One Man, One Journey, One Lesson, Two Novels

Something that struck me as interesting when reading Douglas Kerr’s “Three Ways of Going Wrong” was the following quote: “It is the siren that lures him to his own wreck” (Kerr 22). A common theme I found in both Heart of Darkness and Waiting for the Barbarians is that each main character (Kurtz in HOD and the magistrate in WFB) each do whatever he believes he should do, whether or not anyone else thinks it’s right or wrong. Through Kurtz’s and the magistrate’s experiences, they learn about themselves and the place in which they have been living a lot more than before these experiences. For Kurtz, “the wilderness is Kurtz’s ‘sleeping dictionary’; it has something to say to him and it says it, whispering to him ‘things about himself which he did not know, things of which he had no conception till he took counsel with this great solitude’” (Kerr 22). Is the wilderness Kurtz’s siren? In WFB, the magistrate’s siren is probably universally agreed to be the barbarian girl. The magistrate’s siren causes him to be in jail, essentially, which could be seen as “his own wreck.” In class, we already discussed the issue of exactly why he even sent the girl back to her people (to atone for what the Empire did to her and her people; maybe because he merely thinks that it’s the right thing to do, etc.). This does indeed lead to the magistrate being questioned by Colonel Joll and Mandel, which leads to the two of them attempting to accuse the magistrate with whatever little insufficient evidence they can find (i.e. the symbols they think are communication notes between the magistrate and some barbarians). The whole questioning aspect and the fact that the magistrate ended up in jail because of sending the barbarian girl back does support the idea that his siren lured him to his own wreck. Now, comparing this to Kurtz’s so-called siren, it’s a little difficult for me to comprehend exactly how Kurtz’s siren leads to his wreck. Kerr points out that “Surrendering to its blandishments, Kurtz like Odysseus loses touch with his best rational intentions and his earlier self, tending, as the Russian reports, to ‘forget himself among these people . . .”; indeed, Marlow does seem to know, for his immediate diagnosis is ‘Why! He’s mad’” (22). I mean, I guess since Kurtz ends up dying and Marlow ends up lying to Kurtz’s Intended, those are two possible ways that have constitute a bad ending for Kurtz; however, I still have some doubts about Kurtz’s “wreck.”

Another interesting aspect that Kerr brushes upon is the fact that their sirens allow both Kurtz and the magistrate to learn appreciation, something that would not support the fact about the siren leading them to their own wrecks. I honestly believe that the magistrate began to appreciate the barbarian girl, his siren, after she wasn’t there by his side every night. When he attempts to revive her image in his mind after she left, it shows that he really wants to remember her. Yes, it could be argued that the magistrate values the history she holds and maybe that’s the reason why he houses her and wants to remember her, but somehow, it just seems like he just appreciates her (you-don’t-know-what-you-have-until-it’s-gone type of thing). Maybe doesn’t love her, but appreciates her, in whatever respect. As for Kurtz, “he comes to Africa as the torchbearer of modernity and progress . . . who lectures his less high-minded colleagues on the need to treat the natives well, and on their responsibility and opportunity for ‘humanizing, improving, instructing’” (22). And of course the wilderness, his siren, reveals to him things he did not know until then. His siren almost allows Kurtz to understand “The horror! The horror!” of which was his life, but his siren also lets him appreciate the culture of the natives that he has come to learn.

To me, both novels take a similar approach in that they are each one man’s story. This one man goes on a journey whether knowing it (as Kurtz does) or not realizing until he’s there (as the magistrate shows); both journeys allow them to learn appreciation and/or eventually teach other people lessons (as Kurtz ends up teaching Marlow and as the magistrate attempts to teach Colonel Joll and Mandel). (724)