"Arts, Faculty of"@en . "English, Department of"@en . "DSpace"@en . "UBCV"@en . "Stape, John Henry"@en . "2011-03-30T21:41:51Z"@en . "1973"@en . "Master of Arts - MA"@en . "University of British Columbia"@en . "This thesis explores stylistic features in two novels by Joseph Conrad--The Nigger of the \"Narcissus\" published in 1897 and The Rover published in 1923. The main focus of the discussion of these novels is the way in which form and meaning are integrated, that is, how style creates and affects theme and subject. In particular, the various literary devices that create style--the individual word, the sentence, and larger elements such as metaphoric and metonymic patterns\u00E2\u0080\u0094are dealt with. These elements are considered under three headings: dialogue, narrative, and imagery. The mimetic character of dialogue, its integration into a text, the various types of dialogue such as reported speech and direct discourse, and variations of dialogue such as interior monologue and free indirect style are discussed in relation to theme. Secondly, narrative, the larger frame into which dialogue fits, is treated at length, with narrative method, the characteristics of narrative prose in both novels, and the effects produced by Conrad's attention to rhythm and vocabulary forming the central concerns of this section. Lastly, metaphor and simile are discussed as stylistic elements not confined to individual sentences or passages but extending over an entire work, and as the means by which visual and auditory impressions are conveyed to the reader. The traditional types of simile and metaphor, \"as if\" and \"as though\" clauses functioning as similes, and metonymic images are analyzed with the intention of demonstrating the relationship between technique and vision."@en . "https://circle.library.ubc.ca/rest/handle/2429/33116?expand=metadata"@en . "CONRAD'S STYLE IN THE NIGGER OF THE \"NARCISSUS\" AND THE f^VER by JOHN HENRY STAPE B.A., Kent State U n i v e r s i t y , 1970 A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS i n the Department of E n g l i s h We accept t h i s t h e s i s as conforming to the requ i r e d standard THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA May, 1973 In presenting t h i s thesis i n p a r t i a l f u l f i l m e n t of the requirements for an advanced degree at the University of B r i t i s h Columbia, I agree that the Library s h a l l make i t f r e e l y available for reference and study. I further agree that permission for extensive copying of t h i s thesis for scholarly purposes may be granted by the Head of my Department or by h i s representatives. It i s understood that copying or publication of t h i s thesis for f i n a n c i a l gain s h a l l not be allowed without my written permission. Department of English The University of B r i t i s h Columbia Vancouver 8, Canada Date May 12, 1973 ABSTRACT This t h e s i s explores s t y l i s t i c f e atures i n two novels by Joseph Conrad--The Nigger of the \"Nar c i s s u s \" published i n 1897 and The Rover published i n 1923. The main focus of the d i s c u s s i o n of these novels i s the way i n which form and meaning are i n t e g r a t e d , that i s , how s t y l e creates and a f f e c t s theme and sub j e c t . In p a r t i c u l a r , the v a r i o u s l i t e r a r y devices that create s t y l e - - t h e i n d i v i d u a l word, the sentence, and l a r g e r elements such as metaphoric and metonymic p a t t e r n s \u00E2\u0080\u0094 a r e d e a l t w i t h . These elements are considered under three headings: d i a l o g u e , n a r r a t i v e , and imagery. The mimetic character of dialogue, i t s i n t e g r a t i o n i n t o a t e x t , the v a r i o u s types of dialogue such as reported speech and d i r e c t d i s c o u r s e , and v a r i a t i o n s of dialogue such as i n t e r i o r monologue and free i n d i r e c t s t y l e are discussed i n r e l a t i o n to theme. Secondly, n a r r a t i v e , the l a r g e r frame i n t o which dialogue f i t s , i s t r e a t e d at l e n g t h , w i t h n a r r a t i v e method, the c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s of n a r r a t i v e prose i n both novels, and the e f f e c t s produced by Conrad's a t t e n t i o n to rhythm and vocabulary forming the c e n t r a l concerns of t h i s s e c t i o n . L a s t l y , metaphor and s i m i l e are discussed as s t y l i s t i c elements not confined to i n d i v i d u a l sentences or passages but extending over an e n t i r e work, and as the means by which v i s u a l and auditory impressions are conveyed to the reader. The t r a d i t i o n a l types of s i m i l e and metaphor, \"as i f \" and \"as though\" clauses f u n c t i o n i n g as s i m i l e s , and metonymic images are analyzed w i t h the i n t e n -t i o n of demonstrating the r e l a t i o n s h i p between technique and v i s i o n . , Supervisor i TABLE OF CONTENTS I . I n t r o d u c t i o n 1 I I . I n d i r e c t and D i r e c t Discourse 7 I I I . N a r r a t i v e 36 IV. \"Above a l l to make you see:\" Metaphoric and Metonymic Imagery 56 V. Conclusions 88 VI. L i s t of Works C i t e d 95 i i A NOTE ON REFERENCES The e d i t i o n of Conrad's works cited\"throughout i s that of the C o l l e c t e d E d i t i o n published by J.M. Dent and Sons, L t d . ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I wish to thank Dr. Doris F r a n k l i n of Kent State U n i v e r s i t y , Kent, Ohio f o r her ass i s t a n c e i n o b t a i n i n g l i b r a r y m a t e r i a l s from the Kent State U n i v e r s i t y L i b r a r y , and to thank a l s o the M c G i l l U n i v e r s i t y L i b r a r y f o r a l l o w i n g me access to the McLennan L i b r a r y . Most e s p e c i a l l y , I wish to acknowledge the i n s i g h t and p a t i e n t guidance given to me by my d i r e c t o r , Mr. Andrew Busza. i i i Chapter I I n t r o d u c t i o n Edward Garnett, a r e l i a b l e source on Conrad's ideas about a e s t h e t i c theory, wrote t h a t : Conrad worked by i n t u i t i o n a f t e r a p r e l i m i n a r y m e d i t a t i o n , j u s t as h i s c r i t i c i s m of other men's work was i n t u i t i v e and not the f r u i t of considered theory. He was, of course, always i n t e r e s t e d i n l i t e r a r y technique and good c r a f t s -manship, such as F l a u b e r t ' s and Maupassant's. . . . But he never t h e o r i z e d about technique and many years l a t e r , on asking me why I had never w r i t t e n on the a r t of f i c t i o n and r e c e i v i n g my r e p l y that i t was too d i f f i c u l t f o r my b r a i n s , he declared that i t was a l s o too* d i f f i c u l t f o r h i s and that Ijie had never formulated any r u l e s f o r h i s own p r a c t i c e . S i m i l a r i l y , Conrad's ideas about s t y l e , s c a t t e r e d i n va r i o u s essays and l e t t e r s , vaguely h i n t e d at i n some of the no v e l s , do not add up to a co n s i s t e n t theory. But such was not h i s aim. I n a reading of h i s nov e l s , however, one does become aware of h i s a e s t h e t i c concerns and preoccupations; one perceives a c a r e f u l craftsman ever conscious of the way i n which words present or obscure r e a l i t y , and of the way i n which they form and l i m i t a world. Conrad's v i s i o n of man's l i f e and h i s conception of a r t r e s u l t e d i n the use and development of c e r t a i n tech-n i c a l devices; h i s s t y l e o r i g i n a t e d i n h i s d i v e r s e experience, h i s unique s e n s i b i l i t y , and i n h i s p e r c e p t i o n of the world around him. I n t h i s essay the s t y l e of Conrad's f i r s t mature n o v e l , The Nigger of the \"Narcissus,\" and the s t y l e of The Rover, h i s l a s t completed n o v e l , 1 2 are c l o s e l y examined i n order to achieve an understanding of how s t y l e and v i s i o n are i n s e p a r a b l e , and, more p a r t i c u l a r l y , how s t y l e gives form to v i s i o n and r e f l e c t s changes i n i t . A comparison of these two novels f o r i t s own sake would be r e l a t i v e l y unrewarding, but p u t t i n g them i n t o j u x t a p o s i t i o n allows one to see Conrad's development and d e c l i n e as an a r t i s t p a r t i c u l a r l y concerned w i t h s t y l e . The s i m p l i f i c a t i o n of h i s world view, as seen i n the l a t e r works, a f f e c t s the very b a s i c elements of s t y l e and s t r u c t u r e . The s t r u c t u r e of The Rover i s s t r a i g h t f o r w a r d l y r e a l i s t i c apart from one t i m e - s h i f t ; the s t r u c t u r e of The Nigger, on the other hand, i s complex, approaching a type of thematic counterpoint. I n the major middle-period works, Lord Jim, The Secret Agent, and Nostromo, complexity of s t y l e and s t r u c t u r e r e f l e c t s the complexity of theme and v i s i o n . The moral universe explored i n Conrad's f i c t i o n of t h i s p e r i o d i s ambiguous at i t s very foundations, the e t h i c a l s i t u a t i o n s complex i n the extreme, the heroes a s s a u l t e d by a b e w i l d e r i n g array of choices most of which are i l l u s o r y . What r e a l i t y c o n s i s t s o f , i s never d e f i n i t e l y e s t a b l i s h e d except as a p e r s p e c t i v e . Theme i s explored through patterns of images and symbols; and the sensory universe created by metaphor and s i m i l e . I n The Rover Conrad completes the phase of h i s career begun w i t h V i c t o r y w i t h love and s a c r i f i c e r e p l a c i n g moral ambiguity. Both theme and form have been e s t a b l i s h e d long before and what occurs i s a p r e s e n t a t i o n . I n The Nigger one sees Conrad f i n d i n g h i s themes at the same time as he i s d i s c o v e r i n g the techniques w i t h which to present them; the reader, then, d i s c o v e r s w i t h the author, w h i l e i n The Rover he i s shown what the author has already found. The exuberance and o c c a s i o n a l over-exuberance of s t y l e 3 i n The Nigger i s , perhaps, an end product of the new a r t i s t ' s search f o r form and meaning; the lagging prose i n The Rover betrays the re-e x p l o r a t i o n of already f a m i l i a r ground. Conrad's a e s t h e t i c credo, set f o r t h most s u c c i n c t l y i n the w e l l -known \"Preface to The Nigger,\" i s not d i s s i m i l a r from the credos of F l a u b e r t and Maupassant, and also has s i m i l a r i t i e s to James's ideas i n \"The A r t of F i c t i o n . \" But Conrad's unique temperament and the v a r i o u s i n f l u e n c e s on h i s imagination from E n g l i s h , French, and P o l i s h l i t e r a t u r e coalesce i n t o a personal world view which h i s h i g h l y i n d i v i d -2 u a l s t y l e gives form t o . His a r t i s t i c aims l e d to p a r t i c u l a r s t y l i s t i c devices and emphases, d e a l t w i t h i n the body of t h i s essay. His impre-ssionism, f o r example, i s p a r t l y grounded i n h i s concern w i t h the seemingly unreal q u a l i t y o f existence and w i t h the n e c e s s a r i l y imperfect and incomplete apprehension of an experience. I n seeking to capture these q u a l i t i e s and to embody an a l l - t o o - f l e e t i n g r e a l i t y h i s s t y l e i s based upon p r e c i s e and concrete vocabulary. In 1905 i n an essay on James he wrote: A c t i o n i n i t s essence, the c r e a t i v e a r t of a w r i t e r of f i c t i o n may be compared to rescue work . . . . I t i s rescue work, t h i s snatching of v a n i s h i n g phrases of turbulence, d i s g u i s e d i n f a i r words, out of the n a t i v e o b s c u r i t y i n t o a l i g h t where the s t r u g g l i n g forms may be seen, s e i z e d upon, endowed w i t h the only p o s s i b l e form of permanence i n the^world of r e l a t i v e values--the permanence of memory. Thi s f i x a t i o n w i t h r e a l i t y and i t s t r a n s i t o r i n e s s leads to an attempt to describe e x a c t l y the surface of t h i n g s - - c o l o u r , motion, form, tone. Related to t h i s i s an emphasis on the world of the senses, according to Conrad the primary avenue of d i s c o v e r i n g the t r u t h of an experience. His 4 particularly effective use of the traditional devices of metaphor and simile also owes i t s origin to this passion for particularity and for vividness. It is Conrad's concern with reality that also leads him to employ distancing techniques and multiple perspective, an obvious example where vision determines and becomes form. Various points of view impinge upon the reader both to c l a r i f y the d i f f i c u l t y (perhaps, impossibility) of arriving at the \"real\" and, further, to give a sense of the inherent limitations of any one perspective. Obviously, narrative technique shapes and modifies narrative prose; in The Nigger the narrative technique is of especial interest in determining the meaning of the novel. Conrad's concern with reality, equally colours and determines his use of dialogue. Realizing the importance of dialogue in creating a vivid f i c t i o n a l world, he pays particular attention to individualizing and stylizing a character's utterance. Through the careful use of dialogue he also differentiates between the moral qualities of characters . Hardly an idle or decorative device, dialogue presents the reader with a dramatized situation which often presents or expands themes. In part, the allotment of dialogue to characters highlights one character in particular and gives to others merely supporting roles. In this essay the various types of dialogue are analyzed in order to discover their relationship to the presentation of theme. Symbolism, often integrated into a novel through metaphor and simile, is not only a technical device giving cohesion to f i c t i o n , but with 5 Conrad was a m a t t e r o f comprehension and v i s i o n . He saw a c t u a l i t i e s as s y m b o l i c o f v a r i o u s s p i t i t u a l and m o r a l s t a t e s , and t h u s h i s n o v e l s r e f l e c t an a r t i s t ' s r e s p o n s e t o t h e r e a l w o r l d . I n a l e t t e r w r i t t e n t o B a r r e t H. C l a r k i n 1918 Conrad acknowledged t h e p r i m a r y i m p o r t a n c e o f s y m b o l i s m i n f i c t i o n : . . . I w i s h a t f i r s t t o put b e f o r e you a g e n e r a l p r o p o s i t i o n : t h a t a work o f a r t i s v e r y s e l d o m l i m i t e d t o one e x c l u s i v e meaning and not n e c e s s a r -i l y t e n d i n g t o a d e f i n i t e c o n c l u s i o n . And t h i s f o r the r e a s o n t h a t the n e a r e r i t approaches a r t , t h e more i t a c q u i r e s a s y m b o l i c c h a r a c t e r . . . . So I w i l l o n l y c a l l y o u r a t t e n t i o n t o t h e f a c t t h a t t h e s y m b o l i c c o n c e p t i o n o f a work o f a r t has t h i s a d v a n t a g e , t h a t i t makes a t r i p l e a p p e a l cov-e r i n g the whole f i e l d o f l i f e . A l l t h e g r e a t c r e a t i o n s o f l i t e r a t u r e have been s y m b o l i c , and i n t h a t way have g a i n e d i n c o m p l e x i t y , i n power, i n d e p t h and i n b e a u t y . The s t y l i s t i c d e v i c e s o f metaphor and s i m i l e c o n t r i b u t e most i m p o r t a n t l y t o t h e c r e a t i o n and p r e s e n t a t i o n o f symbol. F o r example, i t i s t h r o u g h t h e s e d e v i c e s t h a t t h e a n t h r o p o m o r p h i c u n i v e r s e i s c r e a t e d i n The N i g g e r , t h a t James W a i t becomes a f i g u r e o f d a r k power, and. i n The Rover t h a t t h e w o r l d o f Escampobar becomes a s y m b o l i c w a s t e l a n d i n need o f r e n e w a l . An emphasis on symbol may a l s o be r e s p o n s i b l e f o r t h e tendency t o a l l e g o r y i n V i c t o r y and The R o v e r . ~* I n t h i s e s s a y the r e a d e r ' s f a m i l i a r i t y w i t h C onrad ' s canon, and e s p e c i a l l y w i t h t h e two n o v e l s under c o n s i d e r a t i o n , has been assumed. T h e r e f o r e , q u o t a t i o n s from The N i g g e r and The Rover have been i n d i c a t e d o n l y by page number, as e i t h e r t h e n o v e l under c o n s i d e r a t i o n i s c l e a r l y i n d i c a t e d i n the t e x t o r t h e name o f a c h a r a c t e r s u f f i c i e n t l y i d e n t i f i e s t h e s p e c i f i c work r e f e r r e d t o . 6 Footnotes 1 \" I n t r o d u c t i o n , \" L e t t e r s from Joseph Conrad 1895-1924. ed. Edward Garnett ( I n d i a n a p o l i s : B o b b s - M e r r i l l , 1928), pp. 24-25. 2 , See Morton D. Zabel's \" E d i t o r ' s I n t r o d u c t i o n , \" The Portable Conrad, ed. Morton D. Zabel; rev. F r e d e r i c k R. K a r l (New York: V i k i n g , 1947; r p t . 1969), pp. 30-47 f o r a b r i e f summary of French and E n g l i s h i n f l u e n c e s . For P o l i s h i n f l u e n c e s see Andrzej Busza's Conrad's P o l i s h L i t e r a r y Background and Some I l l u s t r a t i o n s of the Influence of P o l i s h L i t e r a t u r e on His Work (Rome: P o l i s h H i s t o r i c a l I n s t i t u t e , 1966). 3 \"Henry James: An A p p r e c i a t i o n , \" Notes on L-;fe and L e t t e r s (London: Dent, 1949), p. 13. 4 G. Jean-Aubry, Joseph Conrad: L i f e and L e t t e r s V o l . 2 (Garden C i t y , N.Y.: Doubleday, 1927), p. 205. 5 See Robert W. Stallman's \"The Structure and Symbolism of Conrad's V i c t o r y , \" Western Rev, 13(1949), 146-57, and George H. Thomson's \"Conrad's Later F i c t i o n , \" ELT, 12 (1969), 165-74. Chapter II Di r e c t and Indirect Discourse Conrad's heavy re l i a n c e on dialogue for c h a r a c t e r i z a t i o n , the development of p l o t , and dramatic e f f e c t i s obvious to the most casual reader, and though B r i t i s h and American scholars seen to overlook t h i s i n the few s t y l i s t i c analyses w r i t t e n on Conrad, i t deserves s p e c i a l and minute attention as an aspect of h i s s t y l e . Dialogue, the most mimetic aspect of f i c t i o n , the one c h a r a c t e r i s t i c the form shares with drama, i s used i n the words of the f a m i l i a r \"Preface to The Nigger of the 'Narcissus'\" \"to make you hear\"(x). This neglected aspect of Conrad's art i s as much a part of h i s \"impressionism,\" of h i s emphasis on the world of the senses, as i t i s of the dramatic world of the novel. Through a discussion of the various types of discourse i n The Nigger and The Rover t h i s chapter w i l l explore the function of discourse, i t s thematic co n t r i b u t i o n to the i n d i v i d u a l novels, and i t s fundamental e f f e c t i n creating a dramatized world. Although Ford Madox Ford's reminiscences of h i s c o l l a b o r a t i o n with Conrad are not an altogether r e l i a b l e source of information about Conrad's method and a r t i s t i c concerns, one ought not dismiss e n t i r e l y what Ford has to say regarding h i s and Conrad's preoccupation with dialogue, something that give them \"more trouble than any other depart-ment of the novel.\"\"'\" Ford hints that Conrad's preference for dialogue 7 8 i n a t e x t , f o r what he c a l l s \"conversations,\" i s a pandering to the l e s s c u l t i v a t e d reader, but he overlooks the e f f e c t obtained--a more dramatic and r e a l i s t i c rendering of speech, something that corresponds more c l o s e l y to a c t u a l l i f e than any of the other conventions of the novel. Ford f u r t h e r confesses that \" i t seemed to him (Ford) that you could employ the words 'he s a i d ' as o f t e n as you l i k e , accepting them 2 as being unnoticeable . . .\" ; indeed, he i s c o r r e c t i n h i s cont e n t i o n that t h i s i n d i c a t o r has become \"unnoticeable,\" and what Conrad does i n attempting to avoid t h i s phrase i s to give meaning to i n d i c a t o r s and to dispense w i t h a conventional and hackneyed phrase that u s u a l l y r e c e i v e s l i t t l e a t t e n t i o n from a reader. As Conrad perceived the rendering of conversation an important and d i f f i c u l t aspect of h i s a r t , the i n t e g r a -t i o n of dialogue i n t o the t e x t of h i s n o v e l s , may be considered as a facet of h i s s t y l e . The problem of i n t e g r a t i n g utterances i n t o a t e x t i s solved i n d i r e c t dialogue by conventional a c c i d e n t a l s ; q u i t e o b v i o u s l y , i n E n g l i s h the conventions of o f f s e t t i n g and the use of quotation marks serve as i n d i c a t o r s to a reader that a character's a c t u a l speech i s d r a m a t i c a l l y rendered. The Nigger o f f e r s a notable d i f f e r e n c e to t h i s convention by the a d d i t i o n of a dash predeeding d i r e c t dialogue, a French convention that occurs f r e q u e n t l y i n the novel and gives the p r i n t e d t e x t a non-E n g l i s h t e x t u r e : Mr. Baker, speaking up to the man above him, asked:--\"Are a l l the hands aboard, Knowles?\"(3). Conrad f u r t h e r adapted the conventional use of quotation marks so that a character's thoughts, a v a r i a n t of dialo g u e , are al s o contained w i t h i n 9 them, thus c o n t r i b u t i n g a v a r i e d texture to a passage of n a r r a t i v e : He went away from t h e r e , walked to the end of the b u i l d i n g , spun round and walked back again to the other end; and i t was as i f he had been a f r a i d of going beyond the w a l l against which he r e e l e d sometimes. \"Conspiracy, conspiracy,\" he thought. He was now ab-s o l u t e l y c e r t a i n that the l i e u t e n a n t was s t i l l h i d i n g i n that t a r t a n e , and was only w a i t i n g t i l l a l l was q u i e t to sneak back to h i s room i n which Scevola had proof p o s i t i v e that A r l e t t e was i n the h a b i t of making h e r s e l f at home(183). The a c c i d e n t a l s here f a c i l i t a t e the t r a n s i t i o n from the omniscient n a r r a t o r ' s v o i c e to Scevola's mind and provide a s h i f t i n t e xture otherwise u n a v a i l a b l e . For a moment the reader i s a sharer of Scevola's thoughts, a t r a n s i t i o n that i s not only economic and dramatic, but more e f f e c t i v e l y i n v o l v e s the reader i n Scevola's paranoia. Beyond the f u n c t i o n of i n t e g r a t i n g d i r e c t dialogue i n t o a t e x t and s e t t i n g o f f thought ;from n a r r a t i v e , Conrad f r e q u e n t l y uses a c c i d e n t a l s to emphasize the manner i n which one a c t u a l l y hears spoken speech, as i n Wait's f i n a l laboured sentence: \" ' L i g h t . . . the lamp . . . and . . . go,' breathed out Wait\"(154). He a l s o f r e q u e n t l y uses e l l i p s e s , f o r example, to i n d i c a t e that a character's utterance does not conclude, but t r a i l s o f f or i s i n t e r r u p t e d : \"Yes, I understand you,\" drawled the l i e u t e n a n t . \" I t h i n k I know you p r e t t y w e l l . I suppose an E n g l i s h p r i s o n . \"That i s a h o r r i b l e subject of c o n v e r s a t i o n , \" i n t e r r u p t e d P e y r o l i n a loud, emotional tone(73-74). The a c c i d e n t a l s here, as i n Wait's f i n a l sentence, support the i n q u i t , the conventional phrase p r e f a c i n g a t r a n s i t i o n from n a r r a t i v e to a speaker's u t t e r a n c e . The e l l i p s e s used to mark pauses or h a l t s i n 10 speech l o g i c a l l y f o l l o w from an i n q u i t such as \"stammered\" or mumbled\": Knowles turned about bewildered; stammered f i r s t at one, then at another.--\"No! . . . I never! . . . can't t a l k s e n s i b l e sense midst you . . . . Always on the k i d \" ( 1 0 9 ) . Wait's d e s c r i p t i o n o f h i s imprisonment i n the bulkhead during the storm i s s i m i l a r l y rendered, the e l l i p s e s i n d i c a t i n g the broken manner i n which h i s utterance i s d e l i v e r e d to h i s crewmates: He spoke spasmodically, i n f a s t rushes w i t h long pauses between, as a t i p s y man walks. . . . \"Cook had j u s t given me a p a n n i k i n of hot c o f f e e . . . . Slapped i t down there, on my chest--banged the door t o . . . .1 f e l t a heavy r o l l coming; t r i e d to save my c o f f e e , burnt my f i n g e r s . . . and f e l l out of my bunk. . . . She went over so quick. . . . Water came i n through the v e n t i l a t o r . . . .\"(106). An extremely complex i n q u i t . l i k e the one p r e f a c i n g t h i s sentence of S i n g l e t o n ' s , i s a l s o supported by a c c i d e n t a l s : There was a noise i n the o l d seaman's t h r o a t , as though the words had been r a t t l i n g together before they could come out.--\"Steers . . . l i k e a l i t t l e boat,\" he s a i d , at l a s t , w i t h hoarse tenderness, without g i v i n g the master as much as h a l f a glance--then, w a t c h f u l l y , spun the wheel down, st e a d i e d , f l u n g i t back again(91). The e f f e c t of h e s i t a t i o n i s provided by the e l l i p s e s i n t h i s sentence. In the passionate scene between A r l e t t e and Real i n Real's moonlit bedroom, the l i e u t e n a n t says to A r l e t t e : \"But what d i d you t h i n k of my conduct at times? You see, I d i d not know what was going to be. I . . . I was a f r a i d , \" he added under h i s breath(217). The e l l i p s e s here give the reader an i n d i c a t i o n of the manner i n which Real u t t e r s t h i s sentence; and the repeated pronoun as w e l l as the i n q u i t f u r t h e r demonstrate Conrad's meticulous concern f o r the i n t o n a t i o n of a character's dialogue. He a l s o uses e l l i p s e s to give the e f f e c t of an afterthought to a phrase: \"There was nearly a score of us Brothers of the Coast in the same predicament . . . in consequence of a shipwreck\" ( 7 3 ) . Numerous other instances of this attempt to reproduce mimetically the pattern and intonation of actual speech justify Professor Harkness's conclusion that accidentals have a definite effect on the texture of a work. Unlike accidentals the inquit has the potential of being semantically meaningful, though the most common inquit--\"he said\"\u00E2\u0080\u0094has through overuse been rendered relatively meaningless semantically. Semantically meaning-ful inquits serve the double function of introducing dialogue into a text and of presenting information about the speaker, the manner and intonation of his utterance, and, often, the narrator's attitude toward him. According to Ford, Conrad consistently sought to avoid the hackneyed and meaning-less \"he said,\" though, df course, this and its qualified variations occur almost inevitably.\"' In an effort to produce an aural impression on his reader while at the same time providing variety, Conrad modifies the basic inquit with phrases that add significantly to the dramatization of character as well as qualifying a speaker's utterance. In The Nigger, for example, the inquit introducing the utterances of Wait and Donkin differs significantly from those used to introduce the statements of Allistoun and Old Singleton. Donkin's entrance into the forecastle is met by the curious question of his fellow seamen, and significantly, his in i t i a l utterances are rendered \"in a tone that meant to be hearty but was impudent,\"(11) and by a snarl(11). A remark addressed to Charley in what becomes his characteristic tone firmly establishes his personality at the very 12 beginning of the novel:--\"1 111 make you keep t h i s 'ere f o ' c ' s l e c l e a n , young f e l l e r , ' he sn a r l e d v i c i o u s l y . 'Never you f e a r . I w i l l l e a r n you to be c i v i l to an able seaman, you ignerant ass'\"(13). I n a s i m i l a r manner, Wait's entrance i s dramatized by i n q u i t s used to i n t r o -duce and modify the portentous s i n g l e s y l l a b l e of h i s name: \"'Wait'.' c r i e d a deep, r i n g i n g v o i c e \" and \"Then again the sonorous vo i c e s a i d w i t h insistence:--'Wait'.'