Cannibals
The cannibals are natives who were hired by the whites to work on Marlow’s steamship that had just gotten repaired and which was sailing on a two month trip to get to Kurtz. Marlow was actually impressed by the good work of the natives, called cannibals by the whites, done on the steamer as well as their patience, resistance, their attitude; not till that point showing their animalistic character. What seemed to confuse Marlow about these natives was the fact that they were maybe normal and not inhuman. This should prove to be a further step in Marlow’s detachment from the colonists’ beliefs about the natives. Furthermore, Marlow not being on very good terms with the manager and the other Europeans, he could see, from a different and closer perspective, the work of the natives on the steamer, their alertness, despite being very hungry. Marlow showed some admiration towards them after taking a closer look as well as more respect. Moreover, there seems to be a contradiction, as when the steamship seemed to be attacked, it is actually the pilgrims who acted like savages and started shooting everywhere while, on the other hand, the cannibals remained calm and did not turn against the people on the ship but instead defended them, stood by them and did not resort to violence as the pilgrims did.
No comments:
Post a Comment