CHAPTER
IV
ALIENATION AND ISOLATION IN CONRAD NOVELS
The emotional
situation,
so very
whether
common
estrangement
man
in his
alienated
self-imposed or circumstantial , which is
in
Conrad’s fiction.
the
modern
novel,
This
shows
Conrad's
events and emotional
Dostoevsky,
of
Mairaux
is
recurrent
preference
experiences in his works.
and many
later moderns,
also
for
inner
Conrad,
deals
in
like
with man
in interna] crisis, one whose tragic incongruities of nature
perforce
place
him
outside
the
realm
of ordered
existence
into one of loneliness, forlornness, and despair.
Conrad's fiction abounds
in solitaries—
the
loner,
the outcast and the exile— which are of common occurrence in
modern fiction. Terry Eagleton who holds the view that
"the
heights of modern English Literature have been dominated by
foreigners and emigre's
and
Joyce"'*’, ascribes
involvement with man's
experienced
credible
social
this
: Conrad, James, Eliot, Pound, Yeats
Conrad's
deep
loneliness,
alienation
Marxistclaim
and
may
understanding
to the
fact
political
be,
a
of,
that he had
exile.
close
and
However
scrutiny
of
Conrad's fiction reveals that isolation in the Conrad novels
is more internal
the novels of
be
and emotional,
in
like the
Virginia Woolf who was not an
claimed,therefore,
isolation
more
that
Conrad,conform
both
theme
largely
to the
isolation
emigrd.
and
in
It may
method
of
modernist
1. Terry
Eagleton,
Exiles and Emigres : Studies in Modern
Literature, (Chatto and Windus,
London, 1970) , p^
79
concept
of
isolation
as
case of the conscious
Dalloway (1925)
a psycho-moral
modernist
Virginia
Nostromo
Woolf,
In
her
the
Mr s .
is the story of a woman's loneliness in the
midst of a crowd in a party gathering.
with Mrs.
experience.
Ramsay
which
It is much the same
in her To the Lighthouse
studies
isolation
in
(1927 ). Conrad's
the
social
context,
demontrates that even when engaged in community endeavours,
the individual's private ideal or personal
emotionally
from
a
world
of
idea isolates him
communicable
values
into
an
unshared world of his own making.
Conrad's
self-seekers
early
are,
stories
of
self-willed
with variations,
similar
who cease to be governed by the social
egotists and
stories
of men
and moral principles
of regulated conduct. They rather choose to direct their own
course in life by self-created ideals and personal
visions,
which lead to extremes of loneliness and despair. Almayer's
Fol 1y
(1895),
as
discussed here
in
shall be
discussd
yearning
for
one representing
detail.
group
shall
An Outcast of the Islands
here as
individual
this
a
noveldepicting
liberty
and
the
modern
price
he
be
(1896)
man's
pays
for
it. Although the short stories such as "Karain" and "Lagoon"
included in Tales of Unrest
2
are not
taken up for detailed
discussion in this work, these are also in fact some of the
finest
remorse
illustrations
stems
from
2. Joseph Conrad,
1946-54) .
of
emotionally
earlier
acts
Tales of Unrest
of
lonely
beings
betrayal.
So
(1898),
(Dent
is
Coll.
whose
"Amy
edn.,
80
Forster" in Typhoon and other Stories
(1903),
instance
surroundings,
of
man's
plight
in
alien
a
poignant
of
the
problem of communication and of the consequent estrangement
of
man,
left
"to
perish
in
the
supreme
disaster
of
loneliness and despair" . Considering that The Nigger of the
1Narcissus1 marks an important
stage in the development of
Conrad's art towards complexity,
major
work
in
which
isolation
and
is
since
shown
it is the first
to
stem
from
the
conflicting claims of the private and the public self, apart
from
other
isolating
circumstances
company of men in the ship,
particularly
relevant
will be treated
individual
to
it shall
the
affecting
also
modernist
in the social
approach.
into
psycho-moral
dimensions,
Of
towards
the various
and then expands
Under Western Eyes
has
selectd for discussion as one of the finest examples.
as in Lord Jim and "The End of the Tether"^,
as
Nostromo
method
context.
works in which isolation is circumstantial
small
be discussed
as illustrative of Conrad's
isolation
the
been
Here,
the protagonist
is the victim of unforeseen circumstances which befalls him,
and plunges him
into ever increasing depths of
Although the stories
"Falk""* and
"The Secret
loneliness.
Sharer"^
also
3. Joseph
Conrad,
"Amy
Forster"
in Typhoon and Other
Stories, (1903), (Dent ColJ. edn., 1946-54), p. 142.
4. Joseph Conrad, Youth : a Narrative and Two Other Stories,
(1902), (Dent Coll, edn., 1946-54).
5. Joseph Conrad, Typhoon and Other Stories, (Dent Coll, edn.,
1946-54).
6. Joseph
Conrad,
1946-54).
^Twixt Land and Sea . (1912) .(Dent Col l , edn.,
81
deal
with circumstantial
here
as
both
solidarity
are
help
isolation,
stories
them
of
men
to overcome
they
are
whose
their
not
included
sense
of
isolation
human
and
the
barriers of communication.
In modernism,
and
psychic
man's psyche is the centre of action
potentials
are
determinants of man's moral
considered
to
be
the
true
worth. Conrad, too, subscribing
to this view, followed a method of isolating experience from
and
civilized
individual
is
protected• surroundings
alone
and
ones
into
where
enabled
suffering. This
the
him
to
consider the basic patterns of psychic activity which emerge
under
such
conditions
deep to bring out
of
crisis^.
In each
"the incommunicable
case
he
probed
secrecy of the self
g
which begins and ends in loneliness..." .
Conrad's first
(1895),
controls
is
about
novelistic
Almayer's
and dominates
venture,
self-destructive
the white
that of civilized and protected
isolated
environment
and
egoism
man in a context
society.
of Conrad's ego-dominated men, Almayer,
yet
Almayer's Fol 1y
which
outside
Representing
many
existing in a free
submerged
in
his
personal
vision, is also alienated from the laws and restrictions of
organized community life.
hero,
who,
even
while he
He is typical
treads
the
of the self-willed
road
to destruction,
7. Herbert Muller, O p . cit. , p. 257.
8. Morton
Dauwen
Zabel,
Craft and Character in Modern
Fiction, (The Viking Press, N. York, 1957), p. 182.
82
continues
to pursue his
Here,
in
as
Conrad's
the
many
dream
tales
and
which
concern has been with the
hollowness of the decadent
wording,
Conrad's
"on
foundations
the
"first
of
personal
were
idea
written
thwarted
European.
literary
power.
after
aspirations
In Vermon Young's
edifice"
Almayer's
of
was
it,
and
apt
constructed
despair" . Reading
the
novel we are accompanied by a growing sense of despondency,
and towards the end, we are filled with that hollow sense of
nothingness,
his
as
fanatical
the
Dutchman's
vision
drags
him
progressive
to
the
obsession
depths
with
of
tragic
and
air of
despair.
It is evident
superiority,
alienate
dreams
insularity
so characteristic of the white man in the east,
him
of
that Almayer's
from
the
"opulent
natives,
existence"
while
and
his
of
selfish
"indolent
utopian
ease"^,
leave no room for the consideration, care, and well-being of
those near to him, such as his wife and his daughter. Conrad
shows
that
although
the
compelling
urge
behind
Almayer's
"dream of wealth and power"'*''*' is his love for his daughter,
yet ironically,
up in his dream,
it is a self-defeating one. Almayer,
locked
is a clear instance of the imprisoned self
of modernist fiction.
9. Vernon Young, "Lingard's Folly, The Lost Subject",
The Kenyon Review, (Vol. XV, Autumn 1953), p. 526.
10. Joseph Conrad, Almayer's Folly (1895),
1946-54), p. 10.
11. Ibid, p. 3.
in
(Dent Coll, edn.,
83
As Conrad
once
said,
at
times
love
too
betrays
12
;
and in Almayer's case, it is the major cause of his painful
isolation
and
Almayer's
lone venture
human values
his
own
emotional
of
contributes
and
immerses
egocentric
becomes
intense
his
relationships
none,
the
to the
confident
of
the fulfilment of his dreams,
he
It may be noted
that
in his dream of the future,
his
basic
only
course
estrangement.
of
action,
The usual
between Almayer,
daughter, Nina,
through
of
Characteristically,
impervious
Trusting
to his own isolation.
more A1 mayer
is
renders him
mankind.
abilities
breakdown.
his
and
wife
and
the more
the
familial
the
more
ties,
his
the
half-caste
are gradually exposed to be unreal. Working
conflict
that
arises
out
of cultural
differences, Conrad stresses Almayer's lack of understanding
and
of
communication
bitterness
with
his
native
wife,
the
and hatred of her husband gradually
the point of vindication.
latter's
incensed
The narrative is designed
to
to show
how the members drift apart and withdraw into their separate
worlds.
The
Conradian
isolating
theme
in
circumstances, thereby,
these
that
early
each
man
works,
lives
which
in
stress
is
his
also
the
the
modernist
theme,
private
illusions.
The idea of being locked within,or imprisoned,is
often used by critics to refer to the obsessive situation.
12. Joseph Conrad, A Personal Record (1912), Dent Coll, edn.,
1946-54), p. 36.
84
Excessive
pre-occupation
with
dreams
and
ideals, which are imagined and
therefore
unreal,
men
existence
and
from
the
reality
of
their
visionary
alienate
environment.
Almayer, too, becomes withdrawn and distanced, a man lost in
vague
imaginings.
indifference,
Nina
observes
even to her,
her
and begins
father's
strange
to entertain
strange
misgivings
about his concern for her.
In his preoccupation
he
distanced
the
is
so
neglected
makes
desperate urge
her
from
her
insecure
to escape her
that
in
her
sense
of
sense
of
loneliness.
being
In
loneliness
and
her
from
her doubts in the dishonest world of white men, she at first
takes refuge in the other half half of her world, the native
one,
and
submits
Attracted
natural
daughter
by
charm
then
to
the
influence
the
native
and
virility
slips
culture
into
of
and
her
native
enarmoured
of Dain Maroola,
the
sanctuary
of
the
mother.
by
the
estranged
her
private
visions of a life of fulfilment with the native Dain.
Distrusted
and despised and always looked down upon^
Almayer's already estranged wife also works her way towards
tricking
her
husband
into
a nasty
and
shocking
deception
which totally undoes him. For the false sense of power and
of security which his subjective
and
his
sel f-deceiving
life has produced
pre-occupations
have
in him,
rendered
him
1udicrous.
Paul Kirschner, probing Almayer's psychic
observes
condition,
: "He is alone, carrying the universe— his dream of
85
greatness on his shoulders"
13 .
The aspirations of mastering
the world, at one time so promising, has now become a heavy
burden.
Ever since Dain deceived him, Almayer has only felt
the enveloping darkness closing in upon him. Further images
of the black
'pit'
and hollow bottomless
the reality of an emptiness profound,
'abyss'
bring home
of a life verging on
futility.
Even as critical
that
Almayer's
can
be
little
isolation
has
psychological
natives,
character
are
opinion is unanimous
is
difference
been
worked
distancing
shown
to
not
of
convincingly
opinion
out with
from
family
lead
to
on the point
drawn,
that
his
definite
members
there
growing
skill.
and
a cumulative
The
from
the
impact
and
heightened form of loneliness, reaching a crescendo with his
daughter's departure.
That particular scene which shows him
wiping his daughter's footprints on the sand, is perhaps the
most convincingly painted picture of the desolation of human
solitude which extends across
beyond,
and
to
which
the sands,
nature
is
a
to the waters
and
silent witness;
an
isolation which remains, arrested and motionless in space.
Almayer's
built—
Almayer's
unshared idea of power like the house he
Folly—
is
also inthe
process
of
decay.
Conrad's description of the empty and desolate house and its
surroundings intensifies the feeling of vacancy, and deepens
13. Paul
Kirschner,
Joseph Conrad, The Psychologist as
Artist, (Oliver and Boyd, Edinburgh, 1 % 8 ) , p~! 38.
86
the gloom which accompanies solitariness.
It can be noticed that Conrad strikes an essentially
modern note not only in this novel
but in others too, by his
use of physical and social isolation, not in the conventional
manner, but with the specific purpose of enhancing,
a
sