Heart of Darkness #4

In this passage of the novel, Marlow finally arrives at the inner station to meet the renown Kurtz. On the way in, he is greeted with arrows flying towards his ship from the African natives. During the attack, Marlow's helmsman is speared in the side, and falls at the captains feet: "It was the shaft of a spear that, either thrown or lunged through the opening, had caught him in the side just below the ribs; the blade had gone in out of sight, after making a frightful gash; my shoes were full; a pool of blood lay very still, gleaming dark red under the wheel; his eyes shone with an amazing lustre" (122). Even though his helmsman was an African native, Marlow chooses to describe his injury in full detail. Rather than morphing the story into an animal being slaughtered, Marlow treats the black man's death like a human death, with personal details. As the helmsman lies at his feet, Marlow is anxious to take his bloody shoes and socks off. He asks another man to steer the ship so he can cleanse his body of the murderous mess. Although he is not quick to admit it, Marlow cared about his crewman and is bothered by his death. His pressing need to remove his blood stained clothing indirectly displays that the murder bothered him emotionally. He does not want to have the proof of his helmsman's death on his person.

Although Marlow appears to be heightening his opinions of the Africans, he soon turns back to his racist roots. When Marlow is discussing the difficulties his crew faced traveling to Kurtz, he says, "I am not prepared to affirm the fellow was exactly worth the life we lost in getting to him" (128). Marlow's duty was always to pilot the ship to the inner station to get to Kurtz, a powerful white man. The fact that he is saying the loss of his African helmsman was not worth doing his job displays that he cared for his crewman and is bitter about his death. Marlow is not blaming Kurtz directly for the loss of life, but he is holding him somewhat accountable for the unnecessary death. It's refreshing to see Marlow showing affection towards a black man, but he discounts his kindness when he addresses the expected confusion of his listeners: "Perhaps you will think it passing strange this regret for a savage who was no more account than a grain of sand in the black Sahara" (128). Although Marlow was distressed by the African's death, he feels as though he has to justify his feelings because most will not understand affection towards a black person. He feels as though he must take away from his caring feelings towards his helmsman in order for his story to be accepted. Marlow is moving away from the blatant racism he displayed earlier in the novel, but he still adds subtler forms of racial ignorance as his story progresses.