Who is Brickmaster in Heart of Darkness?
The General Manager’s most trusted agent. A sly, lazy, power-hungry fellow who despite his title seems to have never made a brick, the Brickmaker cares only about his own advancement and therefore sees Kurtz as a threat. He also thinks that Marlow and Kurtz are somehow allied within the company.
How does the Marlow describe the Brickmaker?
Brickmaker, Brickmaker, Make Me a Brick Check out how Marlow describes the brickmaker as having a “forked little beard and a hooked nose” (1.56), calling him a “papier-mâché Mephistopheles.” (FYI, Mephistopheles was the devil in another story, Faust.) Indeed, the man has many of the characteristics attributed to Satan.
What does the Brickmaker want Marlow to do?
Seeing an opportunity to use the brickmaker’s influence to his own ends, Marlow lets the man believe he really does have influence in Europe and tells him that he wants a quantity of rivets from the coast to repair his ship.
What is the Brickmaker doing in Heart of Darkness?
The brickmaker is nearby, discussing Kurtz with the manager. We learn that not only does this guy not do his job of making bricks, but he is inexplicably wealthy. The implication is that he is in cahoots with the manager and making money illegally. The brickmaker engages Marlow in conversation.
Why does Marlow call the Brickmaker a paper mache Mephistopheles?
Marlow describes him as a “papier mache Mephistopheles” (Conrad, 31). This subtly very cleaver of Conrad as he speaks as if Kurtz has sold his soul to excel in the imperial ivory trade and now the brick maker as the manifestation of Mephistopheles is here to collect on his side of the bargain.
What does Marlow’s aunt represent?
Marlow’s Aunt is a loving person who secures for him a good position in the Company. She believes in the benevolence of the European civilization and its advancement of civilization in African. She is influenced by the Company officer’s wife.
What is admirable about Kurtz’s character?
Kurtz is able, through his great charisma and ability with language, to affect men and cause them to admire him. He is also capable of incredible brutality, and has used his control over the native peoples in the jungle to enforce his role as dictator through fear and murder.
What is the theme of Heart of Darkness?
The main themes of Heart of Darkness include darkness, alienation and loneliness, and chaos and order. Darkness: Marlow sees “darkness” in the practices of imperialism, though the book maintains the racist implication that it is the uncivilized land and people that led to Europeans’ corruption.
How does Marlow change in Heart of Darkness?
As Heart of Darkness progresses, Marlow becomes increasingly sensitive to his surroundings and the “darkness” that they may embody or hide. When he visits the Company’s headquarters, for example, he is slightly alarmed by the doctor’s comments and puzzled by the two women knitting black wool.
What does the accountant symbolize in Heart of Darkness?
In Heart of Darkness, the chief accountant represents imperialism in both his manner and dress.
What does Marlow learn by overhearing?
What does Marlow learn by overhearing the manager and his uncle? What do they say about Kurtz and what is happening upriver? He learns that Kurtz is the man everybody was talking about and he was also somewhat frightening to people. Kurtz believes that the stations should be a road to better things.
Who arranges for Marlow to get a job in the Congo?
The Nellie. How did Marlow get his job in Africa? His aunt helped him get it.
Why is heart of Darkness important to literature?
Heart of Darkness is a novella written by Joseph Conrad. It is widely regarded as a significant work of English literature and part of the Western canon. The story tells of Charles Marlow, an Englishman who took a foreign assignment from a Belgian trading company as a ferry-boat captain in Africa.
What happens in heart of Darkness by Robert Marlow?
Heart of Darkness centers around Marlow, an introspective sailor, and his journey up the Congo River to meet Kurtz, reputed to be an idealistic man of great abilities. Marlow takes a job as a riverboat captain with the Company, a Belgian concern organized to trade in the Congo.
What is the theme of heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad?
Greed is amongst one of the central themes for Joseph Conrad’s ‘Heart Of Darkness’. 1. “Because no relation of a dream can convey the dream-sensation, that commingling of absurdity, surprise, and bewilderment in a tremor of struggling revolt, that notion of being captured by the incredible which is of the very essence of dreams…”
What does heart of Darkness say about imperialism?
‘Heart of Darkness’ quotes on exploitation and racial discrimination prove that imperialism is a real issue. 17. “Your strength is just an accident arising from the weakness of others.” – ‘Heart Of Darkness’.