The Hero in Heart of Darkness
Remember Heart of Darkness?
The British Company functionary
who meets and briefs Marlow
at the ported mouth of river
on the coast of Africa
just before he travels the river inland
to fetch the fabled (“he dead”) Kurtz?
Remember the equatorial heat, the flies,
the lurking hum and scream of jungle,
the squalor? Remember the functionary.
Remember his coat and tie,
remember his collar, starched and white
despite humidity and river stench.
That functionary, that clerk,
that pathetically misplaced man,
that dumb incongruous fuck,
writing reports, counting tusks,
doing all that minor functionaries do,
with his tie and coat and stiff white collar—
for me, he's the hero of the tale.
He's the irreducible One
surrounded every day
by slithering, undulant Zero.
The British Company functionary
who meets and briefs Marlow
at the ported mouth of river
on the coast of Africa
just before he travels the river inland
to fetch the fabled (“he dead”) Kurtz?
Remember the equatorial heat, the flies,
the lurking hum and scream of jungle,
the squalor? Remember the functionary.
Remember his coat and tie,
remember his collar, starched and white
despite humidity and river stench.
That functionary, that clerk,
that pathetically misplaced man,
that dumb incongruous fuck,
writing reports, counting tusks,
doing all that minor functionaries do,
with his tie and coat and stiff white collar—
for me, he's the hero of the tale.
He's the irreducible One
surrounded every day
by slithering, undulant Zero.
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Author's Note
There were many perfectly etched minor characters in Conrad's novella. This is about one of them. From the unpublished archives I found boxed as I cleaned out my closet the other day. I'd wondered where so many things had gotten to.
Other stories by Gary Hardaway
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fine with me. conrad liked him too.
Thanks, W.R.
that dumb incongruous fuck,
writing reports, counting tusks,
doing all that minor functionaries do
This made me smile. Men are made on the backs of these people.
now had Conrad obviously felt otherwise... :) cheers
A great way to close:
"He's the irreducible One
surrounded every day
by slithering, undulant Zero."
This is a good read, Gary. The use of questions in the first half of the poem does lend uncertainty to the piece. That is effective. Also how the poem shifts away from that in the 2nd half.
Perfectly etched. *
" . . . despite humidity and river stench . . . with his tie and coat and stiff white collar . . . the hero . . . the irreducible One . . . "
I keep getting distracted by "Ride of the Valkyries" in my inner ear each time I start reading this. Might be the sympathetic malaria flashing back. Or something. I have utterly no academic creds, tho, to diagnose myself or to contribute any meaningfulness to a discussion about a poem with such fevered Nietzschean undertones. Gasp. *
Thanks, Sally, Sam, J. Mykell and Mathew for your readings and commentary. I am very grateful.
"Remember his coat and tie,
remember his collar, starched and white
despite humidity and river stench." Perfectly etched.*
Thank you, Gary.
Fascinating description. Fave*
I read this book when I was 19. The world made less sense to me afterwards. And I mean that in a good way.
I read this book when I was 19. The world made less sense to me afterwards. And I mean that in a good way.