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Discuss Conrad's art of characterization in Heart of Darkness. Ans. Heart of Darkness is a masterpiece which reflects Conrad's superb mastery in art of characterization. Keeping in view of Aristotle's 'Poetics' Conrad has chosen life-like characters in Heart of Darkness. In it, few characters are drawn from the real-life of Conrad, such as Marlow's aunt is Conrad's real aunt who helped him a lot. Mr. Kurtz represents Mr. Klein who was one of the company agents whose health had been failing and Conrad's main duty was to bring him back. The characters in Conrad's novels are neither utter idealist nor moralist. His characters are completely devoid of virtue or sin. They are normal human beings possessing both merits and demerits, virtue and vice. For example, in Heart of Darkness both Marlow and Mr. Kurtz are major characters, portrayed realistically. In spite of being a moralist, Marlow falls an easy prey to Mr. Kurtz's bewitching personality. Though he is intelligent and well-educated, he finds something irresistible in Mr. Kurtz. Again Mr. Kurtz, in spite of his being a scholar, a civilized Whiteman, and moralist, becomes very inhuman, cruel, and savage because of his prolonged stay in the dark region of Congo. The rest of the characters, the Accountant, the Manager, the Brickmaker, the native woman, and Mr. Kurtz's fiancee, the Intended are ordinary people whom we see in our daily life. Conrad has given us three-dimensional characters, portrayed from outside, inside, and judged by other's views. Marlow, the narrator has given detailed pictures of the characters, their age, dress, style, movement, behavior, their traits, and attitudes. For example, the accountant is presented with his sophisticated fashionable dress, his organizing ability, etc. His inner self is revealed when he talks about Mr. Kurtz. He is a strong-built man with sharp blue eyes and a smile that is not a smile at all. The Brickmaker is presented as "papier-mache Mephistopheles". Mr. Kurtz is presented by the judgments of other characters and by Marlow's comments after meeting him. Thus each character is portrayed from several angles—outwardly, inwardly, and measured by others also. Further, we notice the impact of the stream of consciousness technique in the art of characterization in Heart of Darkness. We know that Marlow is describing not only a physical journey in the dark region of Congo but also an exploration into the realms of the minds of the characters, their feelings, sensations, and emotions. We see Marlow in the course of giving the details of characters he encounters, laying more emphasis on revealing their inside, in other words, their sub-conscious levels of the minds. He also explores his own mind when he narrates the story. To sum up, Conrad's characterization is basically impression • and based upon the technique of the stream of consciousness of 2 century novel. Facebook

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