\"(17) . The s o n o r i t y of t h i s v o i c e l a t e r p o i n t s up the discrepancy between the s k e l e t a l f i g u r e which possesses i t and the p s y c h o l o g i c a l power that i t has over the crew of the N a r c i s s u s . The confusion caused by Wait's v o i c e , the misunderstanding of h i s meaning, and the command that i t holds over the crew, a l l themes elaborated i n the course of the n o v e l , f i n d i n i t i a l impact through c a r e f u l l y s e l e c t e d i n q u i t s . For Old S i n g l e t o n a c t i o n , not words, determines the moral q u a l i t y of a man, and f o r him an utterance must be s i g n i f i c a n t i n order to be made at a l l . R eplying to Donkin's i n q u i r y about the f o r e c a s t l e ' s water-cask, \" S i n g l e t o n , without a word, pointed w i t h a b i g hand that h e l d a short smouldering pipe\"(22). C l e a r l y , h i s s i l e n c e has .the n a r r a t o r ' s approval; as one of the few remaining r e p r e s e n t a t i v e s of what the n a r r a -to r p o r t r a y s as a golden age of seamanship, he i s among those who are \"strong and mute,\" of a generation of seamen that \" l i v e d i n a r t i c u l a t e and in d i s p e n s a b l e \" ( 2 5 ) . Donkin, on the other hand, represents the new genera-t i o n of seamen who \" i f they had learned how to speak they have a l s o learned how to whine\"(25). Si n g l e t o n ' s few utterances are q u a l i f i e d i n such a way that the n a r r a t o r ' s approval of them i s e x p l i c i t ; and, as w i t h Wait and Donkin, the q u a l i f i c a t i o n c o n t r i b u t e s to a reader's o v e r a l l sense of 13 character. Singleton's question, for example, regarding Wait's illness purposely lacks drama because of his calmness, i t s method of delivery being consistent with his personality as the reader has come to know i t : \"The old man, addressing Jimmy, asked:--'Are you dying? \"'(42). And his admonition to \"'get on with your dying'\" is \"said with venerable mild-ness\" (42), a further economic statement conveying both character and tone. Altogether, this is a far cry from Donkin's garrulity and Wait's imperiousness. Singleton's only moment of volubility occurs after his prophecy regarding Wait as the cause of the calm is f u l f i l l e d : And for the f i r s t time that voyage, the old seaman became quite cheery and garrulous, explaining and illus t r a t i n g from the stores of experience how, in sickness, the sight of an island (even a very small one) i s generally more fatal than the view of a continent. But he couldn't explain why(156). This climactic moment e l i c i t s the only gratuitous utterances Singleton makes during the course of the voyage. His other moments of speech are prophetic or a challenge to the elements, giving \"back y e l l for y e l l to a westerly gale\"(173), as he does at the significant conclusion of the f i r s t chapter, an address to the ship i t s e l f , prefaced with an inquit that suggests the magnitude of the struggle and Singleton's view of his position: \"'You hold . . . hold!' he growled at i t masterfully, in the incult tangle of his white beard\"(26). Not unlike Singleton's, Captain Allistoun's utterances are infrequent and usually significant, introduced by indicators that suggest authority and calm, though his commands during the storm are rendered in yell s and shou.ts. His utterances in his confrontation with Wait are authoritative 14 but subdued: \"You have been shamming s i c k , \" r e t o r t e d Captain A l l i s t o u n w i t h severity(120) . . . Captain A l l i s t o u n shook a f o r e f i n g e r at the angry bronzed face of the speaker.--\"You--you h o l d your tongue,\" he s a i d , warningly\"(120) Captain A l l i s t o u n s a i d sharply to the second mate: \"Keep q u i e t , Mr. Creighton,\" and stood composed i n the tumult . . .(121). Only when he r e a s s e r t s a u t h o r i t y over the crew do h i s utterances take on an emotional tone, a p p r o p r i a t e l y enough, however, f o r the s t r u g g l e between him and Donkin i s one that i n v o l v e s the l i f e or death of the N a r c i s s u s . A l l i s t o u n must f o r c e f u l l y r e g a i n an ascendant p o s i t i o n over h i s crew by p u t t i n g Donkin i n h i s p l a c e , and on t h i s o c c asion he \"orders,\" c r i e s out a command, and \".urges\" Donkin, accompanying h i s words w i t h threatening gestures. Donkin 1s r e a c t i o n s are prefaced w i t h i n q u i t s that r e v e a l h i s meanness and cowardice: he answers \"with cheeky t r e p i d a t i o n , \" mumbles a response \"with e f f o r t , \" screams \"at the s i l e n t crowd\" about h i s mistreatment, and screams h i s revenge \"at the ship at large\"(136-37). The n o n - i n d i v i d u a l i z e d crew members appear only as v o i c e s , o f t e n i n cacophony, commenting, grumbling, or passing time i n c o n v e r s a t i o n . Conrad dispenses w i t h i n q u i t s on the occasion of the crew's a r r i v a l i n the f o r e -c a s t l e i n order to achieve the r e a l i s t i c e f f e c t of q u i c k l y spoken i n t e r -j e c t i o n s among a group of men moving en masse i n t o new quarters: \"Here, sonny, take that bunk! . . . Don't you do i t ! . . . What's your l a s t ship? . . . I know her. . . . Three years ago, i n Puget Sound. . . . \" ( 5 ) . The dramatic rendering of d i r e c t u t t e r a n c e s , l i k e these by the non-i n d i v i d u a l i z e d members of the crew, provides a human background against which the c o n f l i c t between the forces of Donkin-Wait, and A l l i s t o u n , S i n g l e t o n , and the ship i s worked out. The i n q u i t s of the crew, however, deserve l i t t l e s c r u t i n y as they are l a r g e l y conventional i n d i c a t o r s d e s c r i b i n g the tone i n which utterances are made. Again, Conrad's i n t e n t i o n to make h i s readers hear i s c e n t r a l , and even w i t h n o n - i n d i v i d u a l i z e d characters or a c o l l e c t i v e character he i s c a r e f u l to o b t a i n t h i s e f f e c t . Having considered the problem of i n t e g r a t i n g dialogue i n t o a t e x t , one must a l s o examine the q u a l i t y o f u t t e r a n c e s , that i s , the conventions and vocabulary used i n order \"to make you hear.\" I n Almayer's F o l l y , Conrad's dramatic opening w i t h the words \"Kaspar! Makan!\" introduces a convention used i n numerous other novels--the i n t e g r a t i o n o f the language of h i s s e t t i n g i n t o the utterances of h i s c h a r a c t e r s . Dialogue, i n f a c t , almost always i n Conrad's novels r e f l e c t s the geographical l o c a t i o n o f the s t o r y , the background of h i s c h a r a c t e r s , t h e i r s o c i a l s t a t u s , and t h e i r b e l i e f s . The numerous French phrases of The Rover are almost e x c l u s i v e l y r e s t r i c t e d to the utterances of c h a r a c t e r s , w h i l e the t h i r d person n a r r a t o r i s apparently an Englishman. The p e c u l i a r d i f f i c u l t y of g i v i n g French f l a v o u r to an E n g l i s h novel i n which the major characters speak e n t i r e l y i n French (aside from Pe y r o l who speaks E n g l i s h w i t h Symons) i s p a r t i a l l y and most e a s i l y solved by the i n c l u s i o n of French words and phrases; on a l e s s obvious and more subtle l e v e l , however, i s the technique of transforming E n g l i s h sentences i n t o French c o n s t r u c t i o n s , such as Real's response on one occasion to P e y r o l : \"'No, my gunner'\" (114) or Peyrol's \"'Where i s he, that honest man?'\"(229). The French words and phrases that pepper the dialogue i n The Rover are by no means l i m i t e d to the simple French an o r d i n a r y English-speaking 16 reader would know, and hence Conrad sometimes s u p p l i e s h i s reader w i t h a t r a n s l a t i o n when the context may not make the words s e l f - e x p l a n a t o r y . Catherine's twice-repeated \"Ecoutez\" to Real meets w i t h h i s response \"'Yes, I hear you'\"(225). On occasion the process i s reversed w i t h the E n g l i s h t r a n s l a t e d i n t o French: \"AhJ but he i s a cunning one.\" A f t e r expressing that o p i n i o n the o l d rover p u l l e d out a red bandana handkerchief and a f t e r rubbing h i s face w i t h i t repeated h i s o p i n i o n d e l i b e r a t e l y : \" C e l u i - l a est un malin\"(112). Phrases that would be awkward i n E n g l i s h , such as Peyrol's hearty oaths, are g e n e r a l l y l e f t u n t r a n s l a t e d , the context making them c l e a r enough. More o f t e n than not, however, forms o f address are put i n t o French: \"Amiral\"(113), \"notre maitre\"(189), \"ma chere amie\"(284), \"camarade\"(263), or the frequent \" c i t o y e n . \" Another l e v e l of language i s suggested by French slang: \"caboche\" f o r head (114), \"blancbec\" f o r greenhorn (115), or the expressions \" h e i n \" or \"he,\" a use of language that c l e a r l y evokes s o c i a l s t a tus j u s t as much as Peyrol's oaths r e v e a l h i s s a i l o r background. S i m i l a r l y , the p o l i t i c a l s e t t i n g of the novel i s presented through d i a l o g u e . For i n s t a n c e , Scevola, the u n r e l e n t i n g r e v o l u t i o n a r y , r e t a i n s the address \" c i t o y e n \" long a f t e r the i d e a l s and customs of the Re v o l u t i o n have d i e d , and P e y r o l , perhaps mockingly, r e f e r s to him as \"Citoyen\" as the n a r r a t o r a l s o does, but i n E n g l i s h . The n a r r a t o r sets the p o l i t i c a l c l i m a t e and the time at the outset of The Rover by h i s r e f e r r i n g to \" C i t i z e n P e y r o l \" ; and the s h i f t i n the p o l i t i c a l scene i s portrayed by Peyrol's r e v e r s i o n to the ci-devant \"Mademoiselle\" f o r Catherine j u s t as she c a l l s him \"Monsieur.\" At the c o n c l u s i o n of the novel A r l e t t e and Real (no longer a l i e u t e n a n t but a captain) are r e f e r r e d to as Madame and Monsieur R e a l , i n d i c a t i n g how completely s o c i e t y has re v e r t e d to i t s o l d e s t a b l i s h e d customs as w e l l as how much A r l e t t e and Real have become a part of that s o c i e t y . Moreover, Conrad's b e l i e f that r e v o l u t i o n does not e f f e c t true change i s once again presented to the reader even i n so seemingly unimpor-tant a matter as the forms of address. What he says of r e v o l u t i o n i n the \"Author's Note\" to Under Western Eyes holds true as w e l l f o r the p o l i t i c a l theme of The Rover: The f e r o c i t y and i m b e c i l i t y of an a u t o c r a t i c r u l e r e j e c t i n g a l l l e g a l i t y and i n f a c t basing i t s e l f upon complete moral anarchism provokes the no l e s s im b e c i l e and a t r o c i o u s answer of a purely Utopian r e v o l u t i o n i s m encompassing d e s t r u c t i o n by'the f i r s t means to hand, i n the strange c o n v i c t i o n that a fundamental change of hearts must f o l l o w the down-f a l l of any given human i n s t i t u t i o n s . These people are unable to see that a l l they can e f f e c t i s merely a change of names(x). Scevola, then, i s yet another of Conrad's p a t h o l o g i c a l cases who f i n d s h i s t r u e s t s e l f - e x p r e s s i o n through acts of v i o l e n c e and d e s t r u c t i o n . His idee f i x e w i l l not, i n f a c t , allow him to become a s s i m i l a t e d to the \"new\" ways, which are a c t u a l l y only the o l d i n a d i f f e r e n t g u i s e . Other forms of address i n the dialogue c o n t r i b u t e to an under-standing of character and designate the nature of r e l a t i o n s h i p s between c h a r a c t e r s . Michel's c h a r a c t e r i s t i c \"maltre\" f o r Peyr o l i s a s i g n of respect and a f f e c t i o n a t e esteem, and Peyrol's addressing M i c h e l as \"camarade\" on the tartane i n d i c a t e s h i s fondness and regard f o r him. A r l e t t e ' s coaxing, but s l i g h t l y f r a n t i c question to Peyr o l about Real's whereabouts i s prefaced by terms of endearment and j o c u l a r e p i t h e t s designed to s o f t e n and appeal to the o l d s a i l o r : \"'Monsieur P e y r o l , Papa P e y r o l , o l d gunner, you h o r r i d sea-wolf, be an angel and t e l l me 18 where he i s \"'(175). Catherine's sense of seriousness and her anxiety f o r A r l e t t e a f t e r o r d e r i n g Real to l e a v e the farm causes her to drop the o r d i n a r y s o c i a l amenities and to respond to Peyrol's j o k i n g tone w i t h an utterance prefaced only by h i s surname: \"Catherine, w i t h her back to him and c a l l i n g him, not'Monsieur,' but 'Peyrol,' tout c o u r t , remarked, not e x a c t l y w i t h d i s p l e a s u r e , but r a t h e r w i t h an ominous accent that t h i s was no time f o r i d l e t a l k \" ( 2 3 5 - 6 ) . During her v i s i t to the p r i e s t (a scene that r e c a l l s and perhaps i s an echo of Emma's meeting w i t h the . e q u a l l y i n e f f e c t i v e p r i e s t o f Madame Bovary)^ A r l e t t e addresses the abbe f o r m a l l y as \"Monsieur l e Cure\" and \"Monsieur l'Abbe\" r a t h e r than using the more f a m i l i a r mon pere. Her formal address may underscore her p o s i t i o n as an o u t s i d e r i n the p a r i s h and i n d i c a t e s a formal r a t h e r than c l o s e r e l a t i o n s h i p w i t h the p r i e s t . I n her essay on \"The D e f i n i n g F u n c t i o n of Vocabulary i n Conrad's The Rover,\" E l i z a b e t h Cox Wright sees Peyrol's vocabulary as f a l l i n g i n t o three c a t e g o r i e s : \"Words and phrases from the French, the t e c h n i c a l term of seamanship, and pungent c o l l o q u i a l i s m . . . .\"^ A l l three of the c a t e g o r i e s together form a world i n which the a c t i o n of the novel takes shape, and each of the d i s t i n c t v o c a b u l a r i e s c r e a t e s \u00E2\u0080\u0094 n o t merely gives a sense o f \u00E2\u0080\u0094 P e y r o l as Frenchman, as seaman, and as an i n d i v i d u a l p e r s o n a l i t y w i t h i d i o s y n c r a t i c .habits of speech and thought. Perhaps, because of the v a r i e t y of Peyrol's speech, a m i r r o r of h i s v a r i e d experience, he becomes the only character i n the novel who, i n F o r s t e r ' s sense, i s round. As language creates the e n t i r e f i c t i o n a l w o r l d , the vocabulary of d i r e c t dialogue f l e s h e s out or leaves undeveloped the f i g u r e s of that world. Both Wait and S i n g l e t o n i n The Nigger, f o r example, say comparia-19 t i v e l y l i t t l e , and t h u s C o n r a d a t t a i n s a b a l a n c e be tween them i n t h e c o n t e x t o f t h e n o v e l as a w h o l e . The a i m o f n o t h a v i n g one c e n t r a l c h a r a c t e r , s o m e t h i n g C o n r a d draws a t t e n t i o n t o i n t h e p r e f a c e t o t h e 1914 D o u b l e d a y e d i t i o n o f t h e n o v e l , i s p a r t i a l l y a c h i e v e d , t h e n , by a l l o t i n g d i a l o g u e p r o p o r t i o n a t e l y as w e l l as by d i v i d i n g t h e r e a d e r ' s a t t e n t i o n be tween t h e p a r a l l e l s t o r i e s o f W a i t and t h e s h i p . The e v e r g a r r u l o u s D o n k i n does n o t become t h e dominan t c h a r a c t e r f o r t h e r e a d e r p r e c i s e l y b e c a u s e t h e r a n g e and c o n t e n t o f h i s u t t e r a n c e s a r e so l i m i t e d . M o r e o v e r , h i s v o c a b u l a r l y f u l l o f a b u s i v e e p i t h e t s and v u l g a r o a t h s , p r o n o u n c e d i n a t o n e o f s c o r n , n u l l i f i e s h i m as a d o m i n a t i n g f i g u r e as much as any o f h i s a c t i o n s . H i s s c o f f i n g t o n e as w e l l , c r e a t e d p a r t l y by t h e q u a l i f y i n g i n q u i t s and p a r t l y by h i s C o c k n e y d i a l e c t , s e r v e s t o d e t e r m i n e t h e r e a d e r ' s n e g a t i v e r e s p o n s e t o n i m . The c r e a t i o n o f i n d i v i d u a l c h a r a c t e r s , t h e n , r e l i e s on v o c a b u l a r y i n d i r e c t d i a l o g u e o r on s t y l i z a t i o n and d i a l e c t . The v o c a b u l a r y o f S c e v o l a d e r i v e s f r o m t h e j a r g o n o f t h e R e v o l u t i o n , h i s i d 6 e f i x e , and h e n c e he s p e a k s o f p a t r i o t s and t h e \" s l a v e s o f t y r a n n y \" ( 3 3 ) , t h e \" e n e m i e s o f t h e R e p u b l i c \" ( 2 7 ) , t h e \" r e a c t i o n a r y d o g s \" ( 8 1 ) . M o r e o v e r , as t h e R e v o l u t i o n r e p l a c e s r e l i g i o n and i s r e f e r r e d t o by C a t h e r i n e i n t e rms o f t h e A p o c a l y p s e , S c e v o l a o r a t e s on \" c i v i c v i r t u e \" ( 2 7 ) , \" t h e s a c r e d p r i n -c i p l e s \" o f l i b e r t y , e q u a l i t y and f r a t e r n i t y ( 1 6 6 ) , and \" t h e s a c r e d f i r e \" ( 8 1 ) . S i n c e he i s d e f i n e d o n l y by h i s o b s e s s i o n , t h e n a r r a t o r a p p r o p r i a t e l y c a l l s h i m \" t h e p a t r i o t \" ( 3 3 ) , t h e \" s a n s - c u l o t t e \" ( 8 1 ) , o r most commonly and w i t h a h i n t o f i r o n y \" C i t i z e n S c e v o l a . \" The v i l l a g e p r i e s t , h i s c o u n t e r p a r t i n p o s t - R e v o l u t i o n a r y F r a n c e , u s e s , o f c o u r s e , t h e v o c a b u l a r y o f h i s c a l l i n g when he s p e a k s : \"my f l o c k \" ( 1 5 0 ) , \" d i v i n e 2b j u s t i c e \" ( 1 5 0 ) , \"the s a c r i s t y \" ( 1 5 7 ) , and \"vespers\"(158). Conrad through manipulating i n t o n a t i o n and vocabulary makes him a b e l i e v a b l e c h a r a c t e r ; the abbe preaches r a t h e r than speaks to A r l e t t e : \"Withdraw from the w o r l d . Descend w i t h i n y o u r s e l f and abandon the v a i n thoughts of what people c a l l happiness. Be an example to y o u r s e l f of the s i n f u l n e s s of our nature and of the weaknesses of our humanity\"(156). Real's p a r t i c u l a r jargon i s that of the m i l i t a r y , and he i s r e f e r r e d to by the n a r r a t o r as \"the o f f i c e r \" and \"the l i e u t e n a n t \" ; only A r l e t t e c a l l s him by h i s f i r s t name, Eugene, endowing i n t h i s way l i f e and p e r s o n a l i t y to a man whose only existence previous to her love c o n s i s t e d of duty and c e r t i f i c a t e s . In The Nigger of the \" N a r c i s s u s \" d i a l e c t provides a means f o r the i n d i v i d u a l i z a t i o n of c h a r a c t e r s . Again, the emphasis i s a u r a l ; Donkin's Cockney, unpleasant to the ear, i n d i c a t e s s o c i a l s t a tus j u s t as much as Peyrol's \"ere nom de nom\" and \" h e i n . \" Archie's Scots d i a l e c t and B e l f a s t ' s I r i s h accent give i d e n t i t y , and at the same time f u r t h e r the reader's sense of an i n t e r n a t i o n a l crew, r e p r e s e n t a t i v e of a l l humanity, aboard the N a r c i s s u s . Moreover, Conrad's use of d i a l e c t and accent i s an attempt to give the reader an impression of an a c t u a l speech p a t t e r n d e v i a t i n g from the norm s u f f i c i e n t l y to be recognized as having a p a r t i c u l a r socio-economic or n a t i o n a l o r i g i n . The use of d i a l e c t words and expressions support t h i s attempt; A r c h i e ' s c h a r a c t e r i z a t i o n of Jimmy, f o r example, r e l i e s on Lowlands vocabulary f o r i t s v i v i d n e s s : \"--'Yon's an uncanny j o k e r . I dinna ken what's wrang w i 1 him, but there's something v e r r a wrang, v e r r a wrang. I t ' s nae manner of use asking me. I won't p l a y ' \" ( 3 6 ) . S i m i l a r l y , B e l f a s t ' s \"'Beggin' yer pardon, s o r r ' \" ( 8 ) 21 i s intended as uniquely I r i s h . The language of Captain A l l i s t o u n , Mr. Creighton, and, to a l e s s e r e x tent, Mr. Baker i n i t s approach to the grammatically c o r r e c t E n g l i s h of a higher s o c i a l c l a s s than the crew sets them apart. I n the humourous conversation on the c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s of a gentleman, one of the crew members notes that ' \" i t ' s the way they speak'\" that \"'does i t ' \" ( 3 2 ) . Various i d i o s y n c r a t i c h a b i t s of speech, such as Mr. Baker's grunt and Donkin's Cockney mannerism of dropping h i s \"h,\" are a l s o used to give i n d i v i d u a l i t y to the c h a r a c t e r s . Reported speech, o f t e n used to present economically a character's utterance o r , i n e f f e c t , to summarize i t , places discourse i n t o the v o i c e of the n a r r a t o r . The focus i s s t i l l on the speaker, but there i s no attempt to reproduce h i s tone or i n t o n a t i o n , u s u a l l y only reported i n t h i s type of d i s c o u r s e . The sentence s t r u c t u r e and vocabulary are tech-n i c a l l y the n a r r a t o r ' s ; although at times the manner i n which the u t t e r -ance i s r e l a t e d , borders so c l o s e l y on d i r e c t discourse that i t i s , pronouns and quotation marks a s i d e , v i r t u a l l y i n d i s t i n g u i s h a b l e from i t . Catherine's story,about the a r r i v a l of Scevola and A r l e t t e at Escampobar i s a mixture of d i r e c t discourse and reported speech: Nearly a week l a t e r she was dozing by the f i r e when v o i c e s outside woke her up, and she beheld standing i n the middle of the s a l l e , pale l i k e a corpse out of a grave, w i t h a blood-soaked blanket over her shoulders and a red cap on her head, a g h a s t l y l o o k i n g young g i r l i n whom she suddenly recognized her n i e c e . She screamed i n her t e r r o r : \" F r a n c o i s , F r a n c o i s ! \" This was her brother's name, and she thought he was o u t s i d e . Her scream scared the g i r l , who ran out of the door. . . . \" I recognized the son Bron,\" went on Catherine(91). 22 The language and syntax are c l e a r l y the narrator's; the t r a n s i t i o n to d i r e c t discourse, however, i s e a s i l y accomplished as the i n q u i t \"went on Catherine\" and the quotation marks a t t e s t . A r l e t t e ' s story of the death of her father and mother and of her own fate during the turmoil i n Toulon i s more completely that of the narrator's than the story of Catherine: Later, on many other nights when a l l the band lay asleep on benches and on the f l o o r , Perose would s t e a l into the room, f a l l on her knees by the bed on which A r l e t t e sat upright, open-eyed, and raving s i l e n t l y to h e r s e l f , embrace her feet and cry h e r s e l f to sleep (154). The tone here i s d i s t i n c t l y that of the narrator, and no easy t r a n s i t i o n to d i r e c t discourse i s l i k e l y . The previously c i t e d example lends i t s e l f to the pattern of d i r e c t speech a f t e r the f i r s t sentence: \"I screamed i n my t e r r o r : 'Frangois, Frangois.' 1 This was my brother's name, and I thought he was outside. My scream scared the g i r l , who ran out of the door. . . . I recognized the son Bron, went on Catherine.\" This passage does not. S t i l l further removed from the pattern of a character's speech i s Mr. Bolt's account of his excursion to Escampobar: The f a m i l i a r aspect of the b u i l d i n g s , t o t a l l y unchanged from the time when he had played h i s part i n what appeared as a most successful operation at the beginning of the war, in s p i r e d Bolt with great confidence i n the success of h i s present enterprise, vague as i t was, but the great charm of which lay, no doubt, i n mental associations with h i s younger years(59-60). There i s no attempt here to imitate the pattern or tone of spoken speech, and both vocabulary and syntax belong to the narrator, who i s thus permitted to comment quite unobtrusively on Bolt's conception of the s i t u a t i o n . 23 Reported speech has the f u n c t i o n of summarizing and permits the author from over-using dialogue; Conrad takes advantage of both of these f u n c t i o n s . Free i n d i r e c t s t y l e , another type of discourse embedded i n n a r r a t i v e permits u n l i k e simple reported speech, the n a r r a t o r ' s simultaneous p r e s e n t a t i o n and judgment of a speaker's utterance. Stephen Ullman i n S t y l e i n the French Novel elucidates the view of free i n d i r e c t s t y l e as reported speech masquerading as n a r r a t i v e w i t h a p a r t i c u l a r c a p a c i t y f o r i r o n y and ambiguity; i t r e t a i n s emotive features while avoiding the exact g reproduction of speech or thought. P i e r r e Guirard d i s c e r n s t h i s type of discourse as superimposing the i n t o n a t i o n s of two speakers, the primary one being the n a r r a t o r , and the secondary, the char a c t e r ; here the n a r r a t o r ' s judgment of what he presents becomes the c e n t r a l focus.^ Free i n d i r e c t s t y l e may incorporate e i t h e r the words or the tone and a t t i t u d e of a speaker, and Conrad e x p l o i t s both p o s s i b i l i t i e s . In t h i s way, the n a r r a t o r seems to take on a character's i d e n t i t y , s u b t l y moving from o b j e c t i v e r e p o r t i n g or from h i s own viewpoint to that of the c h a r a c t e r . The omniscient n a r r a t o r of The Rover f r e q u e n t l y moves i n t o a character's mind presenting h i s thoughts and emotions o f t e n i n free i n d i r e c t s t y l e , and the n a r r a t o r of The Nigger, though he uses t h i s type of discourse l e s s f r e q u e n t l y , achieves the same e f f e c t . The type of free i n d i r e c t s t y l e i n c o r p o r a t i n g the words of a speaker's utterance borders on simple reported speech as Conrad uses i t . For example, i n the passage set at the Port O f f i c e of Toulon r e l a t i n g Peyrol's recent adventures at sea, the n a r r a t o r reports h i s utterances i n the t h i r d person, s l i p p i n g i n t o Peyrol's words only once: 24 He had been ordered to make f o r Dunkerque but, s a i d he, having been chased by the sacres A n g l a i s three times i n a f o r t n i g h t between Cape Verde and Cape S p a r t e l , he. had made up h i s mind to run i n t o the Mediterranean where, he had understood from a Danish b r i g he had met at sea, there were no E n g l i s h men-of-war j u s t then. And here he was; and there were h i s ship's papers and h i s own papers and everything i n order(3). The phrase \"sacres A n g l a i s \" i s not that of the n a r r a t o r , but of Peyro l h i m s e l f , and hence not only suggests the French context i n which the repo r t i s d e l i v e r e d , but also colours the reference to the E n g l i s h i n a manner c h a r a c t e r i s t i c of a French seaman. Without using h i s words, the second sentence reproduces the tone of P e y r o l ; he does not say \"And here I am and here are my ship's papers and everything i n order, \" but announces ra t h e r through h i s a c t i o n s and i n t o n a t i o n the c o n c l u s i o n of h i s d u t i e s as s a i l o r , a c o n c l u s i o n made e x p l i c i t i n the next sentence: \"He mentioned also that he was t i r e d of r o l l i n g about the seas, and that he longed f o r a period of repose on shore.\" I n t o n a t i o n , then, as much as what Graham Hough c a l l s \"the a c t u a l mode of expr e s s i o n , the i p s i s s i m a verba of a f i c t i o n a l c h a r a c t e r , \" 1 ^ forms the free i n d i r e c t s t y l e adapted by Conrad. The n a r r a t o r of The Nigger in c o r p o r a t e s i n t o the n a r r a t i v e a speaker's i n t o n a t i o n and vocabulary by r e c o n s t r u c t i n g h i s language and by e n c l o s i n g fragments of an utterance i n quo t a t i o n marks. Donkin's per o r a t i o n s to the crew a f t e r the storm meet with.contempt and scorn; the n a r r a t o r presents the crew's a t t i t u d e p a r t l y through f r e e , i n d i r e c t s t y l e : He made us forget that he, at any r a t e , had l o s t nothing of h i s own. The younger men l i s t e n e d , t h i n k i n g - - t h i s 'ere Donkin's a long-headed chap, though no ki n d of man, anyhow ( 1 0 0 - 1 0 1 ) . 25 The omission of quo t a t i o n marks denotes the absence of a s i n g l e speaker, and i n d i c a t e s r a t h e r a c o l l e c t i v e speaker whose thoughts the n a r r a t o r renders by a r e c o n s t r u c t i o n of h i s c h a r a c t e r i s t i c spoken idiom. The dropped \"h\" i s a common feature of the crew's speech as i s a phrase l i k e \"long-headed chap\"; the c o l l o q u i a l tone i s underscored by the f i n a l \"anyhow.