In five pages these two characters are contrasted and compared. Seven sources are cited in the bibliography.
Name of Research Paper File: TG15_TGmarkur.rtf
Unformatted Sample Text from the Research Paper:
However, through his distinctive characterizations, Conrad also considered the duality of human nature through his protagonist, Charlie Marlow, and his antagonist, Mr. Kurtz. There is duality that is ever-present
throughout the novel, in contrasting images of darkness and light, and within the conflict between the two characters. It becomes obvious that Charlie Marlow is Joseph Conrads literary alter
ego; he serves as the authors voice and reflects his moral sensibilities. Kurtz, however, reflects the primitive passions which simmer just beneath the surface of civilized man.
Charlie Marlow is an intelligent and deeply philosophical man who enjoys nothing more than traveling the world on his yawl, the Nellie, and articulating his
profound insights on human nature to anybody who will listen. He is a fatalist, which is revealed in his observation, "We live in the flicker--may it last as long
as the old earth keeps rolling! But darkness was here yesterday" (Conrad 1587). However, while Marlow always appears to be well-intentioned, he, according to one critic, "displays a
dual personality. His principal role as a hero in search of a higher truth sharply contrasts with his dark side" (Rangarajan 139). While he observes the effects of
the slave trade and colonial avarice firsthand and protests such injustice, he never makes an attempt to initiate any type of changes or reforms. Marlow appears to be content
to be simply a moral philosopher, while failing to recognize that actions speak louder than words. He is also somewhat of a hypocrite, for he prided himself on being
very much an individualist, coming and going as he pleased, and yet it was his wealthy aunts connections that earned him the commission as Congo steamship skipper. Marlow failed