Conrad's Marlow Narrative and death in 'Youth', Heart of Darkness, Lord Jim and Chance

by Wake, Paul

• ISBN13: 9780719074905
• ISBN10: 0719074908
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2007-10-01
• Publisher: Manchester University Press

Summary

Described as "the average pilgrim" a "wanderer," and "a Buddha preaching in European clothes," Charlie Marlow is the voice behind Joseph Conrad's Youth (1898), Heart of Darkness (1899), Lord Jim (1900), and Chance (1912). Conrad's Marlow offers a comprehensive account and critical analysis of one of Conrad's most celebrated creations, asking both who and what is Marlow: a character or a narrator, a biographer or an autobiographical screen, a messenger or an interpreter, a bearer of truth, or a misguided liar? Offering an investigation into the connection between narrative and death, this book argues that Marlow's essence is located in his constantly shifting position and that the emergence of meaning in his stories is bound up with the process of his storytelling.

Author Biography

Paul Wake is Lecturer in the Department of English at Manchester Metropolitan University.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements	p. vi
A note on the texts	p. vii
Preface	p. viii
Introduction: Marlow, realism, hermeneutics	p. 1
Marlow: 'Youth' and the oral tradition	p. 16
Heart of Darkness and death	p. 36
Lord Jim and the structures of suicide	p. 66
Chance and the truth of literature	p. 101
Epilogue: the sense of an ending	p. 128
Bibliography	p. 136
Index	p. 143
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