\" What marks t h i s passage as being i n free i n d i r e c t s t y l e i s the reproduction of the tone, idiom, and vocabulary of the speaker, while none of these are presented i n a dramatized manner. Podmbrek and Donkin 1s bew a i l i n g of the crew's immorality i s presented to the reader i n a. s i m i l a r f a s h i o n : \"There could be no greater c r i m i n a l s than we, who by our l i e s conspired to send the unprepared soul of a poor ignorant b l a c k man to e v e r l a s t i n g p e r d i t i o n \" ( 1 4 4 ) . The phrase \"poor ignorant black man\" i s an excerpt i n f r e e i n d i r e c t s t y l e from the conversation of Donkin and Podmore; the a t t i t u d e i s obv i o u s l y the r e l i g i o u s cook's and the words as w e l l have the f l a v o u r of h i s e x h o r t a t i o n to Jimmy, the i n f l a t e d c i r c u m l o c u t i o n \" e v e r l a s t i n g p e r d i t i o n \" being t y p i c a l of the s t y l i z e d jargon used by Podmore on that occasion. Here, one most c l e a r l y d i s c e r n s what Ullman r e f e r s to as reported speech masquerading as n a r r a t i v e . Moreover, Conrad makes use i n t h i s passage of the i r o n i c p o t e n t i a l of free i n d i r e c t s t y l e . Fragments of utterances i n quo t a t i o n marks may on occasion be taken as the n a r r a t o r ' s rendering of an utterance r a t h e r than i t s p r e c i s e wording as i n : \"Sighs were heard, as men, p e r c e i v i n g that they were not to be 'drowned i n a hurry,' t r i e d e a s i e r p o s i t i o n s \" ( 6 2 ) . The phrase \"drowned i n a hu r r y \" i s not something d i r e c t l y from the mind of a s i n g l e or c o l l e c -t i v e c h a r a c t e r , but the n a r r a t o r ' s p r e s e n t a t i o n of an a t t i t u d e common to the crew i n language they themselves would use to a r t i c u l a t e t h e i r 26 s i t u a t i o n . In t h i s way, too, the boatswain's remembrance of h i s w i f e ' s l e t t e r i s presented: \"The long-armed and a t h l e t i c boatswain swung q u i c k l y , g r i p p i n g things w i t h a f i s t hard as i r o n , and remembering suddenly snatches of the l a s t l e t t e r from, h i s 'old woman'\" (65). This d i f f e r s from snatches of reported speech prefaced by an i n q u i t , where, c l e a r l y , the words i n quotation marks i n d i c a t e the p r e c i s e wording of an u t t e r -ance : L i t t l e B e l f a s t scrambled i n a rage s p l u t t e r i n g \"cursed nigger\"(65) One or two, passing dry tongues on t h e i r s a l t l i p s , muttered something about a \" d r i n k of water\"(62) He swore, as he a l i g h t e d h e a v i l y on h i s h e e l s , that he would never, never any more a s s o c i a t e w i t h any f o o l that \"hadn't savee enough to know h i s knee from h i s elbow\"(68). In the novel a character's thoughts are v e r b a l i z e d i n such a way that they may be considered as a type of d i s c o u r s e , consonant w i t h Ullman's above d e f i n i t i o n of free i n d i r e c t s t y l e . The n a r r a t o r whose i d e n t i t y and s o l i d a r i t y w i t h the crew i s expressed by the f i r s t person p l u r a l pronoun, the c o l l e c t i v e \"we,\" gives form to the crew's thoughts and opinions by presenting t h e i r a t t i t u d e s i n t h e i r language. While the Narcissus flounders during the storm: . . . the boatswain observed w i t h marked annoyance, w h i l e we were spla s h i n g about i n a body to t r y and save a worthless wash-tub:--\"Every blooming t h i n g i n the ship i s going overboard t h i s afternoon\"(52-53). The phrase \"worthless wash-tub\" belongs to the crew r a t h e r than to the n a r r a t o r ; i t expresses a c o l l e c t i v e r a t h e r than personal o p i n i o n , and i s , without being an exact r e p r o d u c t i o n , a wording that the crew may w e l l have 27 taken. In a s i m i l a r way, Knowles 1 comment that \"the seedy-looking chaps\" about the-docked ship were probably l o o k i n g f o r something to s t e a l r a t h e r than a job, i s met w i t h the n a r r a t o r ' s \"Poor beggars. Who cared? Weren't we home!\"(165). This expression of the crew's a t t i t u d e d i f f e r s from simple n a r r a t i o n i n i t s reproduction of a speaker's i n t o n a t i o n . While not d i r e c t dialogue, i t yet r e t a i n s fea-tures s i m i l a r to i t , the wording being a p o s s i b l e response to Knowles' comment. I t i s u n l i k e the o b j e c t i v e n a r r a t i o n of the crew's f e e l i n g s : \"We d i d not know t i l l then how much f a i t h we had put i n h i s (Wait's) d e l u s i o n s . We had taken h i s chances of l i f e so much at h i s own v a l u a t i o n that h i s death, l i k e the death of an o l d b e l i e f , shook the foundations of our s o c i e t y \" ( 1 5 5 ) . The n a r r a t o r a l s o r e c o n s t r u c t s the thoughts of i n d i v i d u a l characters i n free i n d i r e c t s t y l e . Mr. Baker's s o l i t a r y r e f l e c t i o n s on going ashore are. p a r t l y presented i n t h i s way: No one waited f o r him ashore. Mother dead; f a t h e r and two br o t h e r s , Yarmouth fisherman, drowned to-gether on the Dogger Bank; s i s t e r married and un-f r i e n d l y . Quite a lady. Married to the le a d i n g t a i l o r of a l i t t l e town, and i t s l e a d i n g p o l i t i c i a n , who d i d not t h i n k h i s s a i l o r b r o t h e r - i n - l a w q u i t e respectable enough f o r him. Quite a lady, q u i t e a lad y , he thought, s i t t i n g down f o r a moment's r e s t on the quarter-hatch. . . . - - \" I haven't somehow the cut of a skipper about me,\" he meditated, p l a c i d l y . . .(166-67). The t r a n s i t i o n from o b j e c t i v e n a r r a t i o n to i n d i r e c t i n t e r i o r monologue\"'-''\" i s f a c i l i t a t e d by free i n d i r e c t s t y l e . The quotation marks i n d i c a t e Mr. Baker's p r e c i s e thoughts j u s t as they s i g n i f y the exact words of a speaker; the absence of quotation marks around \"Quite a lady \" i s d e l i -b e rate, the n a r r a t o r presenting Mr. Baker's thought to the reader by 28 momentarily t a k i n g on h i s i d e n t i t y . The phrase \"quite respectable enough\" has the q u a l i t y of speech, and suggests a s l i g h t l y con-descending tone on the part of the speaker. S i m i l a r to t h i s passage i s the p r e s e n t a t i o n of Captain A l l i s t o u n ' s thoughts a f t e r the near-mutiny: Didn't he know them! Didn't he! In past years. B e t t e r men, too. Real men to stand by one i n a t i g h t p l a c e . Worse than d e v i l s too sometimes--downright, horned d e v i l s . Pah! T h i s \u00E2\u0080\u0094 n o t h i n g . A miss as good as a m i l e . . . . (126). Here again the n a r r a t o r enters i n t o the mind of a character and reads h i s thoughts, r e c o n s t r u c t i n g or imagining what the Captain i s t h i n k i n g . The pronominal r e f e r e n t \"he\" makes c l e a r that the statement i s the n a r r a t o r ' s , and the absence of quotation marks may i n d i c a t e a l s o that the i n t e r i o r monologue i s a r e c o n s t r u c t i o n i n free i n d i r e c t s t y l e r a t h e r than a d i r e c t p r e s e n t a t i o n of what i s occuring i n the mind of the c h a r a c t e r . The monologue i s t y p i c a l of Conrad i n that i t i s i n d i r e c t , as the \"he\" denotes. However, even more common i n Conrad i s an i n d i c a t o r such as \"he thought.\" The emotive q u a l i t y of the passage i s apparent, the exclamation marks and the r e p e t i t i o n as w e l l as the expression \"Pah!\" i n d i c a t e tone. This expression demonstrates how c l o s e l y Conrad models i n t e r i o r monologue on spoken speech, a v o i d i n g , however, a too close.resemblance by short suggestive phrasing that demands the reader to s i m p l i f y the statement from h i s knowledge of s i t u a t i o n and c h a r a c t e r . Donkin's i n t e r i o r monologue i s a l s o a r e c o n s t r u c t i o n of h i s psychic contents and emotional a t t i t u d e . Neither h i s c h a r a c t e r i s t i c i n t o n a t i o n nor idiom i s used, but the attempt to represent consciousness i s c l e a r : 29 Here was l a n d a l r e a d y - - h o m e v e r y s o o n - - a bad p a y -d a y \u00E2\u0080\u0094 n o c l o t h e s \u00E2\u0080\u0094 m o r e h a r d w o r k . How o f f e n s i v e a l l t h i s w a s . L a n d . The l a n d t h a t d raws away l i f e f r o m s i c k s a i l o r s . T h a t n i g g e r t h e r e had money - -c l o t h e s - - e a s y t i m e s ; and w o u l d n o t d i e . Land draws l i f e away. . . . He f e l t tempted to go and see w h e t h e r i t d i d . P e r h a p s a l r e a d y . . . I t w o u l d be a b i t o f l u c k . T h e r e was money i n t h e b e g g a r ' s c h e s t ( 1 4 7 ) . I f t h i s were a d i r e c t i n t e r i o r m o n o l o g u e , i t w o u l d p r o b a b l y be i n D o n k i n ' s Cockney a c c e n t and d i s t i n c t l y l e s s l i t e r a r y i n t o n e . P h r a s e s s u c h as \"How o f f e n s i v e a l l t h i s w a s \" and \" t h e l a n d t h a t d raws away l i f e \" c o u l d n o t come f r o m D o n k i n . R a t h e r , i n t h i s i n d i r e c t i n t e r i o r mono logue C o n r a d a t t e m p t s to r e p r o d u c e t he p a t t e r n o f t h o u g h t . The l a c k o f s y n t a c t i c a l c o m p l e x i t y and t h e d a s h e s g i v e the r e a d e r a s e n s e o f t he q u i c k n e s s w i t h w h i c h t h o u g h t o c c u r s , and he i s i m p e l l e d i n t o the d r a m a t i c s i t u a t i o n by t he p h r a s e \" T h a t n i g g e r t h e r e . \" N o n e t h e l e s s , the r e a d e r i s c o n s c i o u s o f t he a u t h o r ' s p r e s e n c e , t he p h r a s e \"He f e l t t emp ted . . . \" b e i n g r e s p o n s i b l e f o r t h i s a w a r e n e s s . W a i t ' s f i r s t i n t e r i o r mono logue d i f f e r s f r o m t h o s e c i t e d above i n t h a t i t b e g i n s w i t h an i n q u i t and u s e s the f i r s t p e r s o n p r o n o u n , b u t soon moves i n t o an o b j e c t i v e n a r r a t i o n o f W a i t ' s s e n s a t i o n s and i m a g i n e d e x p e r i e n c e s : He t h o u g h t : - - T h a t l u n a t i c B e l f a s t w i l l b r i n g me . some w a t e r i f I a s k . F o o l . I am v e r y t h i r s t y . . . . I t was v e r y h o t i n t he c a b i n , and i t seemed t o t u r n s l o w l y r o u n d , d e t a c h i t s e l f f r o m the s h i p , and s w i n g o u t s m o o t h l y i n t o a l u m i n o u s , a r i d s p a c e where a b l a c k sun s h o n e , s p i n n i n g v e r y f a s t . A p l a c e w i t h o u t any w a t e r I No w a t e r ! . . . He w h i r l e d a l o n g w i t h the h u s k s -v e r y t i r e d and l i g h t . A l l h i s i n s i d e was g o n e . He f e l t l i g h t e r t h a n t he h u s k s - - a n d more d r y ( 1 1 3 ) . The r e a d e r ' s d i r e c t c o n t a c t w i t h W a i t ' s m ind i s c o n f i n e d to o n l y a few s e n t e n c e s , t he r e s t o f t he p a s s a g e b e i n g a r e p o r t o f h i s d e l i r i u m , no t u n l i k e t h e r e p o r t o f P o d m o r e ' s v i s i o n s o f h e a v e n and h e l l . The o c c a s i o n a l 30 breaks i n t o f r e e i n d i r e c t s t y l e , then, are few, the most extensive being: \"A place without any water! No water!\" and the s i g h of r e l i e f when Wait r e t u r n s to f u l l consciousness:. \"Ah! A l l r i g h t ! \" . To be sure, the passage remains a v i o l a t i o n of the o s t e n s i b l e f i r s t person p o i n t of view, as are some of the conversations and a l l of the unuttered thoughts of the c h a r a c t e r s , but the v i o l a t i o n of p o i n t of view i s not as serious as Guerard contends, arguing that Wait's symbolic f u n c t i o n \"should exempt him from the b a n a l i t i e s of everyday i n t e r i o r monologue.\" In p a r t , t h i s monologue serves to apprise the reader of the d e t e r i o r a t i o n of W a i t 1 s p h y s i c a l c o n d i t i o n i n order to make h i s l a t e r death both p l a u s i b l e and expected. The d e l i r i u m i s accompanied by p h y s i c a l responses: \"His face was streaming w i t h p e r s p i r a t i o n , h i s arms heavier than lead\"(113). Moreover, i n t h i s way, too, the reader comes to f e e l a sympathy w i t h the s e l f - d e c e i v e d dying man; the mere repo r t that Wait was d e l i r i o u s would not achieve the same e f f e c t as t h i s dramatic rendering of h i s d e l i r i u m . Wait's second i n t e r i o r monologue i s a l s o e f f e c t i v e because of i t s dramatic q u a l i t y , the l i n e s of dialogue s p e c i f i c a l l y y i e l d i n g a v i v i d and p r e c i s e impression: He was swaggering up the East I n d i a Dock Road; saying k i n d l y , \"Come along f o r a t r e a t , \" pushing glass swing-doors, posing w i t h superb assurance i n the g a s l i g h t above a mahogany counter(149). The n a r r a t o r i s again r e p o r t i n g an imaginary v i s i o n t a k i n g place i n Wait's mind, as i f he were r e l a t i n g a daydream w i t h dialogue. The f a u l t w i t h the passage, i f there by any, l i e s i n the n a r r a t o r ' s omni-science-- i n the f a c t that he can present the contents of Wait's mind; but i n a scene which has an omniscient n a r r a t o r already (Donkin and Wait 31 are a l o n e ) , Guerard's point seems to be even more a misplaced emphasis. Free i n d i r e c t s t y l e here i s replaced by d i r e c t d i s c o u r s e , p e r m i t t i n g the reader to be a witness to Wait's thoughts without a f i l t e r i n g n a r r a t i v e device. Free i n d i r e c t s t y l e also occurs i n s i t u a t i o n s where a character's thoughts are presented i n The Rover. In a type of i n d i r e c t i n t e r i o r monologue the n a r r a t o r presents a character's ideas and opinions moving back from a s i t u a t i o n i n order to place the character i n t o r e l i e f . The movement from n a r r a t i v e v o i c e to a character's mind i s most o f t e n achieved without t r a n s i t i o n s or i n d i c a t o r s as i n t h i s passage: The l i e u t e n a n t , as he sat there, unaware of Peyrol's survey of h i s person, gave no n o t i o n of s l i p p e r i n e s s . On the c o n t r a r y , he looked r a t h e r immovably e s t a b l i s h e d . Very much at home. Too much at home. Even a f t e r P e y r o l sat down by h i s side he continued to look immovable\u00E2\u0080\u0094or at l e a s t d i f f i c u l t to get r i d of(104). Here,, one has the b i - f o c a l method discerned by Guirard: the n a r r a t o r observes Peyrol observing Lieutenant R e a l , but then steps back s l i g h t l y , momentarily s h i f t i n g the focus s o l e l y on to Peyrol who th i n k s that Real looks \"too much at home\" at Escampobar, and then, returns to observe again both Pe y r o l and R e a l . D i c t i o n i s re s p o n s i b l e f o r the s h i f t , \" r a t h e r immovably e s t a b l i s h e d \" belonging to the v o i c e of the n a r r a t o r , w h i l e the simple \"Very much at home. Too much at home\" r e f l e c t s Peyrol's thought and language, which the n a r r a t o r a m p l i f i e s by the phrase \" d i f f i c u l t to get r i d o f . \" Another instance of t h i s adaptation of free i n d i r e c t s t y l e , but without s u p e r i m p o s i t i o n , w i l l serve to c l a r i f y the manner i n which Conrad adapts t h i s type of discourse to a character's thought. Alone on the t a r t a n e , Michel guards Symons, i n s p i t e of the f a c t that he i s t e r r i f i e d of \" t h i s bewitched corpse\": The \"You there, M i c h e l , \" pronounced i n an undertone, acted l i k e a moral t o n i c . This then was not the doing of the E v i l One; i t was no sorcery! And even i f i t had been, now that Peyrol was there, Michel had l o s t a l l f e a r ( 1 2 3 ) . The phrase \"doing of the E v i l One\" belongs to Michel's mind, and r a t h e r than being presented d i r e c t l y by means of an i n d i c a t o r , f o r example, \"he thought,\" that n a r r a t o r e f f a c e s h i m s e l f so that the reader may perceive d i r e c t l y the. r e a c t i o n of M i c h e l to Peyrol's appearance on the scene. Moreover, the thought has the e f f e c t of spontaneity i n t h i s framework, something that would be hindered or e n t i r e l y prevented by an i n d i c a t o r informing the reader of a s h i f t i n focus. The focus here changes spontaneously, a p p r o p r i a t e l y p o r t r a y i n g the immediate u p l i f t of Michel's morale. The i l l u s i o n of n a r r a t i v e i s maintained at p o i n t s where the s h i f t from n a r r a t o r to character i s b a r e l y p e r c e p t i b l e , betrayed only by a few words, as w i t h Symons' l o c k i n g Scevola i n t o the c a b i n of the t a r t a n e : His f i r s t a c t i o n was to get possession of the s t a b l e f o r k . At once he f e l t h i m s e l f a match f o r any s i n g l e man or even two men unless they had f i r e a r m s . He had no hope, however, of being able to r e s i s t the s o l d i e r s . . . . He expected to see them appear at any moment l e d by that confounded marinero(198). The phrase \"counfounded marinero\" r e v e a l s the s h i f t of focus; t h i r d person n a r r a t i v e t a k i n g on the c h a r a c t e r i s t i c cast of Symons' speech so completely that h i s o p i n i o n of Peyrol might be taken as that of the n a r r a t o r . The f u n c t i o n of discourse i n The Rover and The Nigger might be c h a r a c t e r i z e d as e s s e n t i a l l y a u r a l i n emphasis, and Conrad h i m s e l f f e l t that h i s a b i l i t i e s i n t h i s regard might have permitted him to w r i t e f o r the stage, something he e v e n t u a l l y turned to l a t e i n h i s career. 33 W r i t i n g to J.B. Pinker i n 1916, he s a i d : You w i l l admit I have some f a c u l t y of dial o g u e . A l s o dramatic i n t e r e s t . (I expect \"Youth,\" \"Typhoon\" and ge n e r a l l y the purely sea-things.) But the bulk i s dramatic. And i f I can only l e a r n to adapt my f a c u l t y f o r dialogue and drama to the c o n d i t i o n s of the stage, then . . . . 13 Though h i s b r i e f stage experience was u n s u c c e s s f u l , Conrad's imagi-n a t i v e f a c u l t i e s were d e c i d e l y v i s u a l and a u r a l and dramatic as h i s novels demonstrate. In c r e a t i n g a f i c t i o n a l u n i v e r s e , he drew upon the r e a l world of the senses, and hence one has i n reading him a world f u l l y - r e a l i z e d - - w i t h both i t s smooth and rough edges, i t s c o l l o q u i a l language, and hence, i t s v i v i d c h a r a c t e r s . The tendency towards drama i s , of course, most obvious i n d i r e c t d i s c o u r s e , but even i n i n d i r e c t d i scourse and free i n d i r e c t s t y l e , one notes h i s concern f o r the p i t c h and tone of speech, f o r i n t o n a t i o n and i n d i v i d u a l speech p a t t e r n s . Thus, Conrad obeys the dictum about s t y l e that he and Ford subscribed t o : \"The f i r s t business of s t y l e i s to make a work i n t e r e s t i n g , the second business of s t y l e i s to make a work i n t e r e s t i n g , the t h i r d business of s t y l e . . . , u L ^ Footnotes 1 Joseph Conrad: A Personal Remembrance (1924; r p t . New York: Octagon Books, 1965), p. 198. 2 Ford, p. 200. 3 The term i n q u i t i s used here as i n Peer Hultberg's S t y l Wczesne j Prozy Fabularnei Waclawa Berenta (Warsaw: I n s t i t u t e of L i t e r a r y Studies of the P o l i s h Academy of Sciences, 1969). 4 \"Textual Note,\" Conrad's \"Heart of Darkness\" and the C r i t i c s , ed. Bruce Harkness (Belmont, C a l i f . : Wadsworth, 1960), p. 165. 5 Ford, p. 200. 6 See Madame Bovary I I . v i . 7 \"The D e f i n i n g F u n c t i o n of Vocabulary i n Conrad's The Rover,\" SoAtQ, 59 (Spring 1960), p. 268. 8 S t y l e i n the French Nove1 (Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press, 1957), pp. 117-118. 9 \"Modern L i n g u i s t i c s Looks at R h e t o r i c : Free I n d i r e c t S t y l e , \" Patterns of L i t e r a r y S t y l e . ed. Joseph S t r e l k a ( U n i v e r s i t y Park, Penn.: Univ. of Pennsylvania State Press, 1971), p. 85. 10 \"Nar r a t i v e and Dialogue i n Jane Austen,\" C r i t Q , 12 (Autumn 1970), p. 205. 11 See Robert Humphrey's Stream of Consciousness i n the Modern Novel (Berkeley, C a l i f . : Univ. of C a l i f o r n i a Press, 1954), pp. 24-29. 12 Albert J. Guerard, Conrad the Novelist (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard Univ. Press, 1958), p. 107. 13 G. Jean-Aubry, Joseph Conrad: Life and Letters Vol. 2 (Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1927), p. 173. 14 Ford, p. 207. Chapter I I I Narrative Narrative technique and method i n Conrad's novels have been given closer scrutiny by c r i t i c s than his use of dialogue, yet the attention to s t y l e i n narrative remains s l i g h t . Conrad's handling of point of view i n The Nigger of the \"Narcissus\" has been adequately defended by Ian Watt and just as reasonably attacked by Marvin Mudrick; there i s no necessity to review t h e i r work here, e s p e c i a l l y as t h e i r essays are not s t y l i s t i c a l l y oriented.''\" Point of view considered s t y l i s t i c a l l y concerns such matters as the consistency of language, and an analysis of that language, including the narrator's i d i o s y n c r a t i c d i c t i o n and vocabulary. In h i s monograph Conrad the Novelist, Albert J . Guerard w r i t i n g of The Nigger asserts that \"with the second chapter . . . the prose takes on 2 poetic q u a l i t i e s \" ; q u a l i t i e s that Frederick R. K a r l r e l a t e s to f i n de s i e c l e poetry, borrowing i t s rhythms and mannerisms, though more acutely 3 i n Almayer's F o l l y and An Outcast of the Islands. The Nigger, as most c r i t i c s judge i t , represents a bold s t r i k i n g - o u t i n new d i r e c t i o n s for Conrad, and an i n d i c a t i o n of both maturing technique and v i s i o n . I t s poetry r e l i e s on a narrator whose language and s e n s i b i l i t y are c l e a r l y not that of the ordinary seaman; and however disturbing for some readers the change from \"we\" to \" I \" , or the e n t i r e l y absent narrator of Wait's death scene may be, the language attains a consistency throughout, that 37 u l t i m a t e l y makes the s h i f t of pronouns and the absence of an observer minor f l a w s . As Ian Watt p o i n t s out, p l a c i n g the work i n an h i s t o r i c a l p e r s p e c t i v e some of the scrupulous c r i t i c s of the novel r e f l e c t an o v e r s e n s i t i v i t y to 4 poin t of view. Despite i t s t e c h n i c a l d e f i c i e n c i e s , the novel succeeds at the simplest l e v e l i n c r e a t i n g the i l l u s i o n of a seaman's reminiscence, an i l l u s i o n t hat d e r i v e s from l i n g u i s t i c r a t h e r than s t r u c t u r a l elements. W r i t i n g i n 1936, Edward Crankshaw could simply say, a f t e r a s s e r t i n g that \"the s t o r y i s t o l d i n f i r s t person throughout by one of the s a i l o r s concerned\" that \"the whole f i r s t person convention i n 'The Nigger of the Narcissus ' i s se v e r a l times misused.\"\"' Perhaps the major c h a r a c t e r i s t i c of the prose s t y l e of The Nigger and of the e a r l y works i n general i s the almost o r a t o r i c a l e f f e c t of b a l a n c e \u00E2\u0080\u0094 the l a y e r i n g of grammatically s i m i l a r c o n s t r u c t i o n s , g i v i n g the prose a movement at once l y r i c a l and a u t h o r i t a t i v e , as i n t h i s t y p i c a l passage: The men who could understand h i s s i l e n c e were g o n e \u00E2\u0080\u0094 those men who knew how to e x i s t beyond the pale of l i f e and w i t h i n s i g h t of e t e r n i t y . They had been st r o n g , as those are strong who know n e i t h e r doubts nor hopes. They had been impatient and enduring, t u r b u l e n t and devoted, unruly and f a i t h f u l . Well-meaning people had t r i e d to represent those men as whining over every mouthful of t h e i r food; as going about t h e i r work i n fe a r of t h e i r l i v e s . . . . Men hard to manage, but easy to i n s p i r e ; v o i c e l e s s men\u00E2\u0080\u0094but men enough to scorn i n t h e i r hearts the sentimental v o i c e s that bewailed the hardness of t h e i r f a t e ( 2 5 ) . The r h e t o r i c a l e f f e c t i v e n e s s of t h i s passage r e l i e s e s s e n t i a l l y on the simple p r i n c i p l e of r e p e t i t i o n of grammatical c o n s t r u c t i o n s and i n d i v i d u a l words. A n t i t h e s i s i s e q u a l l y important: \"beyond . . . w i t h i n , \" \"doubts . . .hopes,\" \"hard . . . easy,\" as i s redundance on the semantic l e v e l , \" t u r b u l e n t \" and \"un r u l y \" and \"devoted\" and \" f a i t h f u l \" being v i r t u a l l y synonymous. The \u00E2\u0080\u00A238 r h e t o r i c a l e f f e c t a l s o de r i ves from the vague and grand iose q u a l i t y of c e r t a i n words: \" l i f e , \" \" e t e r n i t y , \" \" f a t e . \" A d m i t t e d l y , the language does not correspond to one 's n o t i o n of how a s a i l o r speaks , or t h i n k s , or even w r i t e s , but Conrad seems unconcerned w i t h be ing \" r e a l i s t i c \" on t h i s l e v e l : The Nigger i s not s imply a dramat ic monologue from the mind of a s a i l o r . In o ther ways, however, the language l u l l s the reader i n t o accep t ing the p o s s i b i l i t y of the n a r r a t o r ' s i d e n t i t y as s a i l o r - - t h e n a u t i c a l vocabu la r y , the s e n s i t i v e and concre te d e s c r i p t i o n of l i f e at s e a , and e s p e c i a l l y the much p r a i s e d d e s c r i p t i o n of the storm c o n t r i b u t e to t h i s acceptance. Robert F o u l k e , however, seek ing to demonstrate tha t the land and sea dichotomy are not e n t i r e l y c l e a r , c la ims tha t the \" i n c a n t a t o r y prose b o l s t e r s up the n a r r a t o r ' s unsteady v iew of l i f e , \" ^ a p o s i t i o n not w e l l supported on c l o s e r s c r u t i n y , as ambigui ty seems as much a theme and technique here as i n Lord J i m , though admi t ted l y not as comple te ly r e a l i z e d . M i chae l P. Ga l l aghe r i n a recent essay sees Conrad i n t h i s nove l \"g rop ing toward t h i s s p e c i a l un ion of theme and t e c h n i q u e \" - - t h e un ion of e p i s t e m o l o g i c a l theme w i t h e p i s t e m o l o g i c a l fo rm, a l though he u l t i m a t e l y judges the n a r r a t i v e t e c h -nique \" r e l a t i v e l y u n s o p h i s t i c a t e d \" w i t h the e x p l o r a t i o n of p e r s p e c t i v i s m l e f t g incomplete u n t i l Lord J i m . To some degree t h i s obse rva t i on ho lds t r u e ; the waver ing po in t of v i ew , as Fou lke po in t s o u t , poses a problem of a u t h o r i t y 9 f o r the r e a d e r ; the scene of W a i t ' s death be ing a s t r i k i n g i ns tance i n which the na r ra to r i s t o t a l l y absent . Yet one presumes that the n a r r a t i v e remains con f ined to a s i n g l e o b s e r v e r - p a r t i c i p a n t who on more than t h i s o c c a s i o n i s omn isc ien t . Th i s presumpt ion r e l i e s on a l i n g u i s t i c r a the r than s t r u c t u r a l premise\u00E2\u0080\u0094the cons i s t ency of sentence s t r u c t u r e , vocabu la r y , and n a r r a t i v e tone overcomes most ob jec t i ons to an i n c o n s i s t e n t n a r r a t o r . 