RR #2 pgs 57-59

Marlow doesn’t explicitly show his emotions, but there is a sense that he is concerned and just doesn’t know how to deal with his emotions. He isn’t acting impressed like the other fellow there with him or showing that he is shocked in any way. The way the helmsman died “without uttering a sound, without moving a limb, without twitching a muscle” reveals to be unexpected for the two white men because they are just standing over him. It looks as If they are waiting for the helmsman to act in response. It is not until the helmsman frowns that Marlow reacts. Marlow is affected by this death in a strange way. He eagerly asks the other guy to steer the wheel with no other choice, so that he can take his shoes and socks off that are soaked in blood. In addition, Marlow adds “to tell you the truth”, which shows that he is conscience of affection towards this death. Marlow is trying to get rid of the thought of this death by eagerly trying to take his shoes off, “tugging like mad at the shoe-laces”. This reminded me of Lady Macbeth washing “the blood” off her hands to try to rub off her guilt , and here Marlow is trying very hard to forget what happened and lose all evidence of the death. The noun “mad” reveals how and concerned he was. This can also be a foreshadowing of what the journey is going to do to Marlow and how it will affect him in becoming somewhat “mad”.