Justin Enriquez

Brit. Lit./Comp.

Blog on “Describe Kurtz according to the narrator. What do you infer we can

expect from Kurtz based on the descriptions and tone of the story?”

24 November 2013

Kurtz: Man or Legend

            According to the narrator, Kurtz is a man whom is of much desire to encounter. As of now, Kurtz is a second sometimes third-hand story to the narrator, Marlow. Marlow desires to meet Kurtz due to the amazing stories he has heard of him. As far as Marlow is concerned, Kurtz is the chief of the inner station who is a figure of fascination created by the stories he’s heard from others. Kurtz is a figure of interest to Marlow but it seems as if each and every time he is close to completing his quest of searching for Kurtz he is somehow drifted away again from him. In class we discussed and compared Kurtz to that of an enchanted princess sleeping in a fabulous castle. Marlow portrays Kurtz as a princess since he is a hard target to reach. The voyage through the river was challenging which is why he compares him to a sleeping princess, meaning that there has been no clear and relevant signal from Kurtz himself but rather from other people who claim he is not an ordinary man but that in which possesses various traits desired by many such as charisma. Later in the story, we find out that Kurtz uses these traits as a tool in order to appeal to certain people and then use them to satisfy his own selfish desires.

            Based on the descriptions and tone of the story, I infer that Kurtz will end up disappointing Marlow. I infer this due to the prolonged quest Marlow has endured in order to meet his idol, Kurtz. Conrad is building up the readers desire to know who Kurtz really is and not who they think he is. Therefore, due to the prolonged wait the reader has to endure, I infer that Conrad is setting us up for a disappointment in which he will utilize Marlow in order to convey the feelings that are going to be created due to this failure. This will in turn set him up for another revealing moment in which he will make us realize how in every one of the persons we look up to there is a heart of darkness rooted deep inside their being.