;
223,
228
to,
9,
86,
Conrad 173,
in 175,
245
INDEX 226 Sainte-Beuve, Sanity, Conrad's, 98-9, 219
Scott^ Sea,
214,
122
feeling for,
The,
madness
to
138 146-8
and
;
its saddest
;
its
;
in
129,
exhibition, exhibition,
227
Conrad's
drives
;
despair,
150-1
deepest various
of 78-82, 117, 119, women, ; 152-4 his irony, 175 ; its intensity, Secret Agent, The, 6, 9, 40-3, 45, choly, melanits pervasive 84-5. ; 134-7. 94. 104. 200-7 74. 77. 162, 163, 145-6, 149-51, 234 142, "'""' F?'"-'^ 208, 166, 167, 175, 186, 200, TroUope, i^thony, 13 216, 217; quoted, 74-5, 136, Turgenev, 13, 86, 95, 107, 127, 161, 168, 219, 220, 229, 167 225, 137. Secret The, 61, 62, I Sharer," 230, 232 'Twixt Land and Sea, 18, 61-3, 63. 76. 173. 217
the
182
19-20,
basis
"
"
of Six, A, Shakespeare, Set
57-61
194
98,
69,
13,
99,
Typhoon, 53-7, 165 18, 53-4, Typhoon,"
"
129,
221
151,
Shaw,
Bernard,
225
109,
7,
Shelley, 69, 221 Small Boy and Others, A, 76, 88,
128,
120,
164-5, 189-92
61-2, 157,
Under
quoted,
140,
127,
16, 18, 188, 199,
72,
15, 141,
quoted,
199-200,
Stendhal,
223 R.
24,
20,
L., 9,
11,
Unity
ing, regard-
163, 194
Sylvie and Bruno, Synge, J. M., 9 196 Syren Land,
of Unrest,
Wells, Whitman,
H.
229,
231
Wilde, Women,
"
Walt,
2,
66, 69,
221,
8 Oscar, Conrad's,
poignancy
his
18
in, 158-9 ; Meredith's,
with
compared
42
106, 109, 228, 230, 234 53,
140,
109,
quoted,
165, 217;
Tragedy, 66-7 ; 76-7 ; parent,
12
159-60
The,
99,
G., 7,
essential
To-morrow,"
76,
182,
225
Tolstoy, 223,
33
; 155 good, 145-54. mysteriously attractive, 156-7; ninity femioffensive, some 158;
12
47-50,
194,
143,
161
228
Thackeray, Thais, 87
96,
75,
on,
198
21
Rabindranath,
Tchekov,
quoted,
152, 174, 209-10 of art, Conrad's work
a
Voltaire,
of
Times,
of
Vanity Fair, Velasquez, 66
8
Tales
175,
insistence
105,
219
Strindberg, iii, 225 Style, Misconceptions
Tagore,
174,
136-7,
197.
200
Swift,
152,
167-8, 168-9,
43-5,
181, 186,189,200,210;
218;
Stevenson,
143.
46, 158,
Eyes,
96, 137-9.
163,
Reminiscences,
215,
Western
94,
168
22-4,
quoted, 183-4, 209
171-2,
A,
56, 67, 165, 171, 118-9, 136,
128,
217;
173,
156, ;
217
173.
Smoke, Some
"
Fortune,"
of
Smile
117,
93,
215
118,
Conrad's, its
III,
55-6, 141,
a
11
3-4
lover ;
57,
152-3.
184 romantic,
69,
and
in the
in savage.
W.
B.,
Yellow
Book,
Youth,
50-1,
"
Youth," 71,
186,
emotion,
uneasy
in
Yeats,
214,
71,
12,
77
The,
1 1
182, 3,
17,
76, 88, 116, 208,
217;
88
a
Zola,
Emile,
13
217, 50-1, 120,
234 53,
124,
68, 125,
quoted, 68-9,
1
rKi;"-TKO
TCRSBDLL
BV
AND
EDIKBURGH
SrBAES,
BOOKS
BY
SAME
THE
EXTRACTS
FRO
LIFE
IS
A
AUTHOR
31
REVIEWS
6s.