39 The eloquent tone of much of The Nigger relies essentially on three aspects of style: a meticulous concern for modification and for precision leading to a heavy reliance on adjectives, an interest in cadence, less for it s own sake than for i t s contribution to meaning, and a vocabulary that permits excursion into the vague world of human psychology. Two types of adjectival modification add variety and emphasis while tightening the texture of the prose; the French convention of modification after the noun, and delayed modification with the substantive and i t s modi-fiers being separated by one or more clauses. The latter gives added weight to the adjectives because they are not i n their \"normal\" position in English prose as, for example, in this sentence: Archie, with compressed l i p s , drew himself i n , seem-ed to shrink into a smaller space, and sewed steadily, industrious and dumb(8). Not only do the adjectives \"industrious and dumb\" receive emphasis here, but their position after an adverb results in ambiguous reference, referring as much to Archie as to his method of sewing. This type of modification increases the range of structure beyond that usually found in English: The days raced after one another, b r i l l i a n t and quick like the flashes of a lighthouse, and the nights, eventful and short, resembled fleeting dreams (30). This sentence has two rhetorically effective types of modification for the f i r s t clause; i t could have been \"The days, b r i l l i a n t and quick like the flashes of a lighthouse, raced after one another,\" or i t could remain as i t is above. Another possible alternative, although grammatically correct, is clumsy and ineffective: \"Like the b r i l l i a n t and quick flashes of a lighthouse, the days raced after one another.\" The balance of the construe-40 tion \" b r i l l i a n t and quick\" and \"eventful and short\" necessitates the mofi-fication as Conrad constructed i t ; moreover, the antithesis between day and night, a motif in the novel, finds expression in a form that poses them as equally potent grammatical structures. The structural parallelism provides the integration of content and form. The adjectival density, almost adjectival excess, of Conrad has i t s major appeal in The Nigger to the senses \u00E2\u0080\u0094 to the eye and ear especially. This passage is not untypical in i t s reliance on numerous adjectives for visual and aural effect, and carried to extremes, precisely this type of modification, carefully cadenced, led to Conradese: The feverish and s h r i l l babble of Eastern language struggled against the masterful tones of tipsy sea-men, who argued against brazen claims and dishonest hopes by profane shouts. The resplendent and bestar-red peace of the East was torn into squalid tatters by howls of rage and shrieks of lament raised over sums ranging from five annas to half a rupee; and every soul afloat in Bombay Harbour became aware that the new hands were joining the Narcissus(4). Nearly every noun is qualified by an adjective, and some nouns are modified by two; here the modification is effective in i t s creation of vividness, and there is not as great a need for the pruning that would have improved the earlier works. The impression given is notable for i t s exactness, for i t s f i d e l i t y to what must have been Conrad's own experience as a sailor i n the Eastern oceans. At times, however, he seems unsure of his a b i l i t y to conjure up an image of sound, as i f language were inadequate for the precise impres-sion intended. Wait, for example, is described as \"calm, cool, towering, superb\"(18), and the ship in the storm as \"devastated, battered, and wounded\"(94); the string of adjectives attempts a grand effect, but such constructions quickly become tiresome, justifying Joseph Warren Beach's c o n t e n t i o n t h a t \" C o n r a d had o f t e n t h e t e n d e n c y t o u s e t o o many w o r d s \" \u00E2\u0080\u0094 a t e n d e n c y , a c c o r d i n g t o B e a c h , l e a r n e d f r o m t h e F l a u b e r t o f Salammbo and 10 L a T e n t a t i o n de s a i n t A n t o i n e . Q u i t e o f t e n a d j e c t i v e s i n The N i g g e r a r e u s e d o r c h o s e n t o f i l l ou t c a d e n c e , an a s p e c t o f t h e n o v e l i s t ' s a r t t h a t C o n r a d and F o r d a p p r e c i a t e d 11 12 i n F l a u b e r t and M a u p a s s a n t . The \" e x c e s s i v e l y a d j e c t i v a l \" A l m a y e r ' s F o l l y and An O u t c a s t o f t h e I s l a n d s b e t r a y C o n r a d as t o o h e a v i l y i n f l u e n c e d by F l a u b e r t , i m i t a t i n g t o o c l o s e l y a F r e n c h u s e o f l a n g u a g e o n l y p a r t l y t r a n s f e r a b l e t o E n g l i s h ; b u t t h e c a d e n c e and rhy thms o f \"The L a g o o n , \" p a r o d i e d so w e l l by B e e r b o h m , become, as C o n r a d m a t u r e s , an a s s e t , a l t h o u g h a t t i m e s he l a p s e s i n t o h i s f o r m e r h a b i t s . The o p e n i n g o f C h a p t e r I V o f The N i g g e r and t h e p a s s a g e e n v i s a g i n g E n g l a n d as a s h i p ( 1 6 2 - 6 3 ) , a r t i s t i c a l l y weak i n t h e f i r s t i n s t a n c e , d e m o n s t r a t e t h e n e g a t i v e e f f e c t s o f C o n r a d ' s o v e r - c o n c e r n w i t h t h e rhy thms o f h i s p r o s e . A d j e c t i v e s i n t h e s e p a s s a g e s a l m o s t e n c r u s t t h e s u b s t a n t i v e s t h e y m o d i f y , b u t e f f e c t a c a d e n c e e n t i r e l y a p p r o p r i a t e t o t h e g r a n d i o s e p e r h a p s , i n f l a t e d , s t a t e m e n t C o n r a d m a k e s . N o r t h r o p F r y e i n h i s Anatomy o f C r i t i c i s m summar i zes b r i e f l y t h e q u a l i t i e s t h a t comb ine t o g i v e r h y t h m t o l i t e r a r y p r o s e : A t e n d e n c y t o l o n g s e n t e n c e s made up o f s h o r t p h r a s e s and c o o r d i n a t e c l a u s e s , t o e m p h a t i c r e p e t i t i o n comb ined w i t h a d r i v i n g l i n e a r r h y t h m , t o i n v e c t i v e , t o e x h a u s t i v e c a t a l o g u e s , and t o e x p r e s s i n g - the p r o c e s s o r movement o f t h o u g h t i n s t e a d o f t h e l o g i c a l w o r ^ o r d e r o f a c h i e v e d t h o u g h t , a r e among t h e s i g n s o f p r o s e m e l o s . The c o n c l u s i o n t o C h a p t e r I I I o f The N i g g e r d e m o n s t r a t e s c l e a r l y what F r y e d i s c e r n s as a component o f r h y t h m \u00E2\u0080\u0094 \" a t e n d e n c y t o l o n g s e n t e n c e s made up o f s h o r t p h r a s e s and c o o r d i n a t e c l a u s e s . \" The c o n c l u s i o n o f t h i s c h a p t e r , t h e c h a p t e r o f t h e s t o r m , shows C o n r a d ' s c o n s c i o u s r h e t o r i c a l a i m s ; t h e e l e v a t e d t o n e p r o v i d e d by t h e l o n g p e r i o d i c s e n t e n c e s c l i m a x e s i n a s h o r t s e n t e n c e t h a t sums up t h e c h a r a c t e r o f S i n g l e t o n , and p e r h a p s , C o n r a d ' s 42 v i e w of e t h i c a l goodness: A p a r t , f a r a f t , and a l o n e by t h e h elm, o l d S i n g l e t o n had d e l i b e r a t e l y t u c k e d h i s w h i t e b e a r d under t h e t o p b u t t o n o f h i s g l i s t e n i n g c o a t . Swaying upon t h e d i n and t u m u l t o f t h e s e a s , w i t h t h e whole b a t t e r e d l e n g t h o f t h e s h i p l a u n c h e d f o r w a r d i n a r o l l i n g r u s h b e f o r e h i s s t e a d y o l d e y e s , he s t o o d r i g i d l y s t i l l , f o r g o t t e n by a l l , and w i t h an a t t e n t i v e f a c e . I n f r o n t o f h i s e r e c t f i g u r e o n l y t h e two arms moved c r o s s w i s e w i t h a s w i f t and sudden r e a d i n e s s , t o check or u r g e a g a i n t h e r a p i d s t i r o f c i r c l i n g s p o k e s . He s t e e r e d w i t h c a r e ( 8 9 ) . G u e r a r d , m e n t i o n i n g t h i s p a s s a g e , t a l k s about t h e \" s o l i d a r t i s t r y o f t h e n o v e l ' s s t r u c t u r e \" c i t i n g \" t h e c a r e w i t h w h i c h he (Conrad) m o d u l a t e s h i s n a r r a t i v e downward f r o m t h e e l e v a t e d r h e t o r i c o f S i n g l e t o n a t t h e wheel t o t h e p r o s a i c l i f e o f e v e r y d a y . \" 1 4 T h i s m o d u l a t i o n o f tone c o n t r i b u t e s t o t h e d r a m a t i c c h a r a c t e r o f t h e n o v e l \u00E2\u0080\u0094 the sense o f a r i s i n g and f a l l i n g a c t i o n w i t h a c l i m a x and an a n t i - c l i m a x i s formed p a r t l y by Conrad's con-c e r n w i t h p r o s e rhythm. The b u i l d - u p t o t h e s t o r m and t o t h e v i o l e n c e o f n a t u r e i n chaos i s d e v e l o p e d by images and cadences t h a t show a m i c r o c o s m i c w o r l d , t h e N a r c i s s u s , on t h e edge o f d e s t r u c t i o n . S i m i l a r l y , t h a t c a l m has a t l a s t come t o t h e weary s h i p and i t s crew i s a p p a r e n t s o l e l y f r o m t h e cadence o f t h e p r o s e . The s e r i a l v e r s i o n o f t h e n o v e l p u b l i s h e d f r o m August t o December 1897 i n The New R e v i e w ^ might have even g i v e n t h e f i r s t r e a d e r s a g r e a t e r sense o f c o m p l e t i o n and achievement a f t e r a r e a d i n g o f t h e h e c t i c t h i r d c h a p t e r . The r e a d e r o f t h e n o v e l i n volume form i s met w i t h the f l a c c i d b e g i n n i n g o f t h e f o u r t h c h a p t e r , and t h e r e f o r e t h e e f f e c t o f t h e e n d i n g o f t h e t h i r d c h a p t e r i s s l i g h t l y muted. N o n e t h e l e s s , one knows t h a t man has s u r v i v e d t h e t r i a l o f h o s t i l e n a t u r e ; t h e m o r a l c r i s i s \u00E2\u0080\u0094 t h e s t r u g g l e w i t h W a i t and s e l f - - i s s t i l l t o come. 43 Cadence on a smaller scale has at times an onomatopoeic function, the sound of a sentence and the way a sentence i s structured combining to support i t s contents. A sentence l i k e t h i s reproduces by cadence the a c t i o n des-cribed: \"We staggered away from the door, and, alarmed by a sudden r o l l , f e l l down i n a bunch\" (71 ) , as does t h i s d e s c r i p t i o n of h a i l f a l l i n g on the Narcissus: \"Out of the abysmal darkness of the black cloud overhead white h a i l streamed on her, r a t t l e d on the r i g g i n g , leaped i n handfuls o f f the yards, rebounded on the deck . . . \" ( 5 3 ) . S i m i l a r l y , the cadence of t h i s passage, describing the ship during the storm, portrays the ship's move-ments: At times she soared up s w i f t l y as i f to leave t h i s earth for ever, then during interminable moments f e l l through a void with a l l the hearts on board of her stand-ing s t i l l , t i l l a f r i g h t f u l shock, expected and sud-den, started them off again with a big thump(54). The f i r s t clause of t h i s sentence with i t s a l l i t e r a t i v e phrase \"she soared up s w i f t l y \" quickens the pace and gives the e f f e c t of an upward movement. The pause a f t e r the phrase \"then during interminable moments\" creates a u r a l l y the f a l l that the ship takes; the shock i s also reproduced, the words \"expected and sudden,\" set o f f by commas with a pause before and a f t e r , i n t e r -rupt the flow of the sentence u n t i l i t again begins to move, as the ship i t s e l f does. L a s t l y , the phrase \"with a big thump\" has obvious onomatopoeic q u a l i t i e s ; the l i n e being scanned t h u s : \u00E2\u0080\u0094 ' ' , the l a s t s y l l a b l e r e c e i v i n g the greatest emphasis. The following passage has the same onomatopoeic q u a l i t y i n i t s structure: \"A crested r o l l e r broke with a loud h i s s i n g roar, and the sun, as i f put out, disappeared. The chattering voice f a l t e r e d , went out together with the l i g h t \" ( 7 5 ) . The pause a f t e r the f i r s t clause l i t e r a l l y breaks the sentence, and the delaying phrase \"as i f put out\" adds emphasis 44 to the f i n a l word, \"disappeared.\" The second sentence with i t s l ack of a coord inat ing conjunct ion provides for a greater i n t e g r a t i o n between sound and sense; the conjunc t ion , which would a l t e r the cadence, i s best omitted, l eav ing the impression of a vo ice f a l t e r i n g and then disappearing as s w i f t l y as the sun does. A conjunct ion would a l so cause the a c t i o n to be perce ived as c o n s i s t i n g of two p a r t s ; here i t i s perceived as simultaneous and u n i f i e d because of the syntax. Onomatopoeic words such as \"chatter ing\" and \"hiss ing\" contr ibute to the o v e r - a l l e f fec t iveness of the passage. Cadence in ' The Nigger i s not merely decora t ive , but i s an attempt to render through sound the d e s c r i p t i o n of an a c t i o n . I t i s thus that Conrad achieves h i s aim of making h i s reader \"feel\" and \"hear.\" S t y l e coupe, defined by Ren6 Georgin i n Les Secrets du s t y l e as: . . . form\u00C2\u00A3 de propos i t ions independantes generalement juxtaposees, d e t a i l l e les gestes et les act ions dans ^ l a n a r r a t i o n et les aspects dans l a d e s c r i p t i o n . . . . i s an important aspect of cadence i n The Nigger . Georgin gives the fo l l owing example of s t y l e coupe from F lauber t from whom Conrad learned the value of cadence: Les m \u00C2\u00A3 t a i r i e s des p a t r i c i e n s se succedaient sur l e bord de l a route ; des r i g o l e s coula ient dans des bois de pa lmiers ; les o l i v i e r s f a i s a i e n t de longues l ignes ver te s ; des vapeurs roses f l o t t a i e n t dans l es c o l l i n e s ; des montagnes bleues se dressaient par d e r r i & r e . Conrad uses s t y l e coupe most often to give a sense of movement and of speed, s h i f t i n g focus and r e p o r t i n g a c t i o n or thought with the swiftness of t h e i r occurence as i n these passages: They stamped with both feet ; they turned t h e i r shouting faces to the sky; many, s p l u t t e r i n g , slapped t h e i r th ighs ; while one or two, bent double, gasped, hugging themselves with both arms l i k e men i n pain(33). 45 He had p a n t e d i n s u n s h i n e , s h i v e r e d i n t h e c o l d ; s u f f e r e d h u n g e r , t h i r s t , d e b a u c h ; p a s s e d t h r o u g h many t r i a l s \u00E2\u0080\u0094 k n o w n a l l t h e f u r i e s . O l d ! I t seemed t o h i m he was b r o k e n a t l a s t ( 9 9 ) . He s t i f f e n e d h i m s e l f , and M r . B a k e r , e x p e r i m e n t a l l y , l e t h i m g o . He s t a g g e r e d a p a c e o r t w o ; C a p t a i n A l l i s t o u n w a t c h e d h i m w i t h a q u i e t and p e n e t r a t i n g g a z e ; B e l f a s t r a n t o h i s s u p p o r t ( 1 1 9 ) . By u s i n g t h i s e f f e c t C o n r a d o b t a i n s t h e i n t e g r a t i o n o f c o n t e n t and f o r m ; r h y t h m and sound no t o n l y c o n t r i b u t e t o s e n s e bu t e f f e c t i t . The v o c a b u l a r y o f The N i g g e r i s an i m p o r t a n t f a c e t o f C o n r a d ' i m p r e s -s i o n i s t i c t e c h n i q u e . I a n Wa t t d e f e n d s vague v o c a b u l a r y a g a i n s t M u d r i c k ' s c h a r g e s as r i g h t l y vague s i n c e e m o t i o n a l r e s p o n s e i s o f t e n b l u r r e d and 18 i n d e f i n i t e . I m p r e c i s e and vague l a n g u a g e , as S t e p h e n U l l m a n p o i n t s ou t i n a r e c e n t e s s a y , i s an i m p o r t a n t a s p e c t of. s t y l e , a t t i m e s \" p r e f e r a b l e 19 t o p r e c i s e f o r m u l a t i o n . \" S u c h l a n g u a g e a p p e a r s most o f t e n i n t h e n o v e l i n p a s s a g e s o f a p h i l o s o p h i c and r e f l e c t i v e n a t u r e r a t h e r t h a n i n p a s s a g e s where movement and a c t i o n a r e m a j o r c o n c e r n s . The o p e n i n g p a r a g r a p h o f C h a p t e r I V i s a most v i s i b l e examp le where vague e m o t i o n s and i d e a s a r e e x p r e s s e d i n l a n g u a g e e q u a l l y i m p r e c i s e . The p i l i n g up o f a b s t r a c t nouns and t h e i n c a n t a t o r y t o n e p r o d u c e d by p a r a l l e l i s m ( \"by t h e o b s t i n a t e c l a m o u r . . . by t h e v a s t s i l e n c e . . . b y t h e dumb f e a r and t h e dumb c o u r a g e , \" ( 9 0 ) ) comb ine t o make t h e p a s s a g e a n u n s u c c e s s f u l a t t e m p t a t m a g n i l o q u e n c e . R a t h e r t h a n u s i n g v a g u e n e s s as an a r t i s t i c d e v i c e f o r s t a t e m e n t , C o n r a d h e r e has o n l y c o n f u s e d h i s i d e a s and f r u s t r a t e d h i s r e a d e r . A more s u c c e s s f u l p a s s a g e i s t h e one d e s c r i b i n g t h e c r e w b e f o r e t h e M i n t . The l a n g u a g e i s e q u a l l y vague and t o some d e g r e e g r a n d i o s e : \" t h e i l l u s i o n s o f s t r e n g t h , m i r t h , h a p p i n e s s ; t h e i l l u s i o n o f s p l e n d o u r and p o e t r y o f l i f e \" ( 1 7 1 ) , \"The s u n s h i n e o f h e a v e n f e l l l i k e a g i f t o f g r a c e on t h e mud o f t h e e a r t h , on t h e 46. remembering and mute stones, on greed, selfishness\"(172). Nonetheless, this passage is effective and powerful, partly because of the predomin-antly elegiac tone which allows Conrad to use a more eloquent vocabulary, and partly because the passage is never wholly immersed in abstraction but documents precisely the final movements of the crew as a group of men with a common experience. One feels that the narrator is saying something defi-nite about l i f e and human destiny; the manupulation of language and tone and the reliance on words of large meaning, what Gide called \"les mots qui 20 laissent a 11 imagination pleine licence,\" permit this impression, even though i t is not completely correct. Forster's well-known and often cited 21 opinion that Conrad was \"misty in the middle as well as at the edges\" derives in part from overlooking vagueness of vocabulary as an a r t i s t i c device which reflects the real vagueness and uncertainty at the centre of the human psyche. Royal Roussel writing about The Rover i n his Metaphysics of Darkness: A Study in the Unity and Development of Conrad's Fiction says of the narrative technique: Here a l l the vestiges of a detached perspective have disappeared. The novel is characterized by the same simplicity of point of view which underlies Almayer's Folly. Like the narrator of Almayer's Folly, the narrator of The Rover has the a b i l i t y to move from one consciousness to another, and like the narrator of Conrad's f i r s t novel his tone is the calm, secure2^ tone of one whose identity is assured by these acts. Precisely i n the chameleon-like a b i l i t y \"to move from one consciousness to another\" the narrator seems to lose rather than gain identity, becoming largely a device through which action and speech are reported. The narrator of The Secret Agent, however, through consistent irony, simultaneously 47. presenting and undercutting, gives the reader a sense of an identity, while one can only say of the narrator of The Rover that his tone is calm and secure. Albert J. Guerard, however, goes so far as to say that there is neither a narrator nor a narrative method in the novel, and discerns that though there are problems with point of view, Conrad seems unaware of 22 them. . His contention does not hold up under scrutiny\u00E2\u0080\u0094to be sure, there is a narrator, however minimal the sense of identity, and there is as well a narrative method and movement, however simple or unsatisfactory these may be to Guerard. The return to the narrative method of the early works 23 represents a decline well-documented by Moser, and despite Avrom Fleish-man's attempt to redeem The Rover on the grounds of \" i t s thoroughness of execution and consistency of theme,\" the calmness of tone and merely func-tional narrator negate the extravagant claim that Conrad's last novel may by put \"in the same camp with his finest achievements, and belie any generalizations about his late f a l l i n g - o f f . \" Although c r i t i c a l judgment of the novel is decidedly mixed, the majority of c r i t i c s contend that i t is poorly written, the narrative method slack, the style frequently careless. Only the chase scene and Peyrol's death scene receive high praise from most c r i t i c s , and even Guerard, the most severe c r i t i c of the novel, finds that \"the recovery at the end of The Rover, after two hundred and f i f t y pages of extreme dullness and ineptitude, provides a very moving experience for the lover of Conrad's 25 work.\" He goes on to praise \"the good narrative and descriptive prose\" in the chase scene, and judges that \"the style remains evocative and under 26 firm control\" in Peyrol's death scene. A close analysis of the best passages of The Rover w i l l serve as an introduction to a discussion of the 48 n a r r a t i v e s t y l e i n t h e n o v e l as a w h o l e . The c h a s e s c e n e has a v i v i d n e s s and movement t h a t o c c u r s nowhere e l s e i n t h e n o v e l ; i t i s t h e c u l m i n a t i o n o f t h e e n t i r e w o r k , and C o n r a d ' s d r a m a t i c s e n s e i s i n e v i d e n c e i n t h e c r e a t i o n and m a i n t e n a n c e o f t e n s i o n t h r o u g h o u t t h e s c e n e . T h i s s c e n e has f o u r f o c i : 1) t h e t h o u g h t s and a c t i o n s o f P e y r o l , 2) t h e t h o u g h t s and a c t i o n s o f C a p t a i n V i n c e n t , 3) t h e a c t i o n s o f t h e A m e l i a , a n d , 4 ) t h e a c t i o n s o f t h e t a r t a n e . The d i s t a n c i n g t e c h n i q u e o f r e p o r t i n g a c t i o n o c c u r r i n g on t h e A m e l i a o r on t h e t a r t a n e t h r o u g h t h e p e r c e p t i o n o f t h e o t h e r s h i p c o m p l i c a t e s t h i s s e c t i o n . F o r e x a m p l e , t h e s h o o t i n g o f P e y r o l i s d e s c r i b e d by t h e n a r r a t o r o n l y as i t i s v i e w e d t h r o u g h t h e e y e s o f C a p t a i n V i n c e n t and h i s c r e w . The c o m p l e x f o c u s changes c o n t i n u a l l y , and t h e s c e n e g a i n s f l u i d i t y i n i t s m i m e t i c p r e s e n t a t i o n o f t h e c h a s e . C o n r a d ' s m e t a p h o r i c p o w e r s , p r e c i s e m o d i f i c a t i o n and s y n t a c t i c c o m p l e x i t y h e l p t o v i v i f y t h e a c t i o n and t h o u g h t o f P e y r o l : He had meant t o p l a y t h a t man a t r i c k , and now t h e t r i c k had been p l a y e d . P l a y e d by h i m b e t t e r t h a n by any o t h e r o l d man on whom age had s t o l e n , u n n o t i c e d , t i l l t h e v e i l o f p e a c e was t o r n down by t h e t o u c h o f a s e n t i m e n t u n e x p e c t e d l i k e an i n t r u d e r and c r u e l l i k e an e n e m y ( 2 6 7 - 2 6 8 ) . Under t h a t g r e y s k y t h e r e was n o t h i n g f o r h i m b u t t h e s w i s h o f b r e a k i n g s e a s and t h e c e a s e l e s s f u r i o u s b e a t i n g o f t h e t a r t a n e ' s f o r e s a i l . H i s p l a y t h i n g was k n o c k i n g abou t t e r r i b l y unde r h i m , w i t h h e r t i l l e r f l y i n g m a d l y t o and f r o j u s t c l e a r o f h i s h e a d , and s o l i d lumps o f w a t e r com ing on b o a r d o v e r h i s p r o s t r a t e b o d y ( 2 6 8 ) . I n t h e f i r s t p a s s a g e t h e s e n s e o f f i n a l i t y and t h e t o n e o f c o m p l e t i o n a r e c r e a t e d by t h e t e n s e ; t h e s y n t a x f u r t h e r adds t o t h i s t o n e by r e v e a l i n g t h e c o n t e n t g r a d u a l l y , a l m o s t s l o w l y . The r h y t h m o f t h e p a s s a g e c r e a t e s t h e s e n s e o f an e n d i n g ; t h e f r e q u e n t b r e a k s s l o w down t h e r e a d e r , g i v i n g 49 e m p h a s i s , a n d , p e r h a p s , s o l e m n i t y t o e a c h o f t h e p h r a s e s . The s e c o n d p a s s a g e r e t u r n s t h e r e a d e r t o t h e moment, t o t h e c o n t i n u o u s p r e s e n t d e p i c t i n g P e y r o l l y i n g p a s s i v e l y on h i s t a r t a n e e n d i n g h i s l i f e i n t h e s e r v i c e o f F r a n c e . The h i g h l y c o n c r e t e p i c t u r e p r e s e n t e d h e r e i s C o n r a d a t h i s b e s t ; t h e s u b s t a n t i v e s a r e q u a l i f i e d so t h a t t h e a p p e a l i s t o t h e r e a d e r ' s v i s u a l i m a g i n a t i o n . C o n c r e t e d e t a i l has i t s f u l l e s t e x p r e s s i o n when t h e A m e l i a f i r e s on t h e t a r t a n e . The p r e c i s i o n o f t he n a u t i c a l v o c a b u l a r y and t h e e x a c t r e p o r t i n g o f t h e t a r t a n ' s movements r e c a l l numerous p a s s a g e s o f s i m i l a r d e s c r i p t i o n i n \" T y p h o o n , \" L o r d J i m , \"The S e c r e t S h a r e r , \" and The N i g g e r . C o n r a d i s on f i m i l i a r g round i n t h i s s c e n e , and t h e v o c a b u l a r y i n i t s a c c u r a c y p r e s e n t s e x a c t l y what h e wan ts i n t h e s e a b u r i a l o f an o l d and f a i t h f u l s a i l o r . T h e r e i s no n e c e s s i t y t o m u l t i p l y a d j e c t i v e s b e c a u s e , l i k e o t h e r s p e c i a l i z e d v o c a b u l a r i e s , n a u t i c a l t e rms a r e p r e c i s e and s u f f i c i e n t i n t h e m s e l v e s . E l i z a b e t h Cox W r i g h t n o t e s t h a t : \" I t i s t h e g r e a t v i r t u e o f The R o v e r t h a t C o n r a d i s h e r e i n command o f a l e s s i d i o -27 s y n c r a t i c and more p r e c i s e v o c a b u l a r y . \" The v i s u a l q u a l i t y o f s u c h w r i t i n g h e i g h t e n s t h e o v e r - a l l e f f e c t ; and one i s r e m i n d e d o f t h e c o n s c i o u s a i m o f r e n d e r i n g t r u t h v i s i b l e : Then s u d d e n l y above t h e t o p g a l l a n t r a i l o f t h e A m e l i a a p p e a r e d t h e u p p e r c u r v e o f a l a t e e n y a r d w i t h t h e t r i c o l o u r d r o o p i n g f r o m t h e p o i n t . . . . A t t h e same t i m e C a p t a i n V i n c e n t o r d e r e d t h e l i n e h o l d i n g t h e t a r t a n e a l o n g s i d e t o be c a s t o f f and t h e m a i n y a r d o f t h e A m e l i a t o be swung r o u n d . The s l o o p s h o o t i n g ahead o f h e r p r i z e l e f t h e r s t a t i o n a r y on t h e s e a , t h e n p u t t i n g t h e h e l m u p , r a n b a c k a b r e a s t o f h e r on t h e o t h e r s i d e ( 2 8 0 ) . Beyond t h e two g r e a t s e t p i e c e s , n a r r a t i v e p r o s e i n t h e n o v e l i s n o t o f t h e c o n s i s t e n t l y h i g h q u a l i t y o f C o n r a d ' s e a r l y and m i d d l e p e r i o d s . P r o b l e m s o f i d i o m and s y n t a x , t h o u g h t h e y do n o t a b o u n d , weaken t h e w r i t i n g . 5 0 Some p a s s a g e s a r e h e l d t o g e t h e r o n l y be a s t r i n g i n g t o g e t h e r o f r e l a t i v e l y weak c o n n e c t i v e s r a t h e r t h a n t h r o u g h t h e e l e m e n t s o f t o n e , r h y t h m , o r t h o u g h t . The f o l l o w i n g p a s s a g e , a k i n d o f u n o b t r u s i v e s t r e a m o f c o n s c i o u s -n e s s , i s r a t h e r l o o s e l y s t r u c t u r e d , and s e r v e s w e l l C o n r a d ' s i n t e n t i o n o f r e c o r d i n g t h e t h o u g h t s t h a t p a s s t h r o u g h P e y r o l ' s m i n d : L o o t b i g o r l i t t l e was a n a t u r a l f a c t o f h i s f r e e b o o t e r ' s l i f e . And now when by t h e f o r c e o f t h i n g s he had become a m a s t e r - g u n n e r o f t h e Navy he was n o t g o i n g t o g i v e up h i s f i n d t o c o n f o u n d e d l a n d s m e n . . . who w o u l d pu t i t i n t h e i r own p o c k e t s . A s t o i m p a r t i n g t h e i n t e l l i -gence t o h i s c rew ( a l l bad c h a r a c t e r s ) , he was much t o o w i s e t o do a n y t h i n g o f -the k i n d . . . . S o a t odd t i m e s , w h i l e a t s e a , he had b u s i e d h i m s e l f w i t h i n t h e p r i v a c y o f h i s c a b i n i n c o n s t r u c t i n g t h e i n g e n i o u s c a n v a s w a i s t c o a t i n w h i c h he c o u l d t a k e h i s t r e a s u r e a s h o r e s e c r e t l y ( 1 3 - 1 4 ) . Numerous s e c t i o n s l i k e t h i s , h o w e v e r , g i v e t h e r e a d e r an i m p r e s s i o n o f f l a c c i d i t y , p e r h a p s e v e n o f c a r e l e s s n e s s ; s t y l e c e a s e s t o be an a r t i s t i c c o n c e r n by i t s e l f . The w o r d s , t h o u g h c e r t a i n l y a d e q u a t e f o r t h e e x p r e s s i o n o f t h o u g h t , a r e s i m p l y no t \" i n t e r e s t i n g , \" one o f C o n r a d ' s p r i m a r y c r i t e r i a f o r good a r t . E v e n t u a l l y , t h e s e p r o b l e m s b e t r a y an o v e r - a l l s l a c k e n i n g i n C o n r a d ' s s e a r c h f o r t h e mot j u s t e . The f a c t t h a t C o n r a d was no t i n p a r t i c u l a r l y good h e a l t h and had t o d i c t a t e much o f t h e n o v e l p a r t i a l l y e x p l a i n s some o f i t s w e a k n e s s e s , o f w h i c h he h i m s e l f was a w a r e . S e e i n g what c o u l d have b e e n , he w r o t e t o G a r n e t t t h a t he no l o n g e r had t h e e n e r g y t o d e v o t e t o a p r o j e c t w h i c h w o u l d have been g r e a t e r i n s c o p e , and p e r h a p s g r e a t e r i n a c h i e v e m e n t t h a n The R o v e r i n t h e f o r m i n w h i c h we now have i t : I know t h a t you w i l l b e l i e v e me when I t e l l you t h a t I had a momentary v i s i o n o f q u i t e a g r e a t f i g u r e w o r t h y o f P e y r o l ; t h e n o t i o n o f a s t r u g g l e be tween t h e two men. Bu t I d i d d e l i b e r a t e l y s h u t my eyes t o i t . I t w o u l d have r e q u i r e d a n o t h e r c a n v a s . No u s e t a l k i n g abou t i t . How l o n g 51 would I have had to wait for that mood?