S E M I KO L O N - EgernInc

of some stuff that was brown holland
probably, but it was covered with patches
all over, with bright patches, blue, red, and
yellow--patches on the back, patches on
the front, patches on elbows, on knees;
coloured binding around his jacket, scarlet
edging at the bottom of his trousers; and
the sunshine made him look extremely gay
and wonderfully neat withal, because you
could see how beautifully all this patching
had been done.” (Conrad 1994, 74)
En pænhed der står i skærende kontrast til
det orgie af vold og absurditet, som udspiller
sig i den afrikanske virkelighed. Den unge
russer er en uforbeholden beundrer af
Kurtz, og under hans lovprisning af lederens
indsats i civilisationens tjeneste får Marlow
øje på de afhuggede afrikanske hoveder,
som pryder toppene af hegnspælene foran
den indre station. I Marlows dybfølte afsky
– som til stadighed rummer mere end blot et
stænk af fascination – over Kurtz’ brutalitet,
stykker han de spredte brikker af mandens
historie og skæbne sammen:
“The original Kurtz had been educated
partly in England, and - as he was good
enough to say himself--his sympathies
were in the right place. His mother was
half-English, his father was half-French.
All Europe contributed to the making of
Kurtz; and by and by I learned that, most
appropriately, the International Society
for the Suppression of Savage Customs
had intrusted him with the making of a
report, for its future guidance. And he had
written it, too. I’ve seen it. I’ve read it. It
was eloquent, vibrating with eloquence, but
too high-strung, I think. Seventeen pages
of close writing he had found time for! But
this must have been before his--let us say--
M r . K u r t z o g e u r o p æ i s k i d e n t i t e t
nerves, went wrong… But it was a beautiful
piece of writing. The opening paragraph,
however, in the light of later information,
strikes me now as ominous. He began with
the argument that we whites, from the
point of development we had arrived at,
‘must necessarily appear to them [savages]
in the nature of supernatural beings-- we
approach them with the might of a deity,’
and so on, and so on. ‘By the simple exercise
of our will we can exert a power for good
practically unbounded,’ etc., etc. From that
point he soared and took me with him.
The peroration was magnificent, though
difficult to remember, you know. It gave me
the notion of an exotic Immensity ruled by
an august Benevolence. It made me tingle
with enthusiasm. This was the unbounded
power of eloquence--of words--of burning
noble words. There were no practical hints
to interrupt the magic current of phrases,
unless a kind of note at the foot of the
last page, scrawled evidently much later, in
an unsteady hand, may be regarded as the
exposition of a method. It was very simple,
and at the end of that moving appeal to
every altruistic sentiment it blazed at you,
luminous and terrifying, like a flash of
lightning in a serene sky: ‘Exterminate all
the brutes!’” (Conrad 1994, 71-72)
Hele Europa bidrog til Mr. Kurtz. Conrad
gør os opmærksomme på, at imperialismen
i Afrika må forstås som et kontingent
forløb, hele Europa havde del i. Belgiske
og hollandske handelskompagnier, engelske
sømænd og “Eldorado Explorere”, franske
dampere, soldater og krigsskibe, svenske
kaptajner, den russiske discipel, og Kurtz
selv – halvt fransk, halvt engelsk og med
det tyskklingende navn. Danmark er også
med. Marlow bliver i første omgang tilbudt
s i d e [ 4 9 ]