DREAM.
S/iadou'S out a/ the call studies, sensations Richard them what in Mr after will Curie's Li/e is a Dream too greedily, one you that does There whet the appetite is scarcely a tale in all the nine of them not another. mental for another drama, or curious record, another psychological analysis. strange them is not only to be surcharged vith swallow But to whole, as it were, emotion, but to flavour and which fascination risk losing the effect of the separate lingers in nearly will
"It
Crowd)
not
^especially to temptation to
easy the
prove
withstand
to
those
take
have
who
read
memories,
the
"
"
in
like
long after
case
every as
'
last
word
'
Here
quite alien Going Home,'
'
in
we
hundreds
of
The
"
surprise and
to
each
the
very
might
men
broods
suspense
Hoskyns,'
Old
minds
two
have, as experience which an an ordinary reaction."
from
in
as
read.
been
has
here, of
contact
Or
than
more "
the
fire,from
environment.
slowly
the
Palillos,'and
Blanca
go
like
pathos
other, though
in
cloud struck
a
are
the
same
spiritof tragedy emerging through without suffering
Times.
And in Mr naturally inquire for indiscretions. be something seemed to affecting his fantasy, dreams and into nightmare urged their plots something that turned and It was suicide. remarkable book, though a irresistiblyto solutions of madness But the malign vapour that so infected, it has whatever decidedly uncomfortable. was For Curie's in this latest book brain, let us hope for good. of his his happily left Mr there is as imagination dreams individually, and, just because quite as strangely and of suicidal the touch of nightmare in it,far more mania impressively. Instead as no the A presiding genius, a deep and unobtrusive irony now plot. tragic manages when method it is not bound itself in violent death, or even to assert gains in seriousness of these stories the in death need at all. to Only two help of death complete their and in both the help is not invoked, but drawn cases on by a restrained, firm purpose, Guardian. logic of irony." The Manchester
hearing of
After
Curie's
a
book
previous
nightmare,
we
stories there his impressive
of
"
"
With
Mr Curie definitely take his place as one may and News Leader. English short story." The Daily
this book of the
masters
SHADOWS "
work
of
a
OUT Curie's
Richard
Mr
sharp
grotesques,
of the
living
few
"
who
man
and
first book
of stones. full
feverish, but
ought
to
THE
OF
give
us
Shadows
of
books
some
of the confidence
out
curious
a
6s.
CROWD.
of vital brilliance
Crozvd, is and
of It is the future." The a
volume
power.
in the
"
Liverpool Courier, "
The
of these stories succeeds in riveting the attention and psychological studies, dealing with characters
author
remarkable
are
of his readers.
South
Scotland,
of
delineator
They
tragedies in London,
South author America. The is a Africa, West India, and Courier. The Dundee life,and an artist of quite unique talent."
powerful
"
the
pieces ('stories' is hardly the question, the book is good It exhibits of invention, skill, both of writing and a enough to be going on with. is certainly unusual which athletic,formidable, and yet graceful." The Manchester "
will do Curie in Shadows
Richard
Mr
for
word
them)
better
out
things
of the
than
Crowd
;
but,
no
"
"
Guardian.
OF
ASPECTS the
"Amid and
delicate
literature
study by This
place.
.
which
should
informed
BROADWAY
.
short
.
younger
MEREDITH.
6s.
of our circling round the fame leading novelist, this keen P. Curie Richard H. will unquestionably take foremost a study is indeed a distinguished and well-balanced piece of work, now
Mr
gain its author
of the
GEORGE
immediate critics of the
HOUSE,
the most recognition, as among The day." Daily Telegraph.
68-74
sane
and
well-
"
CARTER
LANE,
LONDON,
E.G.
1
DeacidifJedusingthe Bookkeeper process.
Neutralizing agent: Magnesium Treatment
Oxide
Date: June 2009
PreservationTechnologies A WORLD
LEADER 111
IN COLLECTIONS
Thomson
Park
PRESERVATION Drive
View more...
Comments
