Marlow and the 'Roll of Drums'

We penetrated deeper and deeper into…

the heart of darkness [hearing] the roll of drums” (47)

“Whether it meant war,…

peace or prayer we could not tell” 

“The prehistoric man was cursing us,…

praying to us, welcoming us – who could tell?”

Africa and its inhabitants have no…

voice – they make noise but they do not speak or tell their own story

Use of polar opposites exhibits Marlow’s…

total inability to understand or ‘read’ either

The word ‘penetrated’ is ironic as Marlow does not…

actually do this. He observes and hears but he does not really see or listen or learn. 

“We could have fancied ourselves the first men…

taking possession of an accursed inheritance.” (47)

suggestive of what concept?

• Suggests the concept of the ‘white man’s burden’ (see Kipling) 

• Also suggests Eden, as though the European man in Africa is God’s creation and the ‘accursed inheritance’ of original sin is witnessing an otherworldly land which is not under God’s command. 

Describes sometimes catching a glimpse of “a burst of yells, a…

whirl of black limbs, a mass of hands clapping of feet stamping, of bodies swaying, of eyes rolling.” (47)

Describes he and his crew as “secretly appalled, as…

sane men would be before an enthusiastic outbreak in a madhouse.” (47) 

Asyndetic listing of dismembered body parts implies native people are…

viewed only in terms of bodily features with no human characteristics. Disembodied and blended with the landscape.

Their actions are simple, meaningless, primitive 🡪 the kinds of motions which…

do not require thinking

Likened to a…

‘madhouse’ 🡪 behaviour of Africans is attributed to the absence of minds.