Joseph Conrad is Marlow in Heart of Darkness

A claim that has been made many times before is that Joseph Conrad is Marlow from the novel, Heart of Darkness. In 1890 Joseph Conrad sailed in Africa up the Congo River. The journey provided a basis for his novel Heart of Darkness. If the facts are looked at it can clearly be seen that Joseph Conrad reflected his own life with that of the character Marlow in his novel Heart of Darkness.

Joseph Conrad and Marlow began sailing at a young age. Early in Heart of Darkness the narrator on the Nellie describes Marlow as “the only man of us who still follows the seas”, and he began sailing at the age of 13. John Batchelor says Joseph Conrad experienced the life of a sailor when he was 17 and joined French merchant marine for four years. Conrad sailed on the Palestine in 1881-1882 when he was 20. Joseph Conrad and Marlow Being sailors enabled them to make a voyage to Africa.

Both Marlow and Joseph Conrad had family members who influenced their lives. Marlow’s aunt helps him get the job of being a skipper of a river steamboat when nobody else will. He states, “I Charlie Marlow, set the woman to work-to get a job”. Marlow’s aunt, “a dear enthusiastic soul”, thought it would be a “glo

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Conrad saw many things as he ventured down the Congo that appalled him as well as experiences he would never forget. “They were dying slowly-it was very clear. Conrad and Marlow made their venture to Africa in their early 30’s. Joseph Conrad witnessed his mother’s death resulting from exile at the age of seven. Kurtz lacked restraint in the gratification of his various lusts”. Marlow is forced to see “dark things” along the path.

Both Conrad and Marlow seemed to have a great love for being involved with exploring. Along the way Marlow sees many things that appall him just as Conrad wrote about in the Congo diary. At an early age, both Conrad and Marlow had a strong desire to venture to Africa. “Conrad the Orphan was placed under the guardianship of his doting grandmother, Theophilia Bobrowski, and his uncle Count Ladislaw Mniszek, but it was Conrad’s uncle, Thadeus Bobrowski, Eva’s widowed brother, who took full responsibility for his nephew”. This job involved him piloting a boat forty miles up the Congo river to an outpost of the ivory trade for the Belgian company, fulfilling his childhood vow, “when I grow up, I shall go there”. A man got sick and was carried in a hammock which could be the reasoning behind Conrad stating that they had plenty of hammock carriers. When Conrad arrived he was assigned to be the assistant of a captain in rescuing a very sick company agent. In Marlow’s adventure to find Kurtz, he sees a fence of heads surrounding Kurtz’s house. Conrad loved and studied geography at the expense of his other school studies when he was a young boy.

Approximate Word count = 1350
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)

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