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TL;DR: No. Censorship Until the second half of the 20th century, it was not easy to publish literature in English that described sex in detailed or explicit terms. In England, literature was censored according to the Obscene Publications Act 1857; and in the U.S. according to the Comstock laws. These laws, prosecuted by private organizations like the ...

Why did Marlow lie? On pg. 24, Marlow said that he hates and detests lies (you can read the book online). If you google "Why did Marlow lie?" you get dozens of answers, all leading to the point that telling the truth would do no one any good, and it is better for the dead to be well thought of, blah blah blah, etc. etc. etc. I think this is true, as far as ...

There is an immediate and direct connection between the two. Toward the conclusion of Heart of Darkness the narrator, Marlow, describes Kurtz as "hollow to the core" (p72). By this, he means that Kutz is lacking in moral fibre and has been seduced into a facsimile of worship by the dark heart of Africa. This is much the same state as the "quiet and ...

There are three reasons why Marlow lied. 1. Too profound to explain Marlow keenly felt that his profound experience - of the Belgian Congo in general, and of Kurtz in particular - was beyond explanation to ordinary European citizens. He says that after his return to "the sepulchral city" (Brussels), he found himself "resenting the sight of people ...

Yes, the comic effect is intentional. Strong evidence of this is provided by the fact that the author's other political novel, Under Western Eyes, also contains elements of black comedy. There is evidence that Conrad was purposefully illustrating a theory of comedy advanced by the philosopher Henri Bergson. This can be surmised as a "comedy of the ...

It appears that Millot is speaking about himself In that scene, Susan runs madly through the night - when peasants see her, they take her for a ghost and hide in fear: She ran lightly, unaware of any effort of her body [...] She heard a voice calling, "Hey! There!" and answered with a wild scream. So, he could call yet! He was calling after her to stop. ...

The narrator first says "We didn't grumble at her", and then says "I would just as soon have..." This is saying that he wouldn't grumble at the old church, and he doesn't grumble at the ship. In both cases, he's saying that he's satisfied with what he's got. No matter how much grumble, your old local church isn't going to turn into a ...

As precise as Conrad is with his nautical descriptions, I think if he had meant a mast was consumed he would have said so. He spent a number of years as a merchant seaman, though Im not aware he was ever in a ship that went on fire. My reading is that he is just describing the vigour of the first flame to break from the space below decks, and the effect of ...

It was definitely an unwanted attention (groping, kissing), I don't believe it would be a full forced intercourse. While maids and servants in the XVIII and XIX century were often abused and even raped by their masters . Some servants suffered terrible abuse including beatings and rape. The chances of a master being held to account were remote. If a ...

There are two parts to this question: the meaning of "between us there was ... the bond of the sea", and the significance of the interposed clause "as I have already said somewhere". The novel is a frame story, in which the unidentified first-person narrator describes being with four friends, plus "the Director of Companies" as their host and captain, ...

1. What's the source of this Conrad paraphase? Christensen is almost certainly referring to the quote you've found. The source of that quote is the Preface of Conrad's The Nigger Of The "Narcissus", which you can access online (as html) at Project Gutenburg. 2. What does he mean? Conrad uses his Preface – "which is simply an avowal of endeavour" – to ...

Recent is rather vague. "The Duel" was included in Volume IV of The Complete Short Fiction of Joseph Conrad, edited with an introduction by Samuel Hynes (New York: Ecco Press, 1992/1993). This volume also contained "Falk: A Reminiscence", "A Smile of Fortune", "Freya of the Seven Isles: A Story of Shallow Waters", &...

Willems isn't powerful in the way that a local ruler may be powerful. He works as "confidential clerk" in a company involved in trade. Wiktionary defines "clerk" as "One who occupationally works with records, accounts, letters, etc.; an office worker" but this does not seem an appropriate description of what Willems actually ...