RR : Close Reading

In the first paragraph the first thing that Marlow notices is the heavy machinery at the top of the hill as well as the regular explosions. The contrast between the “grass [and] path leading up the hill” contrasts well with the “pieces of decaying machinery.” This explicit contrast implicitly suggests the contrast between the European industrial footprint with the local natural environment. So already we get the sense that the Company’s presence in the region is not one that benefits, meshes with its environment but one that denies the locality and imposes itself. Meanwhile the adjectives such as “carcass” “dead” “decaying” and “rusty” all serve the same purpose: to show the physical condition of the station but also the psychological. As if stuck in a timeless purgatory, the machinery has become obsolete and is slowly disintegrating with lack of use. Later in the passage he makes a reference to “the devil” as if this were hell and the devil was presiding over all the banished souls. Of course the reproach is on the devil himself: devil of “violence” “greed” “hot desire” all refer to highly appointed generals, business men and politicians in the European sphere. Of course only the devil would be able to condemn such innocent people to work for nothing.