--and the mood of the other was there, more i n accord with my temperament, more also with my secret desire to achieve a feat of a r t i s t i c b r e v i t y , once at l e a s t , before I died. And on those grounds I believe you w i l l forgive me for having rejected probably a greater thing--or perhaps only a d i f f e r e n t one.2** The narrative might be characterized as considerably more c o l l o q u i a l i n tone than that of The Nigger. Contractions occur often, the reader i s occas i o n a l l y addressed where one might expect the more l i t e r a r y \"one,\" and a conscious l i t e r a r y e f f e c t i s as a r u l e avoided. These are not nec e s s a r i l y weaknesses, but one notes that the long, c a r e f u l l y cadenced and balanced sentences of Conrad's e a r l y period are abandoned for more conventional and less i d i o s y n c r a t i c structures. Two p e c u l i a r i t i e s of the narrative prose that may derive from a consciously less l i t e r a r y endeavour are the too frequently used \"and\" at the beginning of a sentence, and the over-use of the \"as to\" construction. The l a t t e r might conceivably i n d i c a t e a f a l l i n g away from English idiom, for although acceptable i n E n g l i s h , i t i s more common i n French. Ford reports that Conrad had t o l d him that \" . . . when I express myself with care I do i t i n French. When I write I think i n 29 French and then t r a n s l a t e the words of my thoughts i n t o E n g l i s h . \" Writing of Conrad's French, Rene Rapin observes that the two reproaches most often addressed to Conrad as an Engli s h writer are based on his thorough knowledge of French: . . . que l a construction de sa phrase n'est pas anglais et que sa langue est pa r f o i s im-propre, s'expliquent, dans neuf cas sur dix par l e f a i t que l a phrase de Conrad est c a l -quee sur c e l l e de Flaubert et les impropriates de termes ou de tournure qu'on y trouve sont generalement des g a l l i c i s m e s . 52 A l a c k o f t i g h t c o n t r o l o v e r h i s medium i s shown i n C o n r a d ' s m i n o r i d i o m a t i c f l a w s s u c h as t h e p h r a s e \" o f whom e v e r y b o d y t h o u g h t so m u c h \" ( 1 3 4 ) i n t h e s e n s e o f \" o f whom e v e r y b o d y t h o u g h t so w e l l , \" o r i n t h e awkward c o n c a t e n a t i o n o f a d j e c t i v e s t h a t d e s c r i b e M i c h e l ' s f a c e : , \" h i s h a b i t u a l a m i a b l y v a c a n t f a c e \" ( 1 3 8 ) . One a l s o n o t e s a f a l l i n g away f r o m i d i o m i n a s e n t e n c e l i k e t h i s : \" I t was he t h a t had p e r s u a d e d t h e v i l l a g e r s t o l e n d a hand and had a r r a n g e d t h e t e rms f o r t h e i r a s s i s t a n c e \" ( 9 7 ) ; t h e r e l a t i v e p r o n o u n \"who \" w o u l d be more l i k e l y t h a n \" t h a t \" i n m o d i f y i n g a p e r s o n . Awkward s y n t a x , t h o u g h r e l a t i v e l y r a r e , a l s o mars t h e p r o s e o f t h e n o v e l . C o n s t r u c t i o n s s u c h as t h e s e a r e c l u m s y : \"He was a gaun t man w i t h a l o n g , as i f c o n v u l s e d , f a c e \" ( 1 4 7 ) , and \" I t was e q u a l l y i n c o n c e i v a b l e t h a t t h e r e s h o u l d have been on t h a t p a r t i c u l a r n i g h t men r e a d y t o pounce upon Symons and k n o c k h i m on t h e h e a d so n e a t l y as n o t t o l e t h i m g i v e a g r o a n e v e n \" ( 6 3 - 6 4 ) . The n a r r a t i v e p r o s e o f The R o v e r , a l t h o u g h n o t among C o n r a d ' s g r e a t e s t a c h i e v e m e n t s , i s g e n e r a l l y c o m p e t e n t , g i v i n g f o r m t o a l e s s c o m p l e x and l e s s t o r t u r e d v i s i o n t h a n t h a t o f t h e e a r l y and m i d d l e p e r i o d n o v e l s . A work t h a t has as i t s s u b j e c t a movement t owa rds p e a c e and r e c o n c i l i a t i o n i s l i k e l y t o be l e s s t u r b u l e n t i n f o r m t h a n one t h a t e x p l o r e s c o m p l e x and amb iguous e t h i c a l p r o b l e m s . The d i s c o v e r y o f s e l f and m o r a l e d u c a t i o n - - s o o f t e n t h e c e n t r e o f C o n r a d ' s c o n c e r n - - f i n d s h e r e a c o m p l e t e e x p l o r a t i o n coming c l o s e t o V i c t o r y i n i t s f o c u s on i d e n t i t y and m o r a l r e s p o n s i b i l i t y . The n a r r a t i v e t o n e i s , i n d e e d , c a l m and s e c u r e , f o r t h e j o u r n e y t h a t t h e n o v e l documents l e a v e s b e h i n d t h e e x o t i c - - t h e Congo o f t h e M a l a y j u n g l e - - a n d r e p l a c e s i t w i t h t h e s e a r c h f o r s e l f i n o n e ' s n a t i v e e n v i r o n m e n t . B u t , h a v i n g f o u n d h i m s e l f , P e y r o l , l i k e t h e U l y s s e s o f D a n t e , must embark a g a i n t o c o n c l u d e h i s l i f e and t o c o m p l e t e h i s w i s d o m . F o o t n o t e s 1 See W a t t ' s \" C o n r a d C r i t i c i s m and The N i g g e r o f t h e ' N a r c i s s u s , 1 \" N C F , 12 (March 1 9 5 8 ) , 2 5 7 - 8 3 , e s p e c i a l l y p p . 2 5 8 - 6 1 , and M u d r i c k ' s \"The A r t i s t ' s C o n s c i e n c e and The N i g g e r o f t h e ' N a r c i s s u s , 1 \" N C F , 11 (March 1 9 5 7 ) , 2 8 8 - 9 7 . 2 C o n r a d t h e N o v e l i s t ( C a m b r i d g e , M a s s . : H a r v a r d U n i v . P r e s s , 1 9 5 8 ) , p . 1 0 6 . 3 \" J o s e p h C o n r a d : A f i n de s i e c l e N o v e l i s t - - A S t u d y i n S t y l e and M e t h o d , \" L i t R e v , 2(Summer 1 9 5 9 ) , p p . 5 6 5 - 6 6 . 4 W a t t , p . 2 5 9 . 5 J o s e p h C o n r a d : Some A s p e c t s o f t h e A r t o f t h e N o v e l ( L o n d o n : J o h n L a n e , 1 9 3 6 ) , p p . 1 4 8 , 1 5 1 . 6 S e e , f o r e x a m p l e , I . P . P u l c ' s \"Two P o r t r a y a l s o f a S t o r m : Some N o t e s on C o n r a d ' s D e s c r i p t i v e S t y l e i n The N i g g e r o f t h e ' N a r c i s s u s ' and ' T y p h o o n , ' \" S t y l e , 4 ( W i n t e r 1 9 7 0 ) , 4 9 - 5 7 . 7 \" P o s t u r e s o f B e l i e f i n The N i g g e r o f t h e ' N a r c i s s u s , ' \" M F S , 17 (Summer 1 9 7 1 ) , p p . 2 5 6 - 5 7 . 8 \"The N i g g e r o f t h e ' N a r c i s s u s ' : Two W o r l d s o f P e r s p e c t i v e , \" Conrlidiana7~3~~( 1 9 7 0 - 7 1 ) , 5 1 - 6 0 . 9 F o u l k e , p . 2 5 5 . 10 The T w e n t i e t h C e n t u r y N o v e l : S t u d i e s i n T e c h n i q u e (New Y o r k : A p p l e t o n , 1 9 3 2 ) , p . 3 4 1 . 11 F o r d Madox F o r d , J o s e p h C o n r a d : A P e r s o n a l Remembrance ( 1 9 2 4 ; r p t . New Y o r k : O c a t a g o n B o o k s , 1 9 6 5 ) , p . 2 0 8 . 12 The p h r a s e i s F . R . L e a v i s ' s . See The G r e a t T r a d i t i o n ( 1 9 4 8 ; H a r m o n d s w o r t h , E n g l a n d : P e r e g r i n e B o o k s , 1 9 6 2 ; r p t . 1 9 6 7 ) , p . 2 1 0 . 13 Anatomy o f C r i t i c i s m : F o u r E s s a y s ( P r i n c e t o n , N . J . : P r i n c e t o n U n i v . P r e s s , 1 9 5 7 ) , p . 2 6 6 . 14 \" I n t r o d u c t i o n , \" H e a r t o f D a r k n e s s , A l m a y e r ' s F o l l y , The L a g o o n (New Y o r k : D e l l B o o k s , 1 9 6 0 ) , p . 1 5 . 15 F o r p u b l i c a t i o n d e t a i l s and s e r i a l a r r a n g e m e n t s as w e l l as f o r t h e h i s t o r y o f t h e n o v e l ' s c o m p o s i t i o n see J o h n D. G o r d o n ' s J o s e p h C o n r a d : The M a k i n g o f a. N o v e l i s t ( C a m b r i d g e , M a s s . : H a r v a r d U n i v . P r e s s , 1 9 4 0 ) , p p . 2 2 6 - 2 4 0 . 16 L e s S e c r e t s du s t y l e ( P a r i s : E d i t i o n s S o c i a l e s F r a n c a i s e s , 1 9 6 4 ) , p . 2 1 5 . 17 G e o r g i n , p . 2 1 5 . 18 W a t t , p . 2 6 4 . 19 \" S t y l i s t i c s and S e m a n t i c s , \" L i t e r a r y S t y l e : A S y m p o s i u m , e d . Seymour Chatman (New Y o r k : O x f o r d U n i v . P r e s s , 1 9 7 1 ) , p . 1 3 8 . 20 S i l e g r a i n ne m e u r t , 3 7 t h e d . ( P a r i s , 1 9 2 8 ) , p . 2 4 6 . 21 Q u o t e d f r o m A b i n g e r H a r v e s t i n L e a v i s , p . 1 9 2 . 22 G u e r a r d , C o n r a d t h e N o v e l i s t , p p . 2 8 4 , 2 8 6 . 23 See Thomas M o s e r ' s J o s e p h C o n r a d : A c h i e v e m e n t and D e c l i n e (Hamden, C o n n . : A r c h o n B o o k s , 1 9 5 7 ; r p t . 1 9 6 6 ) , e s p e c i a l l y p p . 1 9 8 - 2 0 2 . 2 4 \" C o n r a d ' s L a s t N o v e l , \" E L T , 12 ( 1 9 6 9 ) , p . 1 9 4 . 25 G u e r a r d , p . 2 8 7 . 26 G u e r a r d , p . 2 8 7 . 55 27 \" T h e D e f i n i n g F u n c t i o n o f V o c a b u l a r y i n C o n r a d ' s The R o v e r . \" S o A t Q , 59 ( S p r i n g 1 9 6 0 ) , p . 2 6 8 . 28 L e t t e r s f r o m J o s e p h C o n r a d 1 8 9 5 - 1 9 2 4 , e d . Edward G a r n e t t ( I n d i a n a p o l i s : B o b b s - M e r r i l l , 1 9 2 8 ) , p . 3 0 0 . L e t t e r o f 4 December 1 9 2 3 . 29 F o r d , p . 3 2 . 30 \" L e f r a n g a i s de J o s e p h C o n r a d , \" L e t t r e s de J o s e p h C o n r a d a M a r g u e r i t e P o r a d o w s k a , e d . Rene R a p i n ( G e n e v a : L i b r a i r i e D r o z , 1 9 6 6 ) , p . 2 0 \" C h a p t e r I V \"Above a l l t o make y o u s e e \" : M e t a p h o r i c and M e t o n y m i c Imagery A r t ' m u s t s t r e n u o u s l y a s p i r e t o t h e p l a s t i c i t y o f s c u l p t u r e , t o t h e c o l o u r o f p a i n t i n g , and t o t h e m a g i c s u g g e s t i v e n e s s o f m u s i c \u00E2\u0080\u0094 w h i c h i s t h e a r t o f a r t s \" w r i t e s C o n r a d i n h i s \" P r e f a c e t o The N i g g e r \" ( i x ) . I n p r a c t i c a l t e r m s , C o n r a d m e e t s h i s a i m t h r o u g h c a d e n c e and m e t a p h o r . The a i m o f a r t i s , a c c o r d i n g t o h i m , t o r e v e a l t r u t h , and t h e method o f r e v e l a t i o n i s a c t u a l i z e d by an a p p e a l t o t h e s e n s e s . M e t a p h o r and s i m i l e , t h e n , become a p r i m a r y v e h i c l e o f m e a n i n g ; t h e y a r e n o t o n l y an a s p e c t o f t e c h n i q u e , b u t o f c o n t e n t as w e l l . T h r o u g h a n e x p l o r a t i o n o f C o n r a d ' s s i m i l e s , m e t a p h o r s , and m e t o n y m i c images i n The N i g g e r o f t h e \" N a r c i s s u s \" and T h e R o v e r t h i s c h a p t e r w i l l a t t e m p t t o d e m o n s t r a t e how C o n r a d ' s n o v e l s i n t h e i r movement t o w a r d s p o e t r y a p p r o a c h t h a t \" p e r f e c t b l e n d i n g o f f o r m and s u b s t a n c e \" t h a t he so a r d e n t l y s o u g h t . F o l l o w i n g F l a u b e r t t o o c l o s e l y i n h i s f i r s t two n o v e l s , C o n r a d o v e r -c o n s c i o u s l y and t o o o b t r u s i v e l y s e e k s m e t a p h o r i c s i g n i f i c a n c e \u00E2\u0080\u0094 h i s image a r e t o o f l o r i d , t o o w o r k e d o u t , and o f t e n p o o r l y i n t e g r a t e d i n t o t h e t e x -t u r e o f t h e n a r r a t i v e . The j u n g l e i m a g e r y o f A l m a y e r 's F o l l y , f o r e x a m p l i s h i g h l y o v e r w r o u g h t and t o o c o n s i s t e n t l y l a d e n w i t h m e a n i n g , t o o empha-t i c a l l y b r o u g h t t o t h e r e a d e r 's a t t e n t i o n as i n t h i s p a s s a g e i m a g i n g D a i n and N i n a ' s d e s p e r a t e a t t e m p t a t e s c a p e f r o m t h e v i o l e n c e and c o r r u p t i v e i n f l u e n c e o f t h e m o r a l l y c h a o t i c j u n g l e : 56 57 . . . a l l a r o u n d them i n a r i n g o f l u x u r i a n t v e g e t a t i o n b a t h e d i n t h e warm a i r c h a r g e d w i t h s t r o n g and h a r s h p e r f u m e s , t h e i n t e n s e work o f t r o p i c a l n a t u r e went o n : p l a n t s s h o o t i n g u p w a r d , e n t w i n e d , i n t e r l a c e d i n i n e x t r i c a b l e c o n f u s i o n , c l i m b i n g m a d l y and b r u t a l l y o v e r e a c h o t h e r i n t h e t e r r i b l e s i l e n c e o f a d e s p e r a t e s t r u g g l e t owa rds t h e l i f e - g i v i n g s u n s h i n e a b o v e - - a s i f s t r u c k w i t h sudden h o r r o r a t t h e s e e t h i n g mass o f c o r r u p t i o n b e l o w , a t t h e d e a t h and d e c a y f r o m w h i c h t h e y s p r a n g ( 7 1 ) . Bu t w i t h The N i g g e r C o n r a d ' s s t y l e and i m a g e r y become g e n e r a l l y l e s s s e l f -c o n s c i o u s , l e s s f l o r i d , and more f u n c t i o n a l . D o n a l d C . Y e l t o n a t t r i b u t e s t o H . G . W e l l s ' r e v i e w o r A n O u t c a s t o f t h e I s l a n d s a p r u n i n g o f v e r b i a g e and \" a g r e a t l y s h a r p e n e d a w a r e n e s s o f t h e e s p r e s s i v e r e s o u r c e s o f m e t a -p h o r and s i m i l e \" i n t h e w o r k s t h a t f o l l o w e d . 1 C o n r a d ' s a p p r e n t i c e s h i p i n t h e n o v e l ended when he l e a r n e d t o i m p l y and s u g g e s t , a l t h o u g h t h r o u g h o u t h i s c a r e e r he o c c a s i o n a l l y f e l l b a c k on a s t o r e o f images and a d j e c t i v e s t o s t a t e e m p h a t i c a l l y when he seemed u n s u r e o f h i s a b i l i t y t o c o n v e y what he had i n t e n d e d . A g r a p h o f t h e a v e r a g e f r e q u e n c y i n m e t a -p h o r f a i l s t o e x p l a i n , h o w e v e r , t h e a c h i e v e m e n t and d e c l i n e t h e o r y o f C o n r a d ' s c r e a t i v e p o w e r s ; Y e l t o n d i s c e r n s t h a t a s h a r p r i s e i n me tapho r i s o b s e r v a b l e f r o m A l m a y e r ' s F o l l y t o L o r d J i m f o l l o w e d by a d e c l i n e t h r o u g h Nos t romo t o The S e c r e t A g e n t . T h e r e i s a n o t h e r i n c r e a s e f r o m Under W e s t e r n E y e s t o C h a n c e , f o l l o w e d by a n o t h e r d e c l i n e i n t h e n o v e l s 2 f r o m V i c t o r y t o The R o v e r . W i l f r e d S . Dowden 's a s s e r t i o n t h a t t h e b e s t n o v e l s r e v o l v e abou t a c e n t r a l image seems a s u p p o r t e d c l a i m , i f one 3 a c c e p t s a s i n g l e image as C o n r a d ' s p r i m a r y c o n c e r n i n a g i v e n n o v e l . I t i s r e l a t i v e l y e a s y t o a s s e r t t h a t Nos t romo r e v o l v e s abou t t h e s i l v e r o f San Tome m i n e , o r t h a t L o n d o n as d e v o u r e r i s t h e m a j o r me tapho r o f The S e c r e t A g e n t ; b u t one has c o n s i d e r a b l e d i f f i c u l t y i n a g r e e i n g t h a t t h e 58 4 c e n t r a l image o f The N i g g e r i s b r i g h t l i g h t , as Dowden s u g g e s t s . And one w o u l d be on p r e c a r i o u s g r o u n d , i n d e e d , i f he were t o a s s e r t t h a t C o n r a d ' s b e s t n o v e l s a r e t h o s e i n w h i c h m e t a p h o r and s i m i l e f o r m h i s p r e d o m i n a n t t e c h n i q u e , f o r The S e c r e t A g e n t and Nos t romo w i t h t h e i r t e n d e n c y t o w a r d s i r o n y and a t t e n d a n t r e s t r a i n t i n t h e u s e o f m e t a p h o r and s i m i l e a r e s u r e l y b e t t e r n o v e l s t h a n t h e h e a v i l y m e t a p h o r i c A l m a y e r ' s F o l l y and An O u t c a s t o f t h e I s l a n d s . What fo rms a more l e g i t i m a t e c o n c e r n t h a n m e t a p h o r and s i m i l e as p r e d o m i n a n t t e c h n i q u e o r a s t a t i s t i c a l o r i n t u i t i v e g r a s p o f t h e f r e q u e n c y o f me tapho r i s r a t h e r how me tapho r and s i m i l e o p e r a t e i n a s i n g l e t e x t , and w h e t h e r o r n o t t h e i r c o n t r i b u t i o n i s s i g n i f i c a n t i n a r e a d i n g o f t h a t t e x t and i n o n e ' s judgment o f i t . C o n -s i d e r a t i o n o f m e t a p h o r as an a s p e c t o f s t y l e i s c o n s o n a n t w i t h M i c h a e l R i f f a t e r r e ' s c o n t e n t i o n t h a t \" a s soon as e l e m e n t s f r o m a l i t e r a r y l a n g u a g e a r e u s e d by an a u t h o r f o r a d e f i n i t e e f f e c t , t h e y become u n i t s o f h i s s t y l e . \" The p r i m a r y emphas i s o f me tapho r and s i m i l e i n The N i g g e r o f t h e \" N a r c i s s u s \" i s , as m i g h t be e x p e c t e d f r o m a r e a d i n g o f \"The P r e f a c e \" , v i s u a l and a u d i t o r y , and d e v e l o p s i n t o a s o p h i s t i c a t e d and c o m p l e x web o f i m a g e r y t h a t h o l d s t h e m a t i c i m p o r t . T h i s emphas i s i s n o t so much i m p o r t a n t f o r i t s own s a k e as f o r i t s a b i l i t y t o r e v e a l t h e t r u t h o f e x p e r i e n c e . M o r e o v e r , C o n r a d ' s emphas i s on t h e v i s u a l i s an e x t e n s i o n o f h i s c o n c e r n f o r p r e c i s i o n , f o r t h e F l a u b e r t i a n mot j u s t e e l o q u e n t l y p ropounded by M a u p a s s a n t i n h i s e s s a y \" L e r o m a n \" t h a t p r e f a c e s P i e r r e e t J e a n , a n o v e l C o n r a d knew w e l l : Q u e l l e que s o i t l a c h o s e q u ' o n v e u t d i r e , i l n ' y a q u ' u n mot p o u r 1 ' e x p r i m e r , q u ' u n v e r b e p o u r 1 ' a n i m e r e t q u ' u n a d j e c t i f p o u r l a q u a l i f i e r . I l f a u t done c h e r c h e r j u s q u 'a. ce q u ' o n l e s a i t d e c o u v e r t s , c e m o t , ce v e r b e e t c e t a d j e c t i f , e t ne j a m a i s se c o n t e n t e r de 1 ' a peu p r e s , ne j a m a i s a v o i r r e c o u r s a des s u p e r c h e r i e s , meme h e u r e u s e s , a des c l o w n e r i e s de l a n g a g e p o u r e v i t e r l a d i f f i c u l t y . ^ 5 9 C o n r a d ' s s i m i l e s d e s c r i b i n g t h e s e a v i v i d l y c r e a t e t h e p h y s i c a l b a c k g r o u n d a g a i n s t w h i c h t h e a c t i o n o f The N i g g e r i s p l a y e d . S e t t i n g ou t on i t s v o y a g e , t h e N a r c i s s u s t r a v e r s e s w a t e r \" s p a r k l i n g l i k e a f l o o r o f j e w e l s , and as empty as t h e s k y \" ( 2 7 ) m o v i n g t owa rds t h e e q u a t o r \"upon a smooth s e a t h a t r e s e m b l e d a s h e e t o f g r o u n d g l a s s \" ( 1 0 3 ) ; b u t t h i s image i s u s e d o n l y a f t e r t he c rew e x p e r i e n c e s a s t o r m t h a t demands a s h i f t i n a t t e n t i o n f r o m W a i t , an image o f t h e m s e l v e s , t o t h e s h i p and t o t h e s e a whe reby t r u e s o l i d a r i t y , d i s t i n c t f r o m t h e \" s e n t i m e n t a l l i e \" t h a t b i n d s them t o W a i t , i s a c h i e v e d . The d e s c r i p t i o n o f t h a t s t o r m i s one o f t h e h i g h p o i n t s o f t h e n o v e l \u00E2\u0080\u0094 t h e p l a s t i c i t y , and t h e sensuous i m p r e s s i o n b e i n g c r e a t e d by an a p p e a l t o t h e eye and e a r . W h i t e h a i l f a l l s \" r o u n d and g l e a m i n g i n t h e murky t u r m o i l l i k e a shower o f p e a r l s \" ( 5 3 ) ; t h e o i l s k i n s hang i n t h e f o r e c a s t l e \" l i k e r e c k l e s s g h o s t s o f d e c a p i t a t e d seamen d a n c i n g i n a t e m p e s t \" ( 5 4 ) ; M r . B a k e r a m i d s t t o r r e n t s o f w a t e r s p l u t t e r s \" l i k e an e n e r g e t i c p o r p o i s e \" ( 5 6 ) . The s e a , a l r e a d y p e r s o n i f i e d f o r t h e s a i l o r s , i s s e e n \" a s m i s c h i e v i o u s and d i s c o m p o s i n g as a madman w i t h an a x e \" ( 5 7 ) and t o w e r s above t h e N a r c i s s u s \" l i k e a w a l l o f g r e e n g l a s s t o p p e d w i t h snow \" ( 5 7 ) an examp le o f t h e h i g h l y v i s u a l q u a l i t y o f C o n r a d ' s s i m i l e s r e v e a l i n g n o t o n l y c o l o u r b u t t e x t u r e . Sound a l s o a s s i s t s i n t h e i m p r e s s i o n C o n r a d g i v e s o f a r a g i n g s t o r m . The f o a m i n g waves a r e \" a h i s s i n g w h i t e n e s s as o f b o i l i n g m i l k \" ( 7 8 ) w h i l e \" f i e n d i s h n o i s e s \" a s s a i l t h e s h i p . Where t h e men had been g a r r u l o u s , e s p e c i a l l y D o n k i n , t h e y become mute l i s t e n i n g t o t h e s e a \" i n sombre t h o u g h t f u l n e s s \" ( 6 1 ) ; t h o s e who had c u r s e d t h e s e a a r e now c u r s e d by i t as t h e y h e a r \" t h e h o r r i b l e i m p r e c a t i o n s o f t h e g a l e \" ( 6 1 ) . 60 The two p o l a r i t i e s o f t h e n o v e l - W a i t and t h e s e a - become one i n t h e s t o r m s c e n e . The s t o r m , a me tapho r f o r m o r a l t r i a l j u s t as W a i t t e s t s t h e c r e w , t a k e s on h i s c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s - t h e \" b l a c k s e a s \" l e a p i n g up \" t o w a r d s t h e g l o w i n g s u n \" ( 7 5 ) a t t e m p t t o e x t i n g u i s h b o t h l i g h t and l i f e , as does W a i t b e f o r e whom t h e sun seems t o f l e e . A n e a r l i e r s i m i l e t a k e s on i t s f u l l mean ing when t h e s t o r m b e g i n s : \"James W a i t had a f i t o f r o a r i n g , r a t t l i n g c o u g h , t h a t shook h i m , t o s s e d h i m l i k e a h u r r i c a n e . . . \" ( 2 4 ) . C o m p e t i n g f o r t h e a t t e n t i o n owed t o s h i p and s e a , W a i t d e s t r o y s t h e m o r a l o r d e r o f t h e m i c r o c o s m i c N a r c i s s u s ; t h i s o r d e r i s r i g h t e d by t h e a v e n g i n g s t o r m , as t h e men t u r n t h e i r a t t e n t i o n t o t h e s h i p u n t i l an anonymous v o i c e c r i e s ou t \" ' W h e r e ' s J i m m y ? ' \" ( 6 3 ) . M r . B a k e r c o n s i g n s t h e r e s c u e p a r t y t o t h e \" ' d i v v l e ' \" ( 6 4 ) , s u p p o r t i n g a r a n g e o f r e f e r e n c e s t h a t l i n k W a i t t o s a t a n i c p o w e r s . ^ U s i n g t h e N a r c i s s u s my th as a b a s i s f o r an i n t e r p r e t a t i o n o f t h e n o v e l , D o n a l d T . T b r c h i a n a s u g g e s t s t h a t W a i t s e r v e s as t h e r e f l e c t i n g m i r r o r i n w h i c h t h e c r e w , a c o l l e c t i v e N a r c i s s u s , s e e s and a d m i r e s i t s i m a g e ; t h e s h i p g a c c o r d i n g t o h i s i n t e r p r e t a t i o n i s \" t h e r e j e c t e d f e m a l e , E c h o . \" J u s t as W a i t may s e r v e as m i r r o r , so t h e s e a g i v e s b a c k a r e f l e c t i o n o f o n e ' s m o r a l v a l u e . The ' i m m o r t a l s e a , \" n o t W a i t , g i v e s t o S i n g l e t o n a r e f l e c t i o n o f h i s own m o r t a l image and e n l i g h t e n s h i m : \"\u00E2\u0080\u0094'I am g e t t i n g o l d . . . o l d ' \" ( 9 8 ) , i s t h e b u r d e n o f h i s \" c o m p l e t e d w i s d o m \" a f t e r t h e t h i r t y h o u r s he h a s s p e n t a t 9 t h e w h e e l . Mos t o f t he c rew p r e f e r s t h e r e f l e c t i o n t h a t W a i t g i v e s t o t h e m , shamming as much as he does r a t h e r t h a n f a c i n g t h e t r u t h . They a r e u l t i m a t e l y f i c k l e , t hough t u r n i n g a g a i n t o t h e s e a when W a i t ' s d e a t h ends t h e i r d e l u d i n g b o n d . D o n k i n , s i g n i f i c a n t l y d r e s s e d i n b l a c k r a g s ( 1 2 ) , l i n k i n g h i m t o W a i t ' s m o r a l b l a c k n e s s and r e f l e c t i n g h i s own, n e i t h e r t e a c h e s n o r l e a r n s ; l o y a l n e i t h e r t o t h e s e a , \" immense and h a z y , l i k e t h e image o f l i f e , w i t h a g l i t t e r i n g s u r f a c e and l i g h t l e s s d e p t h s \" ( 1 5 5 ) , n o r t o W a i t whom he mocks 61 and r o b s , he f i n d s h i s image i n t h e l a n d \u00E2\u0080\u0094 i n i t s \" b e g r i m e d w a l l s \" ( 1 6 4 ) and \" l o n g d r i f t s o f smoky v a p o u r s \" ( 1 6 3 ) . T y p i c a l o f C o n r a d ' s t e c h n i q u e i s t h e a p p l i c a t i o n o f a p a r t i c u l a r s i m i l e o r r a n g e o f s i m i l e s t o h i s c h a r a c t e r s . D o n k i n , as numerous c r i t i c s have p o i n t e d ou t and even t h e c a s u a l r e a d e r c a n d i s c e r n , i s p a r t i c u l a r l y a s s o c i a t e d w i t h b i r d s , e s p e c i a l l y t h o s e t h a t a r e u g l y and r e p e l l e n t . H i s hand i s \" h a r d and f l e s h l e s s l i k e t h e c l a w o f a s n i p e \" ( 1 0 5 ) ; W a i t t e l l s h i m t o c h a t t e r \" l i k e a d i r t y . w h i t e c o c k a t o o \" ( 1 1 0 ) ; and d u r i n g t h e s t o r m he \" r e s e m b l e d a s i c k v u l t u r e w i t h r u f f l e d p l u m e s \" ( 1 2 8 ) . Beyond m a k i n g D o n k i n a p h y s i c a l l y u n a t t r a c t i v e c h a r a c t e r , t h e b i r d i m a g e r y \u00E2\u0080\u0094 c o n v e y e d l a r g e l y t h r o u g h s i m i l e \u00E2\u0080\u0094 s e r v e s t o c o n n e c t h i m t o t h e l a n d , s i n c e b i r d s a r e l a n d c r e a t u r e s , n e e d i n g t h e p r o t e c t i o n and n o u r i s h m e n t t h e l a n d p r o v i d e s . The N a r c i s s u s , on t h e o t h e r h a n d , i s imaged as a s e a - b i r d r i d i n g a wave d u r i n g t h e s t o r m : The s h i p r o s e t o i t as t h o u g h she had s o a r e d on w i n g s , and f o r a moment r e s t e d p o i s e d upon t h e f o a m i n g c r e s t as i f she had b e e n a g r e a t s e a -b i r d ( 5 7 ) . O n M a n d , D o n k i n i s a t home a t t h e B o a r d o f T r a d e where \" a p a s t y - f a c e d c l e r k , w i t h h i s h a i r p a r t e d i n t h e m i d d l e , had t h e q u i c k , g l i t t e r i n g e y e s and t h e v i v a c i o u s , j e r k y movements o f a c a g e d b i r d \" ( 1 6 7 ) and where \" A n o t h e r B o a r d o f T r a d e b i r d was p e r c h i n g on a h i g h s t o o l n e a r t h e d o o r : an o l d b i r d t h a t d i d n o t m ind t h e c h a f f o f e l a t e d s a i l o r s \" ( 1 6 8 ) . W h i l e o b t a i n i n g a h e i g h t e n e d v i s u a l e f f e c t t h r o u g h t h e s e i m a g e s , C o n r a d a t t h e same t i m e p r e s e n t s h i s themes t h r o u g h them. One f i n d s c u r i o u s Y e l t o n ' s s t a t e m e n t t h a t t h e n o v e l has \" a r e l a t i v e p a u c i t y o f r e c u r r e n t o r t h e m a t i c i m a g e r y . \" 1 ^ The b i r d i m a g e s , as much as a n y t h i n g e l s e , l i n k D o n k i n t o W a i t , f o r b o t h a r e c r e a t u r e s o f t h e l a n d , d i s d a i n f u l o f t h e s e a and o f t h e \" o b s c u r e t o i l \" i t demands. One o f t h e i r o n i e s o f t h e n o v e l i s , o f c o u r s e , 62 t h a t W a i t d i e s i n s i g h t o f l a n d , w h i l e i t i s o n l y t h e r e t h a t D o n k i n comes i n t o h i s own. A s w i t h t h e \" a q u a t i c b l a c k b e e t l e , \" t h e t u g , t h e l a n d g i v e s D o n k i n h i s d u b i o u s w o r t h and f u n c t i o n . The c r e w , l i k e D o n k i n , has i t s s h a r e o f s i m i l e s m a k i n g t h e r e a d e r e v a l u a t e t h e i r m o r a l w o r t h . H e r e , h o w e v e r , t h e n a r r a t o r i s more a m b i -guous i n h i s a t t i t u d e , r e f l e c t i n g t h e e s s e n t i a l a m b i g u i t y o f t h e c r e w ' s e x p e r i e n c e i n h i s judgment o f t hem. The movement f r o m d a r k n e s s i n t o l i g h t i n t o d a r k n e s s a g a i n i n t h e m u s t e r i n g o f t h e c rew i s r e p e a t e d d u r i n g t h e c o u r s e o f t h e n o v e l i n t h e j o u r n e y o f t h e s h i p i t s e l f . The n a r r a t o r ' s s i m i l e s a s s i s t i n p r e s e n t i n g a m o r a l l y ambiguous s i t u a t i o n . I n t h e m u t i n y s c e n e , s e t s i g n i f i c a n t l y a t n i g h t , t h e c r e w i s p o r t r a y e d as a g roup o f \" g e s t i c u l a t i n g shadows t h a t g r o w l e d , h i s s e d , l a u g h e d e x c i t e d l y \" ( 1 2 1 ) ; c l e a r l y , t h e y a r e n o t u n l i k e t h e damned t o w h i c h C a p t a i n A l l i s t o u n ' s r e f l e c t i o n \"Worse t h a n d e v i l s t o o s o m e t i m e s \u00E2\u0080\u0094 d o w n r i g h t , h o r n e d d e v i l s \" (126) e x p l i c i t l y l i n k s t hem. T h e i r f u r t h e r a l l i a n c e t o t h e demon ic w o r l d and t h e i r p a r t i c u l a r r e l a t i o n s h i p w i t h W a i t i s u n d e r l i n e d when t h e y a r e d e s c r i b e d as \" a d a r k m a s s \" ( 1 2 2 ) , t a k i n g on n o t o n l y h i s c o l o u r , b u t h i s d i s r u p t i v e and e g o t i s t i c n a t u r e u n d e r D o n k i n ' s u r g i n g s . I m p l i c a t e d i n W a i t ' s l i e , t h e y a r e l a t e r d e s c r i b e d \" l i k e a communi ty o f banded c r i m i n a l s . . . p r o f o u n d l y s c a n d a l i s e d w i t h e a c h o t h e r \" ( 1 5 6 ) . To D o n k i n ' s e y e s i m m e d i a t e l y a f t e r W a i t ' s d e a t h , t h e members o f t h e c r e w s l e e p i n g on t h e l i g h t e d d e c k a r e \" s h a p e l e s s d a r k mounds t h a t had t h e a p p e a r a n c e o f n e g -l e c t e d g r a v e s \" ( 1 5 5 ) , a me tapho r t h a t e n l a r g e s on numerous s i m i l e s d e s -c r i b i n g t h e f o r e c a s t l e as \" a w h i t e w a s h e d and l i g h t e d m o r t u a r y \" ( 8 ) and t h e b e r t h s as \" b l a c k , l i k e g r a v e s t e n a n t e d by u n e a s y c o r p s e s \" ( 2 2 ) . T h e i r m o r a l s t a t e a f t e r t h e t e s t s t h e y have p a s s e d t h r o u g h - \" d e a t h , d i s o r d e r , and ev i l \" ' ' \" ' ' \" - r e m a i n s u n c l e a r ; f o r as t h e s u n s h i n e f a l l s on \" t h e w a l l s o f 63 g r i m y h o u s e s \" t h e c rew i s s e e n as a \" d a r k k n o t o f s e a m e n \" ( 1 7 2 ) , and as \"The s u n s h i n e o f h e a v e n f e l l l i k e a g i f t o f g r a c e on t h e mud o f t h e e a r t h \" and c l e a n s e s t h e M i n t , t h e c rew fo rms a \" d a r k g r o u p \" ( 1 7 2 ) . T h a t s a l v a t i o n i s embod ied i n t h e s u n s h i n e , a c c o r d i n g t o W . R . M a r t i n , seems a m i s r e a d i n g ; i t l i g h t e n s n o t them so much as i t does t h e M i n t 12 and t h e w a l l s , as t h e y move , s i g n i f i c a n t l y , t o w a r d s t h e B l a c k H o r s e . T h e i r j o u r n e y , u n l i k e W a i t ' s and t h a t o f t h e N a r c i s s u s \u00E2\u0080\u0094 b o t h t o d e a t h \u00E2\u0080\u0094 r e m a i n s u n r e s o l v e d , and t h e s t o r m , t h a t me tapho r f o r c o n f l i c t and t r i a l , mus t be f a c e d a g a i n u n t i l t h e i r w i s d o m , l i k e S i n g l e t o n ' s becomes c o m p l e t e . O l d S i n g l e t o n , l i k e C a t h e r i n e i n The R o v e r , embod ies t h e powers o f b o t h p r o p h e t and s a g e . S i m i l e s a r e l a r g e l y r e s p o n s i b l e f o r h i s m a g n i -f i c a t i o n t o n e a r l y T i t a n i c s t a t u r e . \" T a t t o o e d l i k e a c a n n i b a l c h i e f , \" he p o r e s o v e r B u l w e r L y t t o n ' s Pe lham r e s e m b l i n g \" a l e a r n e d and s a v a g e p a t r i a r c h \" ( 6 ) . A t once b o t h t e m p o r a l and s p i r i t u a l f o r c e , h i s monu-m e n t a l a s p e c t l e a d s t h e n a r r a t o r t o l i k e n h i s age t o t h a t o f \" F a t h e r Time h i m s e l f \" ( 2 4 ) , and t o compare h i s c o l l a p s e t o t h a t o f \"an u p r o o t e d t r e e , \" ( 9 7 ) a c l a s s i c a l s i m i l e a p p r o p r i a t e t o S i n g l e t o n ' s m a g n i t u d e . H i s s e m i - r e l i g i o u s f u n c t i o n as a t o u c h s t o n e f o r m o r a l w o r t h a l l o w s h i m i n h i s w i s d o n t o p r o n o u n c e on W a i t \" l i k e an o r a c l e b e h i n d a v e i l \" ( 1 3 0 ) . Such s i m i l e s f u r t h e r e m p h a s i z e t h e d i f f e r e n c e s be tween h i m and t h e o t h e r c rew members , e s p e c i a l l y D o n k i n and W a i t , and ; g i v e S i n g l e t o n s o m e t h i n g l i k e e p i c p r o p o r t i o n s . M o r e o v e r , t h e y l i n k h i m \u00E2\u0080\u0094 t h r o u g h s t a t u r e \u00E2\u0080\u0094 t o t h e r e a l m o f t h e o f f i c e r s , who e x i s t i n a w o r l d above t h a t o f t h e f o r e -c a s t l e . The m i c r o c o s m o v e r w h i c h A l l i s t o u n r e i g n s i s s u p e r v i s e d \" f r o m t h e O l y m p a i n h e i g h t s o f h i s p o o p \" ( 3 1 ) , and h i s p o s i t i o n as \" t h e m a s t e r \" i s a f f i r m e d by h i s c o r r e c t j u d g m e n t s . S i n g l e t o n ' s c o n n e c t i o n t o t h i s w o r l d i s i m p l i e d t h r o u g h s i m i l e . 64 W a i t , \" t h e c e n t r e o f t h e s h i p ' s c o l l e c t i v e p s y c h o l o g y and t h e 13 p i v o t o f t he a c t i o n , \" e x i s t s on b o t h a r e a l i s t i c and m e t a p h o r i c l e v e l ; b u t Ted E . B o y l e ' s s t a t e m e n t t h a t he i s \" s o w e l l d rawn on t h e r e a l i s t i c l e v e l t h a t he c o u l d w e l l be a p r i v a t e i n a modern i n f a n t r y 14 company\" i s s u r e l y an u n s u p p o r t e d v i e w p o i n t . H i s b l a c k n e s s , w h i c h C o n r a d e x p l o i t s f o r m e t a p h o r i c s i g n i f i c a n c e , g i v e s W a i t h i s s y m b o l i c i m p o r t a n c e i n t h e n o v e l . M . J . C . E c h u e r o i n h i s e s s a y \" James W a i t and The N i g g e r o f t h e ' N a r c i s s u s ' \" goes so f a r as t o l i n k W a i t ' s r a c i a l b a c k g r o u n d w i t h h i s m o r a l e f f e c t on t h e N a r c i s s u s , a c c u s i n g C o n r a d o f r a c i s m i n h i s e x p l o i t a t i o n o f a t r a d i t i o n a l , however i n -c o r r e c t , W e s t e r n c o n c e p t o f b l a c k n e s s : The symbo l o f d e a t h w h i c h W a i t i s s a i d t o r e p r e s e n t i s m e r e l y t h e c o n s e q u e n c e o f C o n r a d ' s f a c t u a l d e s c r i p t i o n o f an a p p e a r a n c e w h i c h a p p e a r e d t o h i m , l i t e r a l l y b r u t a l , t r a g i c and s i n i s t e r . I f we must c a l l W a i t a d e v i l , we must mean t h e name t o be a measure o f C o n r a d ' s r e v u l s i o n ^ f r o m t h e s e a s p e c t s o f W a i t ' s p h y s i o g n o m y - - h i s n e g r i t u d e . W a i t ' s c o n n e c t i o n t o t h e m e t a p h y s i c a l e v i l o f t h e u n i v e r s e g a i n s a m p l i -t ude f r o m h i s b l a c k n e s s , t o be s u r e , bu t no e x p l i c i t o r e v e n i m p l i e d e v i l d e r i v e s f r o m W a i t b e c a u s e o f h i s b e i n g a N e g r o ; m o r e o v e r , s u c h c o n t e n t i o n s seem t o o v e r l o o k t h e f a c t t h a t W a i t ' s h i s t o r i c a l mode l was b l a c k . W a i t ' s power i s f i r s t h i n t e d a t by h i s cough t h a t l i t e r a l l y d i s t u r b s t h e u n i v e r s e , r e s o u n d i n g so l o u d l y t h a t \" t h e dome o f t h e s k y r a n g t o i t , and t h e i r o n p l a t e s o f t h e s h i p ' s b u l w a r k s seemed t o v i b r a t e i n u n i s o n \" ( 1 8 - 1 9 ) . W a i t ' s m o r a l h o l l o w n e s s , s u g g e s t e d by h i s p h y s i c a l i n s u b s t a n -t i a l i t y and e s p e c i a l l y by h i s c o u g h , p r o v i d e s t h e n a r r a t o r an o p p o r t u n i t y f o r a number o f s i m i l e s i n t e n d e d t o s u g g e s t t h e e n o r m i t y o f t h e c r e w ' s s e l f - d e c e p t i o n . He i s v a r i o u s l y s e e n \" a s a d o l l t h a t had l o s t h a l f i t s s a w d u s t \" ( 7 2 ) , \" l i k e a b l a c k buoy c h a i n e d t o t h e b o t t o m o f a muddy s t r e a m \" ( 1 3 8 ) ; and as becom ing \" i m m a t e r i a l l i k e an a p p a r i t i o n \" ( 1 3 9 ) ; a l l a p p e a l , 65 l i k e t h e f a c t o f W a i t ' s b l a c k n e s s , t o t h e r e a d e r ' s v i s u a l i m a g i n a t i o n . F i n a l l y , he becomes a \" b l a c k p h a n t o m \" ( 1 5 1 ) and a t h i n g as D o n k i n y e l l s t o h i m \" ' Y e r n o b o d y . Y e r no one a t a l l . ' ' \" ( 1 5 1 ) , f u r t h e r e l a b o r a t i n g t h e n a r r a t o r ' s r e f l e c t i o n t h a t he i s \" a s f a s c i n a t i n g as o n l y s o m e t h i n g inhuman c o u l d b e \" ( 1 3 9 ) . W a i t images d e a t h as w e l l , a l t h o u g h one need n o t i n t e r p r e t s u c h an image a l l e g o r i c a l l y ; t h e s h i p as w e l l by t h e end o f t h e n o v e l mee ts i t s d e a t h , l i k e W a i t , i n s i g h t o f l a n d , and t h e r e i s no j u s t i f i c a t i o n f o r s e e i n g t h e s h i p as D e a t h p e r s o n i f i e d . W a i t i s a l s o r e l a t e d t o t h e r e l i g i o u s theme o f t h e n o v e l by t h e n a r r a t o r ' s o b s e r v a t i o n t h a t h i s c a b i n \" h a d , i n t h e n i g h t , t h e b r i l l i a n c e o f a s i l v e r s h r i n e where a b l a c k i d o l . . . r e c e i v e d o u r h o m a g e \" ( 1 0 5 ) . W a i t ' s r e s c u e r s d u r i n g t h e s t o r m s c e n e h a v e a s i g n i f i c a n t g r o u p o f s i m i l e s a s s o c i a t e d w i t h t hem. Wamibo a p p e a r s as a d o g \u00E2\u0080\u0094 h i s \" t o n g u e hung ou t w i t h e x c i t e m e n t \" ( 6 5 ) , and he 'made n o i s e s r e s e m b l i n g l o u d b a r k s \" ( 6 6 ) , a s i m i l e t h a t s u g g e s t s h i s p h y s i c a l a p p e a r a n c e and h i s e x c i t e m e n t . The s i t u a t i o n i s h e i g h t e n e d by t h e n a r r a t o r ' s o b s e r v a t i o n t h a t he s t o o d o v e r them \" r e s e m b l i n g an amazed and h a l f - w i t t e d f i e n d g l o a t i n g o v e r t h e e x t r a -o r d i n a r y a g i t a t i o n o f t h e d a m n e d \" ( 6 6 ) . T h i s s i m i l e i s t y p i c a l o f C o n r a d i n t h e n o v e l , t h e p a r t i c i p l e \" r e s e m b l i n g \" s u b s t i t u t i n g f o r t h e more common \" l i k e \" o r \" a s \" ; m o r e o v e r , i t i s t y p i c a l i n i t s economy r e v e a l i n g n o t o n l y Wamibo ' s p h y s i c a l p o s i t i o n a t t h a t moment b u t t h e n a t u r e o f t h e r e s c u e r s e f f o r t s \u00E2\u0080\u0094 t h e y a r e t h e \"damned\" a t t e m p t i n g t o s a v e W a i t . W h i l e on t h e i r way t o r e s c u e h i m f r o m h i s c a b i n , t h e y a p p e a r ' w i l d - e y e d , l i k e a l o t o f m a n i a c s t i e d up on a w a l l \" ( 6 4 ) i n d i c a t i n g b o t h t h e c o m i c and s e r i o u s n a t u r e o f t h e i r e x p l o i t t h a t i m p l i c a t e s b o t h b i r t h and d e a t h s i m u l t a n e o u s l y . A s t h e s h i p w a l l o w s \" l i f e l e s s l y \" and W a i t i s \" a s q u i e t a dead man i n s i d e a g r a v e \" ( 6 9 ) , t h e r e s c u e r s , t h o s e who make p o s s i b l e t h e r e b i r t h o f W a i t ' s i n f l u e n c e o v e r t h e c r e w , a p p e a r \" l i k e men s t a n d i n g 66 above a g r a v e . . . on t h e v e r g e o f t e a r s \" ( 6 9 ) ; t h e y a r e a t once m o u r n e r s and m i d w i v e s . C o n r a d ' s c o n c e r n f o r p r e c i s i o n i s d e m o n s t r a t e d by t h e a c u t e v i s u a l q u a l i t y o f s u c h a c a r e f u l l y c o n s t r u c t e d s c e n e , one i n w h i c h s i m i l e s , more t h a n any o t h e r e l e m e n t , a r e r e s p o n s i b l e f o r s y m b o l i c i m p a c t . Beyond g i v i n g i n t e n s e v i s u a l i m p r e s s i o n s and s y m b o l i c i m p o r t t o b o t h c h a r a c t e r and s c e n e , C o n r a d ' s s i m i l e s make h i s r e a d e r h e a r and f e e l , w a i t ' s c o u g h , f o r e x a m p l e , i s d e s c r i b e d e x a c t l y as ' m e t a l l i c and e x p l o -s i v e l i k e a g o n g \" ( 3 9 ) . The s e a , w h i c h i n a s e n s e f u n c t i o n s as a c h a r a c t e r i n t h e n o v e l , r e c e i v e s p a r t i c u l a r a t t e n t i o n f r o m t h e n a r r a t o r i n r e g a r d t o t h e q u a l i t y o f i t s s o u n d s . F i x i n g t h e r i g g i n g s , t h e s a i l o r s (and t h e r e a d e r ) r e c e i v e an i m p r e s s i o n o f t h e s e a ' s r e m o t e n e s s h i g h above t h e d e c k : \" t h e r o a r o f t h e s e a s s e e t h i n g f a r b e l o w them sounded c o n t i n u o u s and f a i n t l i k e an i n d i s t i n c t n o i s e f r o m a n o t h e r w o r l d \" ( 9 2 ) , a s i m i l e i n t e n d e d t o r e n d e r t h e a u r a l i m p r e s s i o n t h a t a s a i l o r w o u l d a c u t a l l y h a v e . The s e a , i n d e e d , fo rms so much o f a s a i l o r ' s l i f e t h a t t h e n a r r a t o r images o t h e r s i t u a t i o n s and e v e n t s t h r o u g h i t : \"The n o i s e s u b s i d e d l i k e a b r o k e n w a v e \" ( 1 2 9 ) . A l l i s t o u n , i n f a c t , when r e p r i m a n d i n g t h e c r e w f o r i t s i n s u b o r d i n a t i o n i s d e s c r i b e d s p e c i f i c a l l y i n t e rms o f t h e sound o f a s t o r m a t s e a , a me tapho r t h a t C o n r a d a l r e a d y u s e d t o r e p r e s e n t a r e p r i m a n d : he \"began t o s t o r m a t them c o l d l y , i n g u s t s v i o l e n t and c u t t i n g l i k e t h e g a l e s o f t h o s e i c y s e a s t h a t had known h i s y o u t h \" ( 1 3 4 ) . W a i t ' s p h y s i c a l d e g e n e r a t i o n i s a l s o r e n d e r e d i n te rms o f s o u n d \u00E2\u0080\u0094 t h a t o f h i s b r e a t h i n g ; i n h i s c o n f r o n t a t i o n w i t h C a p t a i n A l l i s t o u n t h e n a r r a t o r r e p o r t s t h a t Wait \" p a n t e d f a s t l i k e a dog a f t e r a r u n i n s u n s h i n e \" ( 1 2 2 ) , and D o n k i n h e a r s h i s d e a t h r a t t l e as \" a sound l i k e t h e r u s t l e o f a s i n g l e d r y l e a f d r i v e n a l o n g t h e smooth sand o f a b e a c h \" ( 1 5 4 ) . 67 M e t a p h o r i n The N i g g e r has b o t h l o c a l and l a r g e r e f f e c t w i t h i n t h e 16 n a r r a t i v e . The s i m i l e , a l i n g u i s t i c s t r u c t u r e , t e n d s t o w a r d l o c a l e f f e c t i n c r e a t i n g s e n s o r y i m p r e s s i o n o r i n g i v i n g s y m b o l i c i m p o r t t o a p a r t i c u l a r c h a r a c t e r o r s i t u a t i o n , w h i l e m e t a p h o r , i n i t s b r o a d e s t s e n s e , i s a c o m p o s i t e o f l i n g u i s t i c s t r u c t u r e s and c o n t e n t , o c c a s i o n a l l y r e l y i n g on a r c h e t y p e and t r a d i t i o n f o r i t s s i g n i f i c a n c e . S i m i l e , h o w e v e r , i n i t s c u m u l a t i v e e f f e c t , t h a t i s , i n i t s c r e a t i o n o f , o r c o n t r i b u t i o n t o , a p a t t e r n o f i m a g e s , may have t h e same r e s u l t as m e t a p h o r . The s e a s o n a l changes marked d u r i n g t he c o u r s e o f t h e j o u r n e y o f t h e N a r c i s s u s c l e a r l y i m p l y t h a t t h e l a n d and s e a o p e r a t e i n d e p e n d e n t l y o f , a l m o s t i n a n t a g o n i s m t o , one a n o t h e r . The scene o f W a i t ' s r e s c u e , on t h e o t h e r h a n d , r e l i e s f o r i t s mean ing p a r t i a l l y on t r a d i t i o n a l a s s o c i a t i o n s w i t h b u r i a l and r e b i r t h . S i m i l a r l y , t h e s i m i l e s p e r s o n i f y i n g t h e s t o r m do n o t a l o n e g i v e i t i t s c e n t r a l s y m b o l i c s i g n i f i c a n c e , b u t a g a i n t r a d i t i o n a l a s s o c i a t i o n s , i n c l u d i n g t h e p a t h e t i c f a l l a c y , e f f e c t m e a n i n g . The R o v e r i s l e s s m e t a -p h o r i c , l e s s g i v e n t o s i m i l e on b o t h t h e l o c a l and l a r g e s c a l e , and h e n c e , i n a s e n s e , l e s s v i v i d . W r i t i n g o f i m a g e r y i n The R o v e r , D o n a l d C . Y e l t o n s a y s t h a t \" I t does n o t , as i n t h e m a j o r w o r k s , c o n s t i t u t e an i m p o s i n g and i n e s c a p a b l e f e a t u r e o f s t y l e \" 1 7 ; he i s l a r g e l y c o r r e c t , f o r a l t h o u g h C o n r a d draws on a f u n d o f images u s e d f o r c e f u l l y i n e a r l i e r w o r k s , e s p e c i a l l y a n i m a l and a r t i s t i c s i m i l e s , t h e y r a r e l y c o n t r i b u t e e f f e c t i v e l y o r c o h e r e n t l y t o t heme. The c o r e o f t h e n o v e l ' s mean ing i s n o t , h o w e v e r , as i n L o r d J i m o r The N i g g e r , p r i m a r i l y e f f e c t e d t h r o u g h m e t a p h o r , s i m i l e , o r s y m b o l i c a c t i o n , b u t l a r g e l y t h r o u g h c h a r a c t e r and a c t i o n . E l a b o r a t e s y m b o l i c s i t u a t i o n s and comp lex image p a t t e r n s w o u l d , i n f a c t , u n n e c e s s a r i l y encumber a s t o r y no t c o m p l e x i n i t s m a i n c o u r s e . An a l m o s t e x c l u s i v e c o n c e n t r a t i o n on c h a r a c t e r 6 8 l e a d s t o t h e dominance o f P e y r o l and h i s v i e w p o i n t t h r o u g h o u t t h e n o v e l , and P e y r o l i s no maker o f m e t a p h o r s l i k e M a r l o w , b u t a r e l a t i v e l y p r a c t i c a l and s i m p l e s a i l o r whose m a j o r c o n c e r n s do n o t o f t e n i n c l u d e p s y c h o l o g i c a l o r m e t a p h y s i c a l and e t h i c a l c o m p l e x i t i e s . P e y r o l a c t s b e c a u s e he must do s o , and he does so u n h e s i t a t i n g l y , n e i t h e r r a t i o -c i n a t i n g n o r d e l a y i n g by s o p h i s t r y . I n p a r t , t h e n , t h e dominance o f c h a r a c t e r \u00E2\u0080\u0094 e s p e c i a l l y o f a c h a r a c t e r o f P e y r o l ' s n a t u r e \u00E2\u0080\u0094 l e a d s t o a r e l a t i v e p a u c i t y o f me tapho r and s i m i l e , j u s t as t h e n a t u r e o f t h e a c t i o n seems l e s s a m b i g u o u s \u00E2\u0080\u0094 e t h i c a l l y and p s y c h o l o g i c a l l y \u00E2\u0080\u0094 t h a n i n t h e e a r l i e r f i c t i o n . The c e n t r a l c o n f l i c t be tween P e y r o l and R e a l w i t h S c e v o l a and t h e a b n o r m a l i t y t h a t t h e l a t t e r r e p r e s e n t s i s n e v e r c l e a r l y d r a m a t i z e d , a n d , i n f a c t , p a r t l y o b s c u r e d b y t h e theme o f r e b i r t h and by t h e l o v e r e l a t i o n s h i p o f A r l e t t e and R e a l . The F r e n c h and E n g l i s h c o n f l i c t i s a l s o r e s p o n s i b l e f o r a l a c k o f c l e a r f o c u s , and much o f t h e n o v e l g e t s c a u g h t up by a p o l i t i c a l - m i l i t a r y c o n f l i c t t h a t has few r e v e r b e r a t i o n s . R a t h e r t h a n f i n d i n g u n i t y i n i m a g e r y , m e t a p h o r , o r s i m i l e , C o n r a d u n i t e s t h e d i s p a r a t e e l e m e n t s and themes by an a l m o s t e x c e s s i v e c o n c e n -t r a t i o n on P e y r o l \u00E2\u0080\u0094 e x c e s s i v e b e c a u s e i t l e a v e s t h e o t h e r c h a r a c t e r s r e l a t i v e l y u n d e v e l o p e d . T h i s i s n o t t o f a u l t s e v e r e l y C o n r a d ' s m e t h o d , a i m , o r a c h i e v e m e n t i n t h i s n o v e l , b u t r a t h e r t o a t t e m p t a p a r t i a l e x p l a n a t i o n f o r t h e l a c k o f symbo l and m e t a p h o r , d e v i c e s he had u s e d so c o n s i s t e n t l y i n o r d e r t o e x p l o r e theme i n h i s e a r l i e r f i c t i o n . T e c h -n i c a l l y , t h e n , C o n r a d moves away f r o m i m a g e r y and me tapho r i n f a v o u r o f c h a r a c t e r and a c t i o n as p r i m a r y v e h i c l e s o f m e a n i n g ; d r a m a , i n a s e n s e , r e p l a c e s p o e t r y i n t h e l a t e r w o r k . 69 Av rom F l e i s h m a n i n h i s e s s a y \" C o n r a d ' s L a s t N o v e l \" d i s c e r n s as a c e n t r a l s y m b o l i c and t h e m a t i c f o c u s o f t h e n o v e l t h e i m p o r t a n c e o f v i s i o n , o b s e r v a t i o n , and p e r c e p t i o n , f i n d i n g v i s u a l a c t i v i t i e s and images \" t h e t h e m a t i c c e n t e r t h a t deepens t h e o t h e r w i s e h a c k n e y e d a c t i o n o f t h e 18 p r o t a g o n i s t s . \" S i g h t , h o w e v e r , i s n o t o n l y a t h e m a t i c b u t a l s o a t e c h n i c a l c o n c e r n i n t h e n o v e l . C o n r a d ' s r e l a t i v e l y i n f r e q u e n t m e t a p h o r s and s i m i l e s do d i m i n i s h t o some d e g r e e t h e d e s c r i p t i v e n e s s o f t h e n o v e l as a w h o l e , b u t c o n c r e t e d e t a i l s compensa te f o r t h e l o s s and p u r s u e t h e a i m o f m a k i n g t he r e a d e r s e e . A r l e t t e ' s e n t r a n c e i n t o t h e a b b e ' s p r e s -b y t e r y i s t y p i c a l i n i t s p r e c i s i o n and d e t a i l : She pushed open t h e l i t t l e g a t e w i t h t h e b r o k e n l a t c h . The humble b u i l d i n g o f r o u g h s t o n e s , f r o m be tween w h i c h much m o r t a r had c r u m b l e d o u t , l o o k e d as t h o u g h i t had been s i n k i n g s l o w l y i n t o t h e g r o u n d . The b e d s o f t h e p l o t i n f r o n t we re c h o k e d w i t h w e e d s , b e c a u s e t h e abbe had no t a s t e f o r g a r d e n i n g ( 1 4 7 ) . The c a r e f u l and p a i n s t a k i n g e s t a b l i s h m e n t o f s e t t i n g and a t m o s p h e r e i n t h e e a r l y c h a p t e r s g a i n s power f r o m s i m i l e s , so u n e n e r g e t i c i n p a r t s o f t h e n o v e l . B o t h c u r i o u s a n d , i n a s e n s e , f o r e i g n , P e y r o l ' s m ind i s e s p e c i a l l y r e c e p t i v e t o t h e v i s u a l i m p r e s s i o n s h i s \" n a t i v e \" a r e a makes on h i m , and t h e n a r r a t o r r e n d e r s t h e s e i m p r e s s i o n s w i t h c o n s i d e r a b l e 19 a t t e n t i o n t o t h e d e t a i l s o f c o l o u r , t o n e , and t e x t u r e . From t h e y a r d o f t h e i n n n e a r H y e r e s , P e y r o l s e e s t h a t \" f a r away , l i k e a b l u e t h r e a d , t h e r e was t h e s e a o f t h e H y e r e s r o a d s t e a d w i t h a lumpy i n d i g o s w e l l i n g b e y o n d \u00E2\u0080\u0094 w h i c h was t h e i s l a n d o f P o r q u e r o l l e s \" ( 6 ) . A s dusk comes , t h e l a n d s c a p e c h a n g e s : \" t h e s m a l l r i s e a t t h e end o f t h e G i e n s p e n i n s u l a had assumed t h e a p p e a r a n c e o f a b l a c k c l o u d \" ( 9 ) . E x p l o r i n g t h e l a n d , a t one p o i n t compared t o a d e s e r t i s l a n d , P e y r o l t r a v e l s a c r o s s a t r a c k \" w i t h p a t c h e s o f e f f l o r e s c e n t s a l t as w h i t e as snow be tween t h e t u f t s o f 70 w i r y g r a s s and t h e p a r t i c u l a r l y d e a d - l o o k i n g b u s h e s \" ( 1 5 ) . What i s i m p l i e d by t h e d e s c r i p t i o n s i s t h a t t h e l a n d , and by e x t e n s i o n a l l F r a n c e , has become t h e W a s t e l a n d t h r o u g h t h e R e v o l u t i o n ; P e y r o l ' s s a c r i f i c e i s what i s needed i n o r d e r t o b r i n g b a c k f e r t i l i t y and l i f e , s y m b o l i z e d by t h e u n i o n o f Re\"al and A r l e t t e . As t h e n o v e l p r o g r e s s e s , t h e l a n d s c a p e o f i t s c o n c e r n becomes i n c r e a s i n g l y i n t e r i o r and e x t e r n a l v i s u a l i m p r e s s i o n s become l e s s n o t e -w o r t h y u n t i l t h e c l i m a c t i c c h a s e s c e n e ; on o c c a s i o n , h o w e v e r , t h e n a r r a t o r f i n d s s o m e t h i n g s t r i k i n g : . . . t h e r o a d s t e a d , w i t h i t s p l a y o f g r e y and b r i g h t g l e a m s , l o o k e d l i k e a p l a q u e o f m o t h e r - o f - p e a r l i n a f rame o f y e l l o w r o c k s and d a r k g r e e n r a v i n e s s e t o f f i n l a n d by t h e masses o f t h e h i l l s d i s p l a y i n g t h e t i n t o f t h e f i n e s t p u r p l e ; w h i l e above h i s ( P e y r o l ' s ) head t h e s u n , b e h i n d a c l o u d - v e i l , hung l i k e a s i l v e r d i s c ( 1 4 4 ) . C o l o u r , as t h e above p a s s a g e d e m o n s t r a t e s , seems a p a r t i c u l a r c o n c e r n o f t h e n a r r a t o r , and most a r e p r i m a r y r a t h e r t h a n shades o r t i n t s ; P e y r o l f o r e x a m p l e , i s d r e s s e d i n t h e c o l o u r s o f t h e t r i c o l o u r when he a r r i v e s a t t h e P o r t O f f i c e o f T o u l o n . A r l e t t e l o o k i n g o v e r t h e v i l l a g e s e e s \" j u s t beyond t h e f l a t b l u e -g r e y l e v e l o f t h e s a l t l a g o o n , smooth and d u l l l i k e a s l a b o f l e a d \" ( 1 4 7 ) . Her r e t u r n t o l i f e i s app rehended v i s u a l l y , and t h e change i n h e r s p i r i t i s n o t i c e a b l e i n h e r f a c i a l c o l o u r i n g : \" t h e f a i n t e s t p o s s i b l e f l u s h had a p p e a r e d on h e r c h e e k s , p l a y e d on them f a i n t l y r o s y l i k e t h e l i g h t o f a d i s t a n t f l a m e on t h e s n o w \" ( 1 7 5 ) . D i s t a n t p e r s p e c t i v e and t h e p l a y o f l i g h t c h a n g i n g t h e p e r c e p t i o n o f s i z e and c o l o u r i s n o t e d as C a p t a i n V i n c e n t on t h e deck o f t h e A m e l i a o b s e r v e s two s t r a g g l e r s o f t h e B r i t i s h F l e e t : \" two s p e c k s v e r y f a r a p a r t , o f w h i c h one shone w h i t e l i k e a b i t o f s i l v e r and t h e o t h e r a p p e a r e d b l a c k l i k e a d rop o f i n k \" ( 2 7 8 ) . S i m i l e s a t t a c h e d t o a p a r t i c u l a r c h a r a c t e r a r e , as i n C o n r a d ' s 71 o t h e r n o v e l s , u s e d t o g i v e d i m e n s i o n , p e r s o n a l i t y , and i d e n t i t y . The r a n g e o f s i m i l e s i n The R o v e r i s , on t h e w h o l e , n o t l a r g e \u00E2\u0080\u0094 a b a s i c c o m p a r i s o n b e i n g r e p e a t e d w i t h v a r i a t i o n s t h r o u g h o u t t h e t e x t . C a t h e r i n e h a s a number o f m e t a p h o r s and s i m i l e s w i t h s i m i l a r i n t e n t a t t a c h e d t o h e r : she i s s e e n as h a v i n g t h e \" a t t i t u d e o f an o l d s i b y l r i s e n f r o m t h e t r i p o d t o p r o p h e s y c a l m l y a t r o c i o u s d i s a s t e r s \" ( 1 7 0 ) ; h e r p r o f i l e i s t h a t o f \" a s h a r p c a r v i n g o f an o l d p r o p h e t e s s o f some d e s e r t t r i b e \" ( 1 7 4 ) ; she s p e a k s \" l i k e a c r u e l f a t e \" when she wa rns R e a l t o l e a v e A r l e t t e ( 2 2 5 ) and a f t e r g i v i n g t h a t w a r n i n g , s t a n d s b e f o r e t h e b r e a k f a s t i n g P e y r o l \" i m p o s i n g and so l emn l i k e a p e a s a n t -p r i e s t e s s \" ( 2 2 8 ) ; she apeaks w i t h P e y r o l abou t A r l e t t e ' s r e b i r t h \" w i t h a s o r t o f r e g a l composure . . . l i k e a c h i e f t a i n e s s o f a t r i b e \" ( 1 6 9 ) ; and w a i t i n g f o r t h e r e s u l t s o f A r l e t t e ' s f l i g h t a f t e r R e a l , she s i t s \" l i k e a s e n a t o r i n h i s c u r u l e c h a i r a w a i t i n g t h e b l o w o f a b a r b a r o u s f a t e \" ( 2 4 7 ) . The s i m i l e s and m e t a p h o r s d e s c r i b i n g C a t h e r i n e seem, p e r h a p s , s l i g h t l y t o o p o r t e n t o u s c o n s i d e r i n g h e r somewhat m i n o r r o l e i n t h e n o v e l ; h e r moment o f p r o p h e c y does come, b u t she i s a s l i g h t l y m i s g u i d e d p r o p h e t e s s . Her w a r n i n g t o R e a l t h a t A r l e t t e i s \" f o r no m a n \" i s i n c o r r e c t ( 2 2 5 ) . Howeve r , she i s a c c u r a t e i n h e r p r o n o u n c e -ment t h a t \" t h e r e i s d e a t h i n t h e f o l d s o f h e r ( A r l e t t e ' s ) s k i r t and b l o o d abou t h e r f e e t \" ( 2 2 5 ) , b u t t h i s i s m i s t a k e n l y d i r e c t e d t o R e a l , f o r i t i s P e y r o l who meets d e a t h f o r t h e s a k e o f A r l e t t e . I n d e e d , C a t h e r i n e i s i m p o r t a n t f o r h e r p a s t r e l a t i o n s h i p w i t h a p r i e s t and f o r h e r p r o t e c t i n g A r l e t t e f r o m S c e v o l a . These r o l e s , h o w e v e r , a r e l i t t l e r e l a t e d t o t h e b u r d e n o f t h e s i m i l e s g i v e n t o h e r , u n l e s s one a l e g o r i c a l l y s e e s h e r as an a n c i e n t p r o p h e t e s s o r v o t a r y o f a g o d d e s s , A r l e t t e , whom one c r i t i c s e e s as \" t h e F r a n c e t h a t S c e v o l a has t a k e n 20 i l l e g a l p o s s e s s i o n o f . \" A r l e t t e h e r s e l f i s a l s o r e l a t e d t o t h e F a t e - l i k e ; h e r c a l l and a p p e a r a n c e t o P e y r o l when t h e t a r t a n e i s abou t t o s e t ou t c o n s c i o u s l y r e c a l l s a V a l k y r i e ' s a p p e a r a n c e t o a doomed T e u t o n i c c h i f t a i n \u00E2\u0080\u0094 s h e a p p e a r s as i f i n a v i s i o n , t h e s y m b o l i c r a i n a l s o f o r e s h a d o w i n g t h e oncoming moment o f P e y r o l ' s d e a t h ( 2 4 7 ) . S i m i l e s u s e d i n d e s c r i b i n g A r l e t t e a r e n o t as l i m i t e d i n r a n g e , b u t seem t o have l i t t l e t h e m a t i c o r s y m b o l i c i m p o r t e x c e p t f o r t h e shadow me tapho r w h i c h s u g g e s t s h e r i n s u b s t a n t i a l i t y b e f o r e h e r r e t u r n t o l i f e t h r o u g h t h e power o f l o v e . P e r h a p s r e l a t e d t o t h i s a r e t h e b i r d s i m i l e s s u g g e s t i n g b o t h h e r p h y s i c a l d i m i n u t i v e n e s s and h e r i n s t a b i l i t y , p e r h a p s even h e r t i m i d i t y ; P e y r o l t h i n k s t h a t \" s h e was l i k e a s e a - b i r d \u00E2\u0080\u0094 n o t t o be g r a s p e d \" ( 2 2 ) . Such i n s u b s t a n t i a l i t y and e l u s i v e n e s s c o n t r a s t s m a r k e d l y w i t h P e y r o l and C a t h e r i n e who a r e imaged as c a r v i n g s (80 and 116) o r s t o n e e f f i g i e s ( 1 1 9 ) ; t h e y a r e i m m o b i l e , w h i l e A r l e t t e roams A r i e l - l i k e a b o u t t h e f a r m . C u r i o u s l y , t h e c h a i n o f images s u g g e s t i n g l i g h t n e s s and movement i s d i s r u p t e d by R e a l ' s c o n f e s s i o n t h a t he l o o k s a t A r l e t t e \" a s a t a p i c t u r e \" ( 2 1 2 ) , 21 c o n s c i o u s l y r e c a l l i n g t h e A c i s and G a l a t e a m y t h ; b u t t h i s i s o n l y a p a r t i a l d i s r u p t i o n , f o r t h e i n t e n t o f s u c h an a l l u s i o n i s m a i n l y d i r e c t e d t o w a r d s t h e La b e l l e dame sans m e r c i q u a l i t y o f A r l e t t e , r a t h e r t h a n h e r i n a b i l i t y t o r e s t s p i r i t u a l l y and p h y s i c a l l y . A n i m a l i m a g e r y i s once a g a i n u s e d t o d e s c r i b e v a r i o u s c h a r a c t e r s i n t h e n o v e l , a l t h o u g h b o t h the r a n g e and t h e i m p o r t o f t h e s e images i s more r e s t r i c t e d t h a n t h o s e i n The S e c r e t A g e n t , and t h e y l a r g e l y have l o c a l r a t h e r t h a n t h e m a t i c s i g n i f i c a n c e . P e y r o l d e s c r i b e s S c e v o l a e s c a p i n g f r o m an a n g r y mob i n a s i m i l e f r o m e v e r y d a y s p e e c h \u00E2\u0080\u0094 73 he \" b o l t e d up t h e h i l l , l i k e a h a r e \" ( 4 1 ) ; t h e p r i e s t who s a v e s h i m l e a p s \" f r o m b o u l d e r t o b o u l d e r l i k e a b l e s s e d g o a t \" ( 4 2 ) . To P e y r o l ' s m i n d a l s o S c e v o l a h a s a g r i n t h a t \" r e s e m b l e d t h e d e f e n s i v e g r i n o f some s m a l l w i l d a n i m a l a f r a i d o f b e i n g c o r n e r e d \" ( 8 0 ) . And a f t e r one o f h i s c u s t o m a r y h a r a n g u e s , P e y r o l wa rns S c e v o l a t h a t t h e p e o p l e now d i s e n c h a n t e d w i t h R e v o l u t i o n a r y r h e t o r i c and s y m p a t h i e s w i l l \" hun t y o u down l i k e a mad d o g \" ( 1 6 6 ) . A r l e t t e , as n o t e d a b o v e , i s f r e q u e n t l y d e s c r i b e d as b i r d - l i k e by P e y r o l who a l s o s e e s R e a l s i t t i n g a l o n e on h i s b e n c h \" l i k e a l o n e l y c r o w \" ( 1 7 7 ) . The p r i e s t i s d e s c r i b e d as l i v i n g \" l i k e a h u n t e d w i l d b e a s t \" d u r i n g t h e R e v o l u t i o n ( 1 4 8 ) . A r l e t t e d e s c r i b e s t h e c rowd c h a s i n g S c e v o l a as \" y e l p i n g l i k e c u r s \" ( 1 5 0 ) . P e y r o l h i m s e l f i s s e e n by h e r i n a n i m a l t e r m s \u00E2\u0080\u0094 \" h i s m a s s i v e a s p e c t , h i s d e l i b e r a t i o n s u g g e s t i n g a m i g h t y f o r c e l i k e t h e r e p o s e f u l a t t i t u d e o f a l i o n \" ( 1 4 6 ) . S c e v o l a a n g r i l y r e p r i m a n d i n g M i c h e l r e p r o a c h e s h i m f o r b o u n d i n g \" l i k e a g o a t \" ( 1 8 6 ) . The f i n a l wo rd P e y r o l h e a r s i s i n \"an enormous v o i c e l i k e t h e r o a r o f an a n g r y s e a - l i o n \" ( 2 6 9 ) . The e f f e c t o f t h e s e s i m i l e s i s t w o - f o l d ; t h e y r e a l i s t i c a l l y e x p l o i t f i g u r e s f r o m common s p e e c h g i v i n g a c h a r a c t e r ' s d i a l o g u e and t h o u g h t v e r i s i m i -l i t u d e , and t h e y add v i v i d n e s s t o a d e s c r i p t i o n . No l o n g e r , h o w e v e r , does C o n r a d seem p r i m a r i l y i n t e r e s t e d i n t h e a n i m a l image as a m i r r o r o f a c h a r a c t e r ' s s p i r i t u a l and i n t e l l e c t u a l a t t r i b u t e s o r d e f i c i e n c i e s , b u t u s e s them r a t h e r w i t h a s i m p l e r i n t e n t and f o r a s i m p l e r e f f e c t . J u s t as human b e i n g s a r e o f t e n s e e n i n a n i m a l t e rms i n The R o v e r , i n a n i m a t e o b j e c t s o c c a s i o n a l l y become a n t h r o p o m o r p h i c t h r o u g h s i m i l e , an e x t e n s i o n o f C o n r a d ' s f r e q u e n t u s e o f t h e p a t h e t i c f a l l a c y . A f t e r P e y r o l ' s d e a t h , h i s t a r t a n e \" t u m b l e d l i k e a l i f e l e s s c o r p s e amongst t h e s e a s \" ( 2 6 9 ) , a s i m i l e c l e a r l y s u g g e s t i n g t h e i m p o r t a n c e o f t h e s m a l l b o a t as an image o r e x t e n s i o n o f P e y r o l h i m s e l f . S i m i l a r l y 74 h u m a n i z e d i s t h e m u l b e r r y t r e e \" s t a n d i n g l i k e a s e n t i n e l a t t h e g a t e o f t h e y a r d \" ; i t a l s o \" s i g h e d f a i n t l y . . . as i f r e g r e t t i n g t h e B r o t h e r o f t h e C o a s t , t h e man o f d a r k d e e d s , b u t o f l a r g e h e a r t , who o f t e n a t n o o n -day w o u l d l i e down t o s l e e p u n d e r i t s s h a d e \" ( 2 8 6 ) . C o n v e r s e l y , human b e i n g s o f t e n become inhuman i n t h e n o v e l . A s i d e f r o m t h e r e c u r r e n t a n i m a l s i m i l e s , o t h e r s i m i l e s h a v e t h i s e f f e c t . F o r e x a m p l e , t h e c r i p p l e whom P e y r o l b e f r i e n d s i s imaged as a b e a c o n as he w a t c h e s t h e f i n a l p r e p a r a t i o n s f o r t h e f i r s t l a u n c h i n g o f t h e t a r t a n e ( 9 7 ) . A s b e f o r e , s u c h s i m i l e s have l o c a l e f f e c t m a k i n g l i t t l e c o n t r i b u t i o n t o t heme . S i m i l e s m a k i n g t h e m a t i c c o n t r i b u t i o n s t o t h e n o v e l a r e f e w , and t e n d t o be s l i g h t l y l a b o u r e d . P e y r o l t o o f r e q u e n t l y n o t i c e s , f o r e x a m p l e , t h a t h i s room a t Escampobar i s l i k e a l i g h t h o u s e . A t home o n l y a t s e a , he e n -v i s a g e s t h e f a r m as a s h i p , d e c l a r i n g h i s f i d e l i t y t o i t s i n h a b i t a n t s t o t h e o u t s i d e r R e a l : '\"I am o l d P e y r o l and t h i s p l a c e , as l o n e l y as a s h i p a t s e a , i s l i k e a s h i p t o me and a l l i n i t a r e l i k e s h i p m a t e s \" ( 4 4 ) . However d e a r t o h i m Escampobar may b e , h i s t r u e home r e m a i n s t h e s e a , and he p r e -p a r e s and mends t h e b l o o d - d r e n c h e d t a r t a n e \"as t h o u g h he had b e e n p r e p a r i n g h i s e s c a p e f r o m a d e s e r t i s l a n d \" ( 8 8 ) . P e y r o l t h e n b e g i n s t o s l e e p on t h e t a r t a n e now \" a s s a f e f r o m t h e t e m p e s t s t h e r e as a h o u s e a s h o r e \" ( 9 9 ) , p r e -f e r i n g i t t o t h e f a r m where he s a y s o f h i m s e l f : ' \" W e l l , p e r h a p s o l d P e y r o l i s d e a d . A t any r a t e he h a s b u r i e d h i m s e l f h e r e \" ( 1 0 6 - 1 0 7 ) . D u r i n g t h e c o u r s e o f t h e n o v e l P e y r o l moves t o w a r d s l i f e as A r l e t t e and R e a l d o ; h i s e x p e r i e n c e , u n l i k e t h e i r s , h o w e v e r , i s c o m p l e t e , f o r he u n d e r g o e s d e a t h as w e l l , f i n d i n g i n i t t h e f u l f i l l m e n t and p e a c e he had so a r d e n t l y sough t on s h o r e . D e a t h , as R o y a l R o u s s e l p o i n t s o u t , i s i n The R o v e r \" t h e i n e v i t a b l e 22 p r i c e o f t h e t r u e s e l f . \" A v e r y l a r g e number o f \" a s t h o u g h \" and \" a s i f \" c l a u s e s f u n c t i o n s as s i m i l e s i n The N i g g e r and The R o v e r (as w e l l as i n C o n r a d ' s o t h e r w o r k s ) 75 i n t h a t t h e y s e r v e t o r e n d e r one a c t i o n , s i t u a t i o n , o r t h i n g i n t e rms o f a n o t h e r . L i k e s i m i l e s , t o o , t h e s e c l a u s e s a r e a p a r t o f C o n r a d ' s i m p r e s s i o n i s t i c t e c h n i q u e . The i n t r o d u c t o r y \" a s i f \" o r \"as t h o u g h \" a r e s i m i l a r i n mean ing t o \" l i k e \" and \" a s \" . To s a y , f o r i n s t a n c e , t h a t \" x bounds as t h o u g h he we re a g o a t \" o r \" x bounds as i f he we re a g o a t \" i s n e a r l y t h e same as s a y i n g t h a t \" x bounds l i k e a g o a t . \" I n f o r m a l A m e r i c a n E n g l i s h seems t o a c k n o w l e d g e t h i s s i m i l a r i t y by t h e g r a d u a l p h a s i n g o u t o f t he \" a s i f \" c l a u s e a l o n g w i t h i t s m a n d a t o r y s u b j u n c t i v e ; i n e v e r y d a y s p e e c h \"He a c t e d l i k e he was t r y i n g t o l o s e \" i s r e p l a c i n g \"He a c t e d as i f he were t r y i n g t o l o s e \" o r \"He a c t e d as t h o u g h he were t r y i n g t o l o s e . \" A p p r o x i m a t e l y t h e same r e l a t i o n s h i p be tween t e n o r and v e h i c l e e x i s t s i n a l l t h r e e i n s t a n c e s i n w h i c h \" x \" i s s e e n as p e r f o r m i n g an a c t i o n i n t h e manner o f a g o a t . D i f f e r e n c e r e s i d e s i n t h e economy and t h e p r e c i s i o n o r i n t e n d e d i m p r e c i s i o n t h a t one c l a u s e m i g h t have r a t h e r t h a n a n o t h e r ; t h e word \" d o o r \" and Samuel J o h n s o n ' s \" t h e wooden 23 g a u r d i a n o f o u r p r i v a c y \" r e f e r t o p r e c i s e l y t h e same o b j e c t , bu t t h e manner i n w h i c h t h a t o b j e c t i s d e s c r i b e d fo rms s t y l e . Whereas a c o m p a r i s o n u s i n g \" l i k e \" has t h e a d v a n t a g e o f economy ( s i n c e i t r e q u i r e s no v e r b ) , a c o m p a r i s o n u s i n g t h e \"as i f \" o r \" a s t h o u g h \" c l a u s e l e a d s t o a g r e a t e r i n t e g r a t i o n be tween t e n o r and v e h i c l e and i s more d y n a m i c . A p a r t i c u l a r c o n t r i b u t i o n o f t h e \" a s i f \" and \" a s t h o u g h \" c l a u s e s f u n c t i o n i n g as s i m i l e s i n The N i g g e r i s p e r s o n i f i c a t i o n ; m o r e o v e r , s u c h a c o n s t r u c t i o n d i s p l a y s t h e n a r r a t o r ' s s t a t e o f m ind and s e n s i b i l i t y . He s e e s n a t u r e i n human t e r m s , d i s p l a y i n g t h e f u n c t i o n o f s i m i l e as 76 m a k i n g an a n a l o g y be tween two d i s s i m i l a r o b j e c t s . D u r i n g t h e s t o r m t h e n a r r a t o r d e s c r i b e s t h e N a r c i s s u s i n d i f f i c u l t y : \" T w i c e r u n n i n g , as t hough she had been b l i n d o r wea ry o f l i f e , she p u t h e r n o s e d e l i b e r a t e l y i n t o a b i g wave and swept t h e d e c k s f r o m end t o e n d \" ( 5 2 ) . The \" a s t h o u g h \" c l a u s e s u g g e s t s t h e n e c e s s i t y o f m o t i v a t e d a c t i o n i n t h e m i n d o f t h e n a r r a t o r who a t t e m p t s t o a t t r i b u t e m o t i v e , a n d , h e n c e , h u m a n i z e s . I n l i k e m a n n e r , a f t e r t h e c r e w h a s f i x e d t h e r i g g i n g s , t h e s h i p \" a s i f g r a t e f u l f o r ou r e f f o r t s , p l u c k e d up h e a r t and made b e t t e r w e a t h e r o f i t \" ( 5 6 ) . W h i l e r e s c u i n g W a i t , t h e n a r r a t o r r e c o r d s t h a t \"The s h i p , as i f overcome w i t h d e s p a i r , w a l l o w e d l i f e l e s s l y \" ( 6 9 ) , m a k i n g e x p l i c i t t h e s t a t e o f t h e s h i p i n r e l a t i o n t o W a i t and t h e powers h e s t a n d s f o r . A f t e r t h e s t o r m h a s b e e n w e a t h e r e d , t h e p r o g r e s s o f t h e s h i p i s a g a i n r e n d e r e d i n s p e c i f i c a l l y human t e r m s : \"She went o f f s l o w l y as t h o u g h she had been wea ry and d i s h e a r t e n e d l i k e t h e men she c a r r i e d \" ( 8 7 ) . F r e e a t l a s t f r o m t h e s t o r m , she d r i v e s n o r t h w a r d \" a s t hough i n s p i r e d by t h e c o u r a g e o f a h i g h e n d e a v o u r \" ( 9 4 ) . And w i t h W a i t dead and t h e c a l m e n d i n g , t h e s h i p \" r o l l e d as i f r e l i e v e d o f an u n f a i r b u r d e n \" ( 1 6 0 ) , c o m p l e t i n g t h e s e q u e n c e o f c l a u s e s t h a t a r e n e c e s -s a r y i n o r d e r t o l i n k W a i t and t h e s h i p . The sun i s a l s o h u m a n i z e d t h r o u g h o u t t h e n o v e l l i k e t h e s e a and t h e N a r c i s s u s : \" t h e s e t t i n g sun d i p p e d s h a r p l y , as t h o u g h f l e e i n g b e f o r e ou r n i g g e r \" ( 3 4 ) , and \"A sun e n o r m o u s , u n c l o u d e d and r e d , \" d e c l i n e s \" l o w as i f b e n d i n g down t o l o o k i n t o t h e i r ( t h e c r e w ' s ) f a c e s \" ( 7 4 ) . The c h a r a c t e r i s t i c c a s t o f t h e n a r r a t o r ' s b e l i e f i n h u m a n i z e d n a t u r e i s b e s t shown , h o w e v e r , when he r e m a r k s o f t h e c a l m : \" t h e g l i t t e r i n g s e a , t o u c h e d by t h e b r e e z e , b a s k e d v o l u p t u o u s l y i n t h e g r e a t s u n s h i n e , as t h o u g h i t had f o r g o t t e n o u r l i f e and t r o u b l e \" ( 1 4 3 ) . To t h e n a r r a t o r , t h e n , n a t u r e i s v i t a l \u00E2\u0080\u0094 77 t h e s t a r s \" g l i t t e r e d , as i f a l i v e above t h e s e a \" ( 2 9 ) , and l i k e man h i m s e l f , i t h a s b o t h m a l e v o l e n t and b e n i g n a s p e c t s : t h e w a t e r s r u s h a t W a i t ' s b u r i a l \" a s i f i m p a t i e n t t o g e t a t o u r J i m m y \" ( 1 5 9 ) , and a b r i d g e opens b e f o r e t h e N a r c i s s u s \" a s i f b y e n c h a n t m e n t \" ( 1 6 4 ) . T h i s d u a l a s p e c t o f n a t u r e m i r r o r s , o f c o u r s e , a c e n t r a l theme o f t h e n o v e l \u00E2\u0080\u0094 t h e h a r b o u r i n g i n man o f b o t h a d a r k and e v i l n a t u r e as w e l l as a b e n i g n and m o r a l o n e . The r e s u l t o f t h i s d u a l i t y i s c o n f l i c t , s e e n i n t h e s t o r m and t h e n e a r m u t i n y . The \" a s i f \" and \" a s t h o u g h \" c l a u s e s s e r v e as s i m i l e s a l s o i n t h e c r e a t i o n o f a v i s u a l o r a u r a l i m p r e s s i o n : s o m e t h i n g l o o k s o r sounds l i k e s o m e t h i n g e l s e . M r . B a k e r , t i r e d f r o m t h e s t o r m i s d e s c r i b e d by t h e n a r r a t o r : \"The r i m s o f h i s e y e l i d s were s c a r l e t , and he moved h i s j aw i n c e a s i n g l y w i t h a s l o w e f f o r t , as t h o u g h he h a d b e e n m a s t i -c a t i n g a lump o f i n d i a - r u b b e r \" ( 5 7 ) . The \" a s t h o u g h \" c l a u s e s e r v e s t o h e i g h t e n t h e v i s u a l i m p r e s s i o n , a p p e a l i n g t o t h e r e a d e r ' s i m a g i n a t i o n more p o w e r f u l l y t h a n t h e somewhat f l a t s t a t e m e n t t h a t M r . B a k e r 'moved h i s j aw u n c e a s i n g l y w i t h e f f o r t . \" The l o u d n e s s o f W a i t ' s v o i c e i s a l s o e m p h a s i z e d by s u c h a c o n s t r u c t i o n : \" h i s v o i c e r a n g , h o l l o w and l o u d , as t h o u g h he had b e e n t a l k i n g i n an empty c a v e r n \" ( 3 5 ) , and D o n k i n ' s i n a r t i c u l a t e n e s s i s a l s o v i v i d l y d e s c r i b e d \u00E2\u0080\u0094 \"he mumbled w i t h e f f o r t and as i f h i s mouth had been f u l l o f d o u g h \" ( 1 3 6 ) . T h i s c o n s t r u c t i o n f u r t h e r s e r v e s t o e m p h a s i z e m a n n e r \u00E2\u0080\u0094 t h e way i n w h i c h an o b s e r v e r p e r c e i v e s t h e o c c u r e n c e o f a p a r t i c u l a r a c t i o n . P e y r o l , f o r e x a m p l e , r e p r o a c h e s R e a l f o r h i s h a u g h t y manner o f s p e e c h : \" ' Y o u h a v e a n a s t y t o n g u e , ' he s a i d , ' w i t h y o u r damned t r i c k o f t a l k i n g as i f y o u we re made o f d i f f e r e n t c l a y ' \" ( 1 0 6 ) . Remov ing 78 h e r s e l f f r o m a c o n v e r s a t i o n be tween P e y r o l and S c e v o l a , \" C a t h e r i n e c l e a r i n g t h e t a b l e b o r e h e r s e l f as i f she had been c o m p l e t e l y d e a f \" ( 8 0 ) . The emphas i s on manner o f t e n f u n c t i o n s as an a m p l i f i c a t i o n o f a u r a l o r v i s u a l i m p r e s s i o n s and a l s o s e r v e s t o make v i v i d t h e o b j e c t o r p e r s o n b e i n g d e s c r i b e d . C o n r a d ' s a i m t o make h i s r e a d e r s e e , f e e l , and h e a r i s f u r t h e r e d by t h e \" a s i f \" and \" a s t h o u g h \" c l a u s e s . A s w i t h t h e s i m i l e i n t h e t r a d i t i o n a l s e n s e , h i s a i m , i n p a r t , i s t h e e x a c t r e n d e r i n g o f i m p r e s s i o n s , w h i l e a t t h e same t i m e m a k i n g t h e r e a d e r c o n s i s t e n t l y aware o f t h e a p p r o x i m a t i o n t h a t c a n o n l y r e s u l t . M o r e -o v e r , t h e s e c o n s t r u c t i o n s a l s o c o n t r i b u t e t o t h e s y m b o l i c and t h e m a t i c i m p l i c a t i o n s o f a w o r k , as t h e y a r e s u b j e c t t o t h e same t y p e o f r e p e -t i t i o n and a m p l i f i c a t i o n as c o n v e n t i o n a l s i m i l e s . An a s p e c t o f C o n r a d ' s s t y l e r e l a t e d t o s i m i l e and m e t a p h o r i s me tonymic i m a g e r y , a t y p e o f i m a g e r y b a s e d on \" a s s o c i a t i o n by c o n t i -g u i t y , \" whe reas m e t a p h o r i s \" g r o u n d e d i n \" s i m i l a r i t y o r a n a l o g y 24 be tween two t e r m s . \" F l e i s h m a n , n o t i n g t h e numerous v i s u a l c o n c e r n s i n The R o v e r , s u g g e s t s t h a t some o f them a r e n o t o f p a r t i c u l a r i n t e r e s t o r n o t e w o r t h y o f t h e m s e l v e s , b u t \" d e v e l o p s y m b o l i c f o r c e by t h e i r 25 a c c u m u l a t e d m a s s , \" a way o f s a y i n g t h a t t h e y f o r m a me tonym ic p a t t e r n . A r l e t t e ' s eyes a r e among t h e more i m p o r t a n t images o f t h e n o v e l , and C o n r a d d i r e c t s t h e r e a d e r ' s a t t e n t i o n t o them m e t o n y m i c a l l y . When she f i r s t mee ts P e y r o l , i t i s n o t e d t h a t she s m i l e s \" w i t h o u t g a i e t y o r any change i n h e r r e s t l e s s eyes t h a t roamed abou t t h e empty room as t h o u g h P e y r o l had come i n a t t e n d e d by a mob o f S h a d e s \" ( 2 1 ) , and w h i l e h e r c o n v e r s a t i o n w i t h h i m c o n t i n u e s , t h e n a r r a t o r r e m a r k s t h a t \"Her e y e s , w h i c h had s t e a d i e d , began t o wander a g a i n a l l r o u n d and abou t t h e 79 m o t i o n l e s s P e y r o l \" ( 2 2 ) . R e f l e c t i n g l a t e r on h i s r e c e p t i o n a t t h e f a r m h o u s e , P e y r o l ' s t h o u g h t s u n d e r l i n e f o r t h e r e a d e r t h e s i g n i f i -c a n c e o f A r l e t t e ' s r o a m i n g e y e s : He . . .was met a t t h e d o o r o f t h e f a rmhouse i t s e l f by t h e young woman w i t h t h e p a l e f a c e and w a n d e r i n g e y e s . N o t h i n g c o u l d h o l d h e r a t t e n t i o n f o r l o n g amongst h e r f a m i l i a r s u r r o u n d i n g s . R i g h t and l e f t and f a r beyond y o u , she seemed t o be l o o k i n g f o r s o m e t h i n g w h i l e you we re t a l k i n g t o h e r , so t h a t y o u d o u b t e d w h e t h e r she c o u l d f o l l o w what you s a i d . B u t as a m a t t e r o f f a c t she had a l l h e r w i t s abou t h e r ( 3 4 ) . The f i r s t e x p l i c i t c o n n e c t i o n , t h e n , be tween A r l e t t e ' s eyes and h e r s t a t e o f m i n d i s made r e l a t i v e l y e a r l y i n t h e n o v e l , and t h e c a u s e o f h e r d i s t u r b a n c e and o f h e r u n s t a b l e p e r c e p t i o n i s c l e a r l y h e r c h i l d h o o d e x p e r i e n c e s d u r i n g t h e R e v o l u t i o n , w h i c h she h e r s e l f d i s c e r n s as t h e c a u s e o f t h e h o l l o w l i f e and l i v i n g d e a t h she has s u f f e r e d ( 1 5 5 ) . P e y r o l ' s e f f e c t on h e r r e v i v i f i c a t i o n i s a l s o n o t e d f i r s t i n c o n n e c t i o n w i t h h e r e y e s : P e y r o l c a l l e d i t t r y i n g n o t t o see s o m e t h i n g t h a t was n o t t h e r e ; and t h i s e v a s i v e y e t f r a n k m o b i l i t y was so much a p a r t o f h e r b e i n g t h a t t h e s t e a d i n e s s w i t h w h i c h she met h i s i n q u i s i t i v e g l a n c e s u r p r i s e d o l d P e y r o l f o r a momen t (49 ) . A s t h e n o v e l p r o g r e s s e s and A r l e t t e ' s a f f e c t i o n f o r t h e f a t h e r l y P e y r o l i s t r a n s f o r m e d i n t o l o v e f o r L i e u t e n a n t R e a l , h e r movement t o w a r d s r e b i r t h has i t s c l i m a x i n t h e s c e n e w i t h t h e a b b e . A r l e t t e h e r s e l f t e l l s h i m o f h e r w a n d e r i n g e y e s : \"'I saw t h i n g s r o u n d me h e r e and t h e r e , b u t I c o u l d n ' t l o o k a t a n y t h i n g f o r l o n g . S o m e t h i n g was gone ou t o f m e ' \" ( 1 5 5 ) . A s she l e a v e s t h e c h u r c h and r e - e n t e r s t h e s a c r i s t y , r e a l i z i n g t h e power o f l o v e , h e r eyes s h i n e , and t h e abbe s e e s \" t h e g l e a m o f h e r eyes swimming i n t e a r s \" ( 1 5 8 ) s i g n a l i n g t o t h e r e a d e r h e r r e t u r n t o l i f e . P e y r o l , t o o , n o t i c e s t h e change i n h e r 80 as r e c o r d e d i n h e r e y e s : \"She d a z z l e d h i m . V i t a l i t y s t r e a m e d ou t o f h e r e y e s , h e r l i p s , h e r w h o l e p e r s o n , e n v e l o p e d h e r l i k e a h a l o \" ( 1 7 5 ) . A s A r l e t t e ' s l o v e makes h e r m ind s t a b l e , h e r eyes c e a s e t o r o a m , and i n t h e m o o n l i t s c e n e i n R e a l ' s bedroom \" h e r b l a c k e y e s , immense l y p r o f o u n d , l o o k e d i n t o h i s , n o t w i t h a t r a n s p o r t o f p a s s i o n o r f e a r b u t w i t h a s o r t o f r e p o s e f u l s a t i s f a c t i o n , w i t h a s e a r c h i n g and a p p r o p r i a t i n g e x p r e s s i o n \" ( 2 1 5 - 2 1 6 ) . J u s t as P e y r o l moves t o w a r d p e a c e and r e b i r t h , so does A r l e t t e , a theme d e v e l o p e d , i n p a r t , by a c h a i n o f images r e n d e r i n g h e r coming t o c o n s c i o u s n e s s t h r o u g h s i g h t . Numerous o t h e r r e f e r e n c e s t o s i g h t i n t h e n o v e l g i v e f o r c e t o t h i s c h a i n o f i m a g e s : P e y r o l and R e a l w a t c h f o r t h e E n g l i s h s h i p , P e y r o l ' s room i s l i k e a . l i g h t h o u s e , t h e E n g l i s h w a t c h t h e c o a s t , A r l e t t e w a t c h e s o v e r R e a l i n o r d e r t o p r o t e c t h i m f r o m S c e v o l a . The i m p o r t a n c e o f s i g h t i s d e v e l o p e d t h r o u g h r e l a t i o n s h i p s e s t a b l i s h e d i n v a r i o u s s c e n e s r a t h e r t h a n t h r o u g h a r e l i a n c e on t r a d i t i o n a l m e t a p h o r i c e q u i v a l e n t s o f s i g h t as s p i t i t u a l v i s i o n o r i n s i g h t , t h o u g h t h e s e , t o o , c a n n o t be d i s -c o u n t e d i n a s s e s s i n g t he t h e m a t i c i m p l i c a t i o n s o f C o n r a d ' s v i s u a l images i n t h e n o v e l . ' Bu t l a r g e l y , t h e i m p o r t a n c e and m e a n i n g o f A r l e t t e ' s e y e s o r , f o r e x a m p l e , t h e l o o k o u t , a r e d e v e l o p e d w i t h i n t h e t e x t t h r o u g h t h e b a s i c s t y l i s t i c d e v i c e o f r e p e t i t i o n . Such a d e v i c e t i g h t e n s s t r u c t u r e and p r o v i d e s u n i t y , c o n t e n t and f o rm m e e t i n g i n a c o h e r e n t w h o l e i n w h i c h m a t t e r and manner a r e i n s e p a r a b l e . A s i t s b a s i s i s a c o n t i g u o u s r e l a t i o n s h i p , me tonymic i m a g e r y t e n d s t o p l a c e s c e n e s i n j u x t a p o s i t i o n w i t h one a n o t h e r i n t h e r e a d e r ' s m i n d ; i n a s e n s e , i t i s n o t o n l y a v e h i c l e f o r m e a n i n g , b u t a s s i s t s i n t h e s t r u c t u r i n g o f a t e x t . I n The N i g g e r o f t h e \" N a r c i s s u s , \" a s i m i l a r me tonym ic p a t t e r n t o 81 t h e one i n The R o v e r c a n be d i s c e r n e d \u00E2\u0080\u0094 eyes a g a i n a r e an i m p o r t a n t i m a g e ; C o n r a d , i n f a c t , o f t e n seems t o s t r u c t u r e a n o v e l a r o u n d a p a r t i c u l a r a s p e c t o f s i g h t o r s o u n d ; i n \" H e a r t o f D a r k n e s s \" K u r t z ' s v o i c e more t h a n K u r t z h i m s e l f seems t o c o n t a i n m e a n i n g f o r M a r l o w . B o t h s i g h t and sound a r e o f p r i m a r y t h e m a t i c i m p o r t a n c e i n Under W e s t e r n E y e s , and u n c l e a r n e s s o f v i s i o n i s a c e n t r a l theme i n L o r d J i m . C o n s t a n t l y p l a y i n g i n t h e b a c k g r o u n d o f The N i g g e r i s t h e N a r c i s s u s my th i n w h i c h a young man f a l l s i n l o v e w i t h t h e s i g h t o f h i s own i m a g e . W a i t , a c c o r d i n g t o O l d S i n g l e t o n , mus t d i e w i t h i n s i g h t o f l a n d ; Podmore s e e s v i s i o n s o f h e l l and h e a v e n when he l o o k s a t W a i t ; t h e s h i p , i t i s s u g g e s t e d , i s h e l d up by A l l i s t o u n ' s e y e s \u00E2\u0080\u0094 \" w i t h l i v i n g eyes he was s t i l l h o l d i n g t h e s h i p u p , h e e d i n g no o n e , as i f l o s t i n t h e u n e a r t h l y e f f o r t o f t h a t e n d e a v o u r \" ( 7 4 ) . The wo rd \" e y e \" i t s e l f o c c u r s some e i g h t y t i m e s w i t h i n t h e s h o r t n o v e l , n o t c o u n t i n g v a r i a t i o n s s u c h as \" g l a n c e d \" o r \" s t a r e d \" o r \" s a w , \" and a l t h o u g h r e p e -t i t i o n a l o n e i s n o t s i g n i f i c a n t e x c e p t as a u n i f y i n g d e v i c e , a p u r p o s e -f u l p a t t e r n seems i n e v i d e n c e . Much o f t h e v i s u a l c o n c e r n c e n t r e s a r o u n d o r emanates f r o m W a i t . H i s e y e s , l i k e A r l e t t e ' s , r e c o r d e m o t i o n and p e r c e p t i o n ; when D o n k i n e n v i s a g e s W a i t ' s b u r i a l a t s e a and t a u n t s h i m w i t h t h e t h o u g h t o f d e a t h , W a i t l o o k s a t h i m \u00E2\u0080\u0094 \" a g a z e u n b e l i e v i n g , d e s o l a t e d and a p p e a l i n g , o f a c h i l d f r i g h t e n e d by t h e menace o f b e i n g 26 shut up a l o n e i n t h e d a r k \" ( 1 5 3 ) . And as h i s c o n d i t i o n w o r s e n s , i t seems t o D o n k i n t h a t \" o n l y h i s eyes a p p e a r e d a l i v e \" ( 1 5 4 ) ; l a s t l y as D o n k i n s t a r t s t o w a r d t h e d o o r , he t u r n s \" j u s t i n t i m e t o s e e W a i t ' s e y e s b l a z e up and go ou t a t o n c e , l i k e two lamps o v e r t u r n e d t o g e t h e r by a s w e e p i n g b l o w \" ( 1 5 4 - 5 5 ) . To some e x t e n t t h e eye i m a g e r y i n The N i g g e r 82 s u g g e s t s t h a t W a i t does n o t s e e , o r r a t h e r p r e f e r s n o t t o s e e , h i s own d e c l i n e ; w h i l e on t h e o t h e r h a n d , S i n g l e t o n h a s t h e e n i g m a t i c v i s i o n s o f an o r a c l e , and Podmore t h o s e o f a f a n a t i c . The c r e w a l t e r n a t e l y s e e s i t s e l f i n W a i t and i n t h e s h i p . I r o n i c a l l y , D o n k i n s e e s a l m o s t e v e r y t h i n g , even p e r c e i v i n g W a i t ' s t r u e c o n d i t i o n , b u t t h e t h i n g s he s e e s a r e c o n s t a n t l y m i s a p p r e h e n d e d , as h e f i l t e r s h i s p e r c e p t i o n t h r o u g h h i s a n a r c h i c z e a l . D o n k i n , t h e n , s e e s t h i n g s o n l y i n t e rms o f h i m s e l f ; W a i t ' s d e a t h , f o r e x a m p l e , e f f e c t s h i m o n l y as i t i s an image o f h i s own i n e v i t a b l e e n d . A l s o l i n k e d t o s i g h t i n t h e n o v e l i s l i g h t and d a r k n e s s , t h e q u a l i t y o f t h e l i g h t o f t h e l a n d and t h e l i g h t o f t h e s e a b e i n g c l e a r l y marked when S i n g l e t o n a p p r o a c h e s t h e p a y - t a b l e f o r h i s w a g e s : \" h i s h a n d s , t h a t n e v e r h e s i t a t e d i n t h e g r e a t l i g h t o f t h e open s e a , c o u l d h a r d l y f i n d t h e s m a l l p i l e o f g o l d i n t h e p r o f o u n d d a r k n e s s o f t h e s h o r e \" ( 1 6 8 ) . A f t e r b e i n g p a i d , t h e c r e w goes o u t \u00E2\u0080\u0094 \" t h e y b l i n k e d , h e s i t a t e d c l u m s i l y , as i f b l i n d e d by t h e s t r a n g e q u a l i t y o f t h e h a z y l i g h t \" ( 1 7 0 ) . The n a r r a t o r s u g g e s t s t h e i n a b i l i t y o f t h e c r e w t o f u n c t i o n a d e q u a t e l y on l a n d where t h e \" s m a l l p i l e o f g o l d \" i s c o n s i d e r e d t h e s u f f i c i e n t e q u i v a l e n t t o what t h e s e a g i v e s and t e a c h e s , and where t h e M i n t a p p e a r s \" d a z z l i n g and w h i t e l i k e a m a r b l e p a l a c e i n a f a i r y t a l e \" ( 1 7 2 ) . V i s i o n i s d i s t o r t e d h e r e ; t h e M i n t , a monument t o t h e c a p i t a l i s t e t h i c , c a n n o t r e m u n e r a t e as t h e s e a does i n k n o w l e d g e o f s e l f , n o r does t h e s o l i d a r i t y p r o v i d e d by c a p i t a l i s t e n d e a v o u r s u p p l a n t t h e t r u e s o l i -d a r i t y o f a good c r e w a t s e a . The m o r a l p o l a r i t i e s a b o a r d t h e N a r c i s s u s \u00E2\u0080\u0094 W a i t and D o n k i n opposed t o S i n g l e t o n and A l l i s t o u n \u00E2\u0080\u0094 a r e r e d u c e d t o s i m p l y one e l e m e n t on l a n d : D o n k i n i s t r i u m p h a n t . Whe the r o r n o t t h e c r e w ' s s i g h t moves t o w a r d s S i n g l e t o n ' s o r D o n k i n ' s i s u n r e s o l v e d , and 83 t h e n a r r a t o r ' s ambiguous and e l e g i a c f a r e w e l l r e m a i n s an i n s u f f i c i e n t k e y t o t h e m e a n i n g o f t h e i r e x p e r i e n c e . M a r v i n M u d r i c k i n h i s e s s a y \"The A r t i s t ' s C o n s c i e n c e and The N i g g e r o f t h e ' N a r c i s s u s ' \" f a u l t s C o n r a d f o r m e r e l y d e c o r a t i v e m e t a -p h o r : \" o c c a s i o n a l l y , a t l e a s t , h i s c h o i c e o f mepaphor seems c a l c u l a t e d 2 r a t h e r t o i m p r e s s us w i t h h i s i n g e n u i t y t h a n t o i l l u m i n a t e h i s s u b j e c t \" ; M u d r i c k i s i n p a r t c o r r e c t \u00E2\u0080\u0094 t h e r e a r e remnan ts o f C o n r a d ' s e a r l y and more f l o r i d s t y l e i n The N i g g e r , b u t r emnan ts t h a t h a v e a l t o g e t h e r d i s a p p e a r e d by t h e t i m e o f The R o v e r . The N i g g e r i s t h e more m a s t e r -f u l wo rk o f t h e t w o , d e s p i t e t h e f a u l t s t h a t M u d r i c k and o t h e r s have c o r r e c t l y d i s c e r n e d . I n p a r t , a t l e a s t , t h e m a s t e r y C o n r a d d i s p l a y s r e s i d e s p r e c i s e l y i n t h e p o r t r a y a l o f v i s u a l e l e m e n t s w i t h a l i v e l y s e n s e o f c o l o u r and m o t i o n , and a u r a l t o n e s w i t h a t t e n t i o n t o t h e l o u d n e s s and q u a l i t y o f s o u n d . The s i m i l e s and m e t a p h o r s o f The N i g g e r a r e g r e a t e r i n v a r i e t y , more i m a g i n a t i v e and e n e r g e t i c , more t h e m a t i c i n emphas i s t h a n t h o s e i n The R o v e r , w h i c h , a l t h o u g h c o m p e t e n t , l a c k s t h e e n e r g y and e x c i t e m e n t o f t h e e a r l i e r n o v e l . C o n r a d h i m s e l f , t h o u g h : f o n d o f The R o v e r - a n d e a g e r f o r a good c r i t i c a l r e c e p t i o n , r e c o g -n i z e d i t s s h o r t c o m i n g s and w r o t e t o G a r n e t t o f i t s w e a k n e s s e s , e s p e c i a l l y 28 i n r e g a r d t o c h a r a c t e r i z a t i o n . To B runo W i n a v e r , who had s u g g e s t e d a drama b a s e d on t h e n o v e l , he spoke o f i t s l a c k o f v i s u a l e f f e c t s . A s t o i t s a d a p t a b i l i t y f o r t h e s t a g e , I was a t f i r s t s u r p r i s e d . Bu t on t h i n k i n g i t o v e r I s e e t h e p o s s i b i l i t y , t h o u g h o f c o u r s e I do n o t see t h e way i n w h i c h i t c o u l d be v i s i b l y p r e s e n t e d and s p i r i t u a l l y r e n d e r e d i n s p o k e n w o r d s . Bu t i t i s a f a c t t h a t t h e book has g o t v e r y l i t t l e d e s c r i p t i o n , v e r y few d i s q u i s i t i o n s , and i s 2 9 f o r t h e most p a r t i n d i a l o g u e en fo rme p a r l e e . Bu t t h e n o v e l , i f n o t as s t r i k i n g v i s u a l l y as The N i g g e r and some o f t h e e a r l y w o r k s , a p p e a l s t o o n e ' s e m o t i o n s and s e n t i m e n t s , a canon t h a t C o n r a d a p p l i e d t o a r t . I n a s l i g h t l y e l e g i a c t o n e he had r e m a r k e d t o G a r n e t t i n a l e t t e r t h a t : i t was \"A t h i n g o f s e n t i m e n t \u00E2\u0080\u0094 o f many s e n t i m e n t s . F o o t n o t e s 1 M i m e s i s and M e t a p h o r : An I n q u i r y i n t o t h e G e n e s i s and Scope o f C o n r a d ' s S y m b o l i c Image ry (The Hague : M o u t o n , 1 9 6 7 ) , p . 1 1 2 . 2 Y e l t o n , p . 1 1 1 . 3 J o s e p h C o n r a d : The Imaged S t y l e ( N a s h v i l l e , T e n n . : V a n d e r b i l t U n i v . P r e s s , 1 9 7 0 ) , p . 9 . 4 Dowden, p . 5 1 . 5 \" C r i t e r i a f o r S t y l e A n a l y s i s , \" W o r d , 15 ( 1 9 5 9 ) , p . 1 5 6 . F o r an o p p o s i t e p o i n t o f v i e w s e e R i c h a r d Ohmann's \" G e n e r a t i v e Grammars and t h e C o n c e p t o f L i t e r a r y S t y l e , \" W o r d , 20 ( 1 9 6 4 ) , 4 2 3 - 3 9 . 6 Guy de M a u p a s s a n t , \" L e r o m a n , \" P i e r r e e t J e a n ( 1 8 9 0 ; r p t . P a r i s : C o n r a d , 1 9 2 9 ) , p . x x v . See a l s o George J . W o r t h ' s \" C o n r a d ' s Debt t o M a u p a s s a n t i n t h e P r e f a c e t o The N i g g e r o f t h e ' N a r c i s s u s , ' \" J E G P , 54 ( 1 9 5 5 ) , 7 0 0 - 0 4 . 7 See W . R . M a r t i n ' s \"The C a p t a i n o f t h e N a r c i s s u s , \" E S A , 6 (Sep tember 1 9 6 3 ) , 191 -97 f o r an a l l e g o r i c a l r e a d i n g o f W a i t and A l l i s t o u n . 8 \" T h e N i g g e r o f t h e ' N a r c i s s u s ' : M y t h , M i r r o r , and M e t r o p o l i s , \" Wascana R e v , 2 N o . 2 ( 1 9 6 7 ) , p . 2 9 . 9 K e n n e t h B e r n a r d i n \" C o n r a d ' s F o o l s o f I n n o c e n c e i n The N i g g e r o f t h e ' N a r c i s s u s , ' \" C o n r a d i a n a , 2 ( F a l l 1 9 6 9 ) , 4 9 - 5 7 c o n t e n d s e x a c t l y t h e o p p o s i t e , t h a t \" I t i s W a i t and what he r e p r e s e n t s t h a t h a s b r o k e n \" S i n g l e t o n , p . 5 4 . 10 Y e l t o n , p . 1 5 5 . 11 R o b e r t F . H a u g h , \" D e a t h and C o n s e q u e n c e s : J o s e p h C o n r a d ' s A t t i t u d e Towards F a t e , \" U n i v . o f K a n s a s C i t y R e v , 18 ( S p r i n g 1 9 5 2 ) , p . 1 9 7 . 12 M a r t i n , p . 1 9 6 . 13 J o s e p h C o n r a d , \"To My R e a d e r s i n A m e r i c a , \" The P o r t a b l e C o n r a d , e d . M o r t o n D. Z a b e l ; r e v . F r e d e r i c k R . K a r l (New Y o r k : V i k i n g , 1 9 4 7 ; r p t . 1 9 6 9 ) , p . 2 9 2 . 14 Symbo l and M e a n i n g i n t h e F i c t i o n o f J o s e p h C o n r a d (The Hague : M o u t o n , 1 9 6 5 ) , p . 3 9 . 15 \" James W a i t and The N i g g e r o f t h e ' N a r c i s s u s , ' \" E S A , 8 (Sep tember 1 9 6 5 ) , p . 1 7 9 . 16 See M a r i a G r z e d z i e l s k a ' s \" G r a n d e e t p e t i t e m e t a p h o r e , \" Z a g a d n i e n i a R o d z a j o w L i t e r a c k i c h , 14 ( 1 9 7 1 ) , 6 3 - 7 3 . 17 Y e l t o n , p . 2 0 9 . 18 \" C o n r a d ' s L a s t N o v e l , \" E L T , 12 ( 1 9 6 9 ) , p . 1 9 4 . 19 J e a n - A u b r y i n h i s e s s a y i n Geo rge T . K e a t i n g ' s A C o n r a d M e m o r i a l L i b r a r y ( G a r d e n C i t y , N . Y . : D o u b l e d a y , 1 9 2 9 ) , p p . 326 -36 n o t e s t h a t C o n r a d s p e n t some weeks i n C o r s i c a and S o u t h e r n F r a n c e d u r i n g t h e e a r l y p a r t o f 1921 i n o r d e r t o g e t n e a r t h e s c e n e o f S u s p e n s e . The v i s i t i n c l u d e d a c a r r i d e f r o m N i c e t o T o u l o n where C o n r a d s p e n t a n i g h t . The p r e c i s i o n o f C o n r a d ' s d e s c r i p t i o n s i n The R o v e r i s a t t e s t e d t o by J e a n - A u b r y who t r a v e l l e d t o t h e T o u l o n a r e a , E s c a m p o b a r i o u , and t o t h e G i e n s P e n i n s u l a w i t h t h a t n o v e l s p e c i f i c a l l y i n m i n d . 20 W . R . M a r t i n , \" A l l e g o r y i n C o n r a d ' s The R o v e r , \" E S A , 10 (Sep tember 1 9 6 7 ) , p . 1 8 9 . 21 F o r a r e a d i n g o f t h e n o v e l b a s e d on t h i s myth s e e D a v i d L e o n H i g d o n ' s \" C o n r a d ' s The R o v e r : The Grammar o f a M y t h , \" SNNTS, 1 ( S p r i n g 1 9 6 9 ) , 1 7 - 2 6 . 22 The M e t a p h y s i c s o f D a r k n e s s : A, S t u d y i n t h e U n i t y and Deve lopmen t o f C o n r a d ' s F i c t i o n ( B a l t i m o r e , M d . : J o h n s H o p k i n s P r e s s , 1 9 7 1 ) , p . 1 8 2 . 23 T h i s examp le comes f r o m Seymour C h a t m a n ' s \"On t h e T h e o r y o f L i t e r a r y S t y l e , \" L i n g u i s t i c s , 27 (November 1 9 6 6 ) , p . 1 7 . 24 S t e p h e n U l l m a n , S t y l e i n t h e F r e n c h N o v e l ( C a m b r i d g e : C a m b r i d g e U n i v . P r e s s , 1 9 5 7 ) , p . 1 9 6 . 25 F l e i s h m a n , p . 1 9 4 . 26 See P a u l M. K i r s c h n e r ' s C o n r a d : The P s y c h o l o g i s t as A r t i s t ( E d i n b u r g h : O l i v e r and B o y d , 1 9 6 8 ) , p p . 200-06 f o r C o n r a d ' s deb t t o M a u p a s s a n t ' s B e l - A m i i n t h i s s c e n e . 27 \"The A r t i s t ' s C o n s c i e n c e and The N i g g e r o f t h e ' N a r c i s s u s , ' \" N C F , 11 (March 1 9 5 7 ) , p . 2 9 3 . 28 See t h e l e t t e r o f 4 December 1923 i n L e t t e r s f r o m J o s e p h C o n r a d 1 8 9 5 - 1 9 2 4 , e d . Edward G a r n e t t ( I n d i a n o p o l i s : B o b b s -M e r r i l l , 1 9 2 8 ) , p p . 2 9 7 - 3 0 1 . 29 G . J e a n - A u b r y , J o s e p h C o n r a d : L i f e and L e t t e r s V o l . 2 ( G a r d e n C i t y , N . Y . : D o u b l e d a y , 1 9 2 7 ) , p . 3 3 5 . 30 G a r n e t t , p . 2 9 6 . L e t t e r o f 21 November 1 9 2 1 . Chapter V Conclusions Having presented a detailed analyses of a number of stylistic features in Conrad's The Nigger of the \"Narcissus\" and The Rover, certain general conclusions about the integration of form and content in these particular novels and about the value of a study of style as related to an understanding of theme can be offered: 1) Conrad's attitude towards and interest in style is demonstrably different in the early and later parts of his career. At the beginning, the occasionally tortured syntax, over-conscious rhythms, and over-modified substantives are perhaps due to too close an imitation of his French models, Flaubert and Maupassant. Although these flaws are most apparent in the two novels written before The Nigger, they s t i l l appear in that work and occasionally mar later productions, even Lord Jim. Towards the later part of Conrad's career there is a notable decline in the interest in stylistic virtuosity as an element in itself and a move-ment towards a generally less-complex and less self-conscious style. 2) A movement towards more conventional structure and style, suggesting, perhaps a more conventional world view, is discernable in the fiction of the later period. Although the style is competent, often.assured, i t is 88 8 9 a t t i m e s l a c k i n g i n e n e r g y and f r e s h n e s s . One n o t e s , f o r e x a m p l e , t h a t t h e same s i m i l e s and m e t a p h o r s a r e e n c o u n t e r e d a g a i n and a g a i n w i t h o u t t h e e f f e c t i v e n e s s and v i v i d n e s s o f t h o s e i n t he e a r l y n o v e l s . 3) The r e l i a n c e on d i a l o g u e f o r v i v i d n e s s and f o r i n d i v i d u a l i z i n g c h a r a c t e r s does n o t seem t o d i f f e r a p p r e c i a b l y i n t he e a r l y and l a t e r w o r k s . U s e d e f f e c t i v e l y , i t i s t h e means by w h i c h a n o v e l e i t h e r comes a l i v e o r f a i l s t o do s o . The h e a v i l y m e l o d r a m a t i c d i a l o g u e o f V i c t o r y i s n o t a p p a r e n t i n The R o v e r , s h o w i n g t h a t C o n r a d i s a g a i n i n f i r m c o n t r o l o f t h i s a s p e c t o f t he n o v e l i s t ' s a r t . I n a n a l y z i n g d i a l o g u e as a f a c e t o f s t y l e one a l s o s e e s t he r e l a t i o n s h i p be tween t he drama and t he n o v e l more c l e a r l y . A s i n d r a m a , m a j o r f i g u r e s a r e t h o s e who a r e most f r e q u e n t l y p r e s e n t e d t o t h e a u d i e n c e o r whose u t t e r a n c e s a r e o f p a r t i c u l a r i m p o r t a n c e ; t h e way i n w h i c h c h a r a c t e r s come t o d o m i n a t e a work i s , t h e n , p a r t i a l l y a r e s u l t o f t h e amount o f d i a l o g u e a l l o t e d t o t h e m . C o n r a d ' s b r i e f i n t e r e s t i n t he t h e a t r e i n t h e y e a r s d i r e c t l y p r e c e d i n g The R o v e r seem t o have i n f l u e n c e d t h i s n o v e l , w h i c h C o n r a d spoke o f as b e i n g l a r g e l y a d i a l o g u e \" e n forme p a r l e e . \" 4) C o n r a d ' s u s e o f t h e \" a s i f \" and \" a s t h o u g h \" s i m i l e s seems t o i n d i c a t e a s p e c i a l s e n s i t i v i t y t o t h e manner i n w h i c h an a c t i o n i s p e r f o r m e d and t o t h e way i n w h i c h o b j e c t s and a c t i o n s a r e r e l a t e d . T h i s t y p e o f s i m i l e , as w e l l a s t r a d i t i o n a l s i m i l e , o c c u r s so f r e q u e n t l y i n C o n r a d ' s n o v e l s , and e s p e c i a l l y i n t h o s e o f t h e e a r l y p e r i o d , t h a t a s t a t e o f m i n d w h i c h c o n s i s t e n t l y p e r c e i v e d t he u n i v e r s e i n t e rms o f a n a l o g y seems t o be s u g -g e s t e d . The s y m b o l i c p o t e n t i a l o f a c t i o n s and e v e n t s f i n d s e x p r e s s i o n i n a t e c h n i c a l d e v i c e p e r m i t t i n g t h e t r a n s m i s s i o n o f t h i s u n i q u e l y p e r s o n a l 90 v i s i o n t o o t h e r s . The a n t h r o p o m o r p h i c u n i v e r s e , so c l e a r l y p r e s e n t i n many o f t h e n o v e l s , i s a v e r s i o n on a g r a n d s c a l e o f t he s i m p l e a n a l o g y , and i s o f t e n t he r e s u l t o f t h e c u m u l a t i v e e f f e c t o f i n d i -v i d u a l m e t a p h o r s and s i m i l e s . 5) The n a r r a t i v e m e t h o d , and hence t he n a r r a t i v e p r o s e , o f The R o v e r a v o i d s t he d a n g e r s c o u r t e d by w o r k s s u c h as The N i g g e r , L o r d J i m , N o s t r o m o , and U n d e r W e s t e r n E y e s , and e q u a l l y d i s a l l o w s t he b r i l l i a n t i n s i g h t and p r o f u n d i t y a f f o r d e d by t he e x p l o r a t i o n o f and e m p h a s i s on p e r s p e c t i v e i n t h o s e w o r k s . I f on t h e one hand The R o v e r a v o i d s t h e c l u m s i n e s s and u n s a t i s f a c t o r y s o l u t i o n s o f t h e n a r r a t i v e i n V i c t o r y , on t he o t h e r , i t s k i r t s t h e p o s s i b i l i t i e s p r e s e n t e d by a more c o m p l e x l y o r g a n i z e d n a r r a t i v e m e t h o d . F o r i t s l i m i t e d a i m s , h o w e v e r , i t s n a r r a t i v e method i s s u c c e s s f u l , as I have a t t e m p t e d t o show. 6) A g r e a t e r e m p h a s i s on c h a r a c t e r i n The R o v e r i s a r e s u l t o f t he n o v e l ' s p r e o c c u p a t i o n w i t h P e y r o l ' s p e r c e p t i o n s and p e r s o n a l i t y . I n d e e d , t h o u g h t h e n o v e l c o n c e r n s i t s e l f w i t h i n t e r i o r c o n f l i c t s , t h e s e a r e l a r g e l y r e s o l v e d w i t h i n t h e c o n t e x t o f a s o c i a l u n i t , o r w i t h i n a r e l a t i o n s h i p , s u c h as A r l e t t e ' s and R e a l ' s . I n The N i g g e r c h a r a c t e r p e r se i s s l i g h t l y d e - e m p h a s i z e d w i t h t h e s y m b o l i c i m p l i c a t i o n s o f t he work a t t he f o r e f r o n t o f the r e a d e r ' s c o n s c i o u s n e s s . A l t h o u g h b o t h n o v e l s d e a l w i t h w o r l d s i n r e l a t i v e i s o l a t i o n , one s e n s e s t h a t The N i g g e r h a s g r e a t e r u n i v e r s a l c o n c e r n s , w h i l e The R o v e r i s more c o n f i n e d , s l i g h t l y more p e r s o n a l and d o m e s t i c . N e e d l e s s t o s a y , t h e e f f e c t on s t y l e i s p e r c e p t i b l e p a r t i c u l a r l y i n t h e t y p e s o f v o c a b u l a r y u s e d . The p a s s a g e s o f vague g r a n d e u r f o u n d i n The N i g g e r and t he r h e t o r i c a l f l o u r i s h e s 91 a c h i e v e d by means o f v e r y c a r e f u l l y m o d u l a t e d r hy thms a r e a b s e n t f r om The R o v e r . 7) A s shown by C o n r a d ' s m a n i p u l a t i o n o f d i r e c t a d d r e s s i n The R o v e r and by h i s p r e s e n t a t i o n o f S c e v o l a , C o n r a d ' s a t t i t u d e s t o w a r d s r e v o -l u t i o n a r y p o l i t i c s as e x p r e s s e d i n h i s l a s t n o v e l d i d n o t s u b s t a n t i a l l y change f r om t h e v i e w s pu t f o r t h i n t he e a r l y n o v e l s . A common p o i n t o f b o t h The N i g g e r and The R o v e r i s t h e e x p l o r a t i o n o f themes t h r o u g h two c h a r a c t e r s who r e p r e s e n t s o c i a l a n a r c h y , W a i t and S c e v o l a , and two c h a r a c t e r s , P e y r o l and O l d S i n g l e t o n , who a s s i s t i n a c h i e v i n g a b a l a n c e d s o c i e t y \u00E2\u0080\u0094 b a s e d n o t on p o l i t i c s b u t on t h e p r e c e p t o f s o l i d a r i t y . I n j u x t a p o s i n g t h e s e n o v e l s f o r s t y l i s t i c c o n s i d e r a t i o n , one d i s c o v e r s a r e l a t i o n s h i p be tween t h e i r t h e m e s , i n c l u d i n g t he theme o f d e a t h and r e s u r r e c t i o n c e n t r a l t o b o t h . I n a s e n s e , C o n r a d i n h i s l a s t c o m p l e t e d n o v e l r e t u r n s t o t h e c o n c e r n s o f h i s e a r l y w o r k . 8) I n The N i g g e r , and p r e - e m i n e n t l y i n t h e m i d d l e p e r i o d n o v e l s , m e t a p h o r and s i m i l e c o n v e y theme, w h i l e i n t h e n o v e l s f r o m V i c t o r y t o The R o v e r t h e s e e l e m e n t s a r e e i t h e r b a d l y b o t c h e d , a s , I t h i n k , i n V i c t o r y , o r l e s s h e a v i l y r e l i e d upon as v e h i c l e s f o r m e a n i n g . T h i s seems t o be r e l a t e d t o a change i n w o r l d - v i e w , a l s o r e f l e c t e d i n t h e more c o n s e r v a t i v e n a r r a t i v e m e t h o d , w i t h C o n r a d ' s c o n c e r n w i t h t he r e a l i t y o f e x i s t e n c e l e s s and l e s s e v i d e n t . The images o f s t a s i s t h a t a p p e a r f r e q u e n t l y i n The R o v e r i n -d i c a t e a more s e c u r e w o r l d , more s o l i d and l e s s m y s t e r i o u s t h a n i n some o f t h e o t h e r n o v e l s , n o t a b l y The N i g g e r and L o r d J i m . What i s r e a l seems t o have d e f i n i t e l y b e e n s e t t l e d . u p o n . 92 9) A s t y l i s t i c a p p r o a c h t o The N i g g e r t e n d s t o make l e s s p r o b l e -m a t i c f o r the r e a d e r t h e much d e b a t e d q u e s t i o n o f p o i n t o f v i e w . C o n s i d e r e d s t y l i s t i c a l l y , t he t e x t i s h a r m o n i o u s l y c o n s t r u c t e d ; t he c r e a t i o n and m a i n t e n a n c e o f t h e n a r r a t o r ' s v o i c e g i v i n g t h e i m p r e s s i o n o f c o n s i s t e n c y . Though t h e p r o b l e m s w i t h p o i n t o f v i e w a r e no t e l i m i n a t e d by t h i s a p p r o a c h , t h e y a r e m i n i m i z e d . 10) One o f t he most i m p o r t a n t b u t l e a s t d i s c u s s e d a s p e c t s o f C o n r a d ' s t e c h n i q u e i s h i s u s e o f r hy thm f o r e f f e c t . A l t h o u g h a c o n c e n t r a t i o n on r h y t h m l e d t o t he w r i t i n g o f many f i n e p a s s a g e s i n The N i g g e r and some o f t he e a r l y s h o r t s t o r i e s , i t a l s o l e d t o t h e t y p e o f p r o s e known as \" C o n r a d e s e \" , e s p e c i a l l y e v i d e n t i n \"The L a g o o n . \" I n The N i g g e r the m o d u l a t i o n o f t h e p r o s e p e r m i t s e m p h a s i s and d e - e m p h a s i s , h e i g h t e n s t h e e f f e c t i v e n e s s o f t h e d e s c r i p t i v e p a s s a g e s , and a l l o w s f o r t h e c r e a t i o n o f t h e i m p r e s s i o n o f speed o r g r a v i t y . A n e m p h a s i s on r h y t h m i s a c c o m -p a n i e d by t he u s e o f o n o m a t o p o e i c wo rds and p h r a s e s . C o n r a d ' s i n t e r e s t i n r hy thm i s l a r g e l y c o n f i n e d t o t he w o r k s up t o N o s t r o m o ; a f t e r t h a t i t i s an i n c r e a s i n g l y l e s s i m p o r t a n t f e a t u r e o f h i s s t y l e , p e r h a p s i n d i c a t i n g h i s g r o w t h away f r o m F r e n c h m o d e l s and an i n t e r e s t i n c r e a t i n g a more i d i o m a t i c and l e s s i d i o s y n c r a t i c s t y l e . 11) C o n r a d ' s d e s i r e t o w r i t e i n a t r a d i t i o n a l g e n r e \u00E2\u0080\u0094 t h a t o f t he h i s t o -r i c a l n o v e l \u00E2\u0080\u0094 m a y i n p a r t be t h e c a u s e f o r The R o v e r ' s c o n s e r v a t i v e s t y l e . A l t h o u g h he p a r t i a l l y s u c c e e d s i n f u s i n g e t h i c a l c o n c e r n s and t he n o v e l o f s e l f - e x p l o r a t i o n w i t h t h i s g e n r e , t h e c o n v e n t i o n s o f t h e h i s t r o i c a l n o v e l p l a c e l i m i t a t i o n s on b o t h t h e f o r m and c o n t e n t o f The R o v e r . C l e a r l y , i n s e t t i n g t he n o v e l i n p o s t - R e v o l u t i o n a r y F r a n c e c e r t a i n 93 s t y l i s t i c e f f e c t s a r e a l m o s t r e q u i r e d , f o r e x a m p l e , t h e f r e q u e n t u s e o f F r e n c h p h r a s e s , e x p r e s s i o n s , and f o r m s o f a d d r e s s t o e s t a b -l i s h mood and t o p r o v i d e c o u l e u r l o c a l e . The h i s t o r i c a l n o v e l seems a l s o t o demand a f a i r l y c o n v e n t i o n a l n a r r a t i v e m e t h o d , and v i r t u o s o s t y l i s t i c e f f e c t s a r e a l s o d e - e m p h a s i z e d w i t h a s t r e s s p l a c e d i n s t e a d on the c r e a t i o n o f c h a r a c t e r and r e a l i s t i c d i a l o g u e , f e a t u r e s h i g h -l i g h t e d i n The R o v e r . 12) A c o n s i d e r a t i o n o f t he h i g h l y c o m p l e x f r e e i n d i r e c t s t y l e and i n t e r i o r mono logue i n The N i g g e r and The R o v e r d e m o n s t r a t e s t h e c l o s e and i n t r i c a t e r e l a t i o n s h i p be tween d i a l o g u e and n a r r a t i v e p r o s e and a l s o e m p h a s i z e s t he i m p o r t a n c e o f t o n e . These t e c h n i q u e s t e n d t o p e r m i t g r e a t e r s u b t l e t y and c o m p l e x i t y o f s t r u c t u r e and g i v e a more d r a m a t i c q u a l i t y t o n a r r a t i v e . A s t y l i s t i c s t u d y o f The N i g g e r o f t h e \" N a r c i s s u s \" and The R o v e r l e a d s i n e v i t a b l y , as t h i s e s s a y d e m o n s t r a t e s , t o a c o n s i d e r a t i o n o f t he themes o f t h e n o v e l s . I n a t t e m p t i n g t o d e s c r i b e and e x p l a i n s t y l i s t i c f e a t u r e s one e n c o u n t e r s t he w o r k s a s a w h o l e , and l e a r n s t h a t t h e t a g \" s t y l i s t i c \" o n l y i n d i c a t e s a way by w h i c h one d e a l s w i t h t h e m a t i c c o n t e n t . M o s t c l e a r l y , i n d i s c u s s i n g i m a g e r y and t h e t y p e s o f i m a g e r y one d e a l s w i t h p a t t e r n s w h i c h r e v e a l t heme, and i n d i s c u s s i n g t y p e s o f d i a l o g u e and n a r r a t i v e one i s l e d t o o b s e r v a t i o n s a b o u t t h e r e l a t i o n s h i p be tween a p a r t i c u l a r t e c h n i q u e and t he c o n t e n t i t p r e s e n t s . I have t r i e d t o e m p h a s i z e what i s u n i q u e abou t t h e s t y l e o f C o n r a d ' s n o v e l s w i t h t h e i r e m p h a s i s on t h e v i s u a l , a u r a l , and t a c t i l e q u a l i t i e s o f t h e p h y s i c a l u n i v e r s e . A s C o n r a d h i m s e l f r e a l i z e d , t h e way one d e s c r i b e s t r u t h i s dependen t on t h e way one s e e s i t , and t he way one s e e s i s dependen t on o n e ' s means o f a p p r e h e n s i o n , and i n C o n r a d t h i s i s p r i m a r i l y t h r o u g h t h e s e n s e s . I t i s t h i s t h a t one a p p r e c i a t e s i n C o n r a d - - a f a i t h f u l p r e s e n t a t i o n o f t he r e a l i t y o f e x p e r i e n c e t h r o u g h a s t y l e t h a t s e e k s t o r e t a i n t he v i v i d n e s s and f u l l n e s s o f t h e e x p e r i e n c e i t s e l f . 95 LIST OF WORKS CITED Beach, Joseph Warren. The Twentieth Century Nove1: Studies in Technique. 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"For non-commercial purposes only, such as research, private study and education. Additional conditions apply, see Terms of Use https://open.library.ubc.ca/terms_of_use."@en . "Graduate"@en . "Conrad's style in the Nigger of the 'Narcissus' and the Rover"@en . "Text"@en . "http://hdl.handle.net/2429/33116"@en .