It’s all about metafiction, once again. Just before the Classroom Without Walls outing I wrote an essay about Slaughterhouse-Five and Vonnegut’s use of metafiction. Apparently, the setting of the Nellie anchored at the Thames is just the frame story of this meta story of Marlow and his experience at a Belgian steamship in the Congo River. Concurrently, as soon as Marlow starts telling his story, the reader sets aboard a train of thoughts and memories that lead him to start reading the story in another manner: forgetting of the Nellie, and starting to understand Marlow’s ironic tone. For example, “I don’t want to bother you much with what happened to me personally” (Conrad 9). Here, the reader can juxtapose the omniscient narrator’s voice with that of Marlow. Starting from this, the reader can furthermore juxtapose many aspects of both stories. On one hand, the civilized, enlightened, and optimistic Thames River symbolizing the countless men who sailed abroad and colonized many distant cultures. On the other hand, the dark, savage, and hopelessness of Marlow’s story makes the reader realize his critical attitude towards imperialism, and the before-and-after of a character who lived both sides of the picture.
Back to memorizing: “Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!”
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Oh, by the way, guess of what novel this reminds me of ;)
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