Heart of Darkness
...am boat. Marlow himself is even amazed with the cannibals and even said, Why in the name of all the gnawing devils of hunger they didn’t go for us-they were thirty to five-and have a good tuck-in for once, amazes me now when I think of it . . . I own to you that just then I perceived-in a new light, as it were-how unwholesome the pilgrims looked, and I hoped yes I positively hoped that my aspect was not so-what shall I say?-so unappetizing. . .(Page 75) This quote suggests that he sympathizes with the cannibals and has something in common with them. They both see the pilgrims in an unwholesome and evil manner. The quote also talks about how he is amazed that the so-called “savages” when faced with starvation still would not eat the pilgrims. Marlow also says how powerful and strong these men looks. The fact that he calls him men also comments that they seem pure and is amazed at how they stick to their word about not eating them. During his voyage on the steamboat he takes a native and teaches him how to navigate the boat. However, during a surprise attack by the native people his helmsmen was stabbed in the side by a spear and killed at Marlow’s feet. Marlow seemed to be in shock at this and after the fight he takes his bloody shoes and throws them in the river. Later he comments that it may have been that he was in shock when he threw his shoes in the river because they were perfectly good shoes. That just shows you that he cared for him and was upset at the fact he had just died. He even said that “I missed my late helmsmen awfully, I missed him even while his body was still lying in the pilot-house. Marlow even goes one step further in saying that they formed a sort of kinship or bond one that could only have been formed after months of working together. One of the parts in the book that no one can seem to get over is Marlow’s use of racist language throughout the book. Many people believe that since Marlow uses racist language that he is indeed racist himself. Here is one such quote take from the end of the book were Marlow says” I had, even like the niggers, to invoke him-himself-his own exalted and incredible degradation.” (Page 124) This quote as you can read has a very racist word indeed, the word “nigger.” Now people today see this as being racist however throughout the whole book you hear a lot of other people saying the same things or acting in horrible...