Metaphorical Romance

There’s gotta be a romance in every novel. Conrad’s is a little odd. Definitely it’s not the focus of the story, but it plays an important role at the end of the novel. It concludes it. “ ‘His last word-to live with,’ she insisted. ‘Don’t you understand I loved him-I loved him- I loved him!’ “I pulled myself together and spoke slowly.” ‘The last word he pronounced was-your name.’” (pg. 157) We know that’s not true. But she needed to hear that. A long time after Kurtz’s death and she was still mourning, painfully for him , Marlow decided to grant her the satisfaction to believe that Kurtz’s actual last word was her name. I found that interesting. Marlow doesn’t appear as a comprehensive or sentimental fellow, I would have expected him to just tell her his actual last words, but he didn’t. He felt sorry for her too. Why does she appear again in the end? She kinds of represents the legacy Kurtz left, emotionally after dying.

Conrad, through Marlow is trying to answer the QUESTions that I’ learned in 9th grade: Why are we here? Where are we going? Where did we come from? And above that, Who I am? Who are we? Marlow’s tale is a constant self-reflection. I might cover that in another blog. Referring back to the mistress, I think she is answering the where are we going question? In a rather different way. The lover’s constant remembrance of Kurtz is what is left of him. That is where he ends up when he dies, In her heart. I know it’s cheesy but it can make sense. It’s a romance with metaphorical background.