This is a very deep question which I will try to do
justice in the space allotted, but just be aware that entire PhD theses have been
written on this topic! You are definitely right in suggesting that there is some kind of
deep connection between Marlow and Kurtz suggested in the
novel.
What is important to realise is that as Marlow
penetrates further into the unknown, his capacity for self-control and "inborn strength"
are tested. His real trial, however, only takes place when he feels he has been
"transported into some lightless region of subtle horrors" which Kurtz seems to inhabit.
Kurtz is repeatedly described as a shadow, and when Marlow tries to convey the essence
of his experience, he declares "I am trying to account to myself for - for - Mr. Kurtz -
for the shade of Mr. Kurtz." Though Kurtz exists as a character in his own right, there
is a sense in which he can be viewed as Marlow's shadow or "double". By declaring that
Kurtz is "a remarkable man" Marlow was lumped together with him and this identification
with the "nightmare" of Kurtz's "choice" leads to his confrontation with him. It
accounts for the "moral shock" Marlow receives when he realises that Kurtz has left the
steam-boat to join the natives; and for the following
statement:
I
was anxious to deal with this shadow by myself alone - and to this day I don't know why
I was so jealous of sharing with any one the peculiar blackness of that
experience.
When Marlow
states "I confounded the beat of the drum with the beating of my heart", he shows that,
like Kurtz, he has reached the heart of darkness, "the farthest point of navigation." It
is no longer with the wilderness outside that Marlow fights, but rather with its effect
on Kurtz and the spell it cast over him. "If anyone ever struggled with a soul, I am the
man" he says. That Marlow's involvement with Kurtz amounts to a plunge into the depths
of the self is confirmed when he explains that Kurtz's soul "had looked within itself,
and - gone man. I had - to go through the ordeal of looking into it myself." Whatever
Marlow's arguments, he not only succeeds in bringing Kurtz back to the boat, but remains
sufficiently detached to judge with precision the extent of his self-deception, the fact
that Kurtz still hides "in the magnificent folds of eloquence the barren darkness of his
heart."
So, whilst it is credible to maintain that Marlow
and Kurtz act as doubles in the story, this is only a partial "doubling", for Marlow
shows what Kurtz blatantly lacks - self-knowledge regarding his own involvement in the
colonial enterprise and imperialism at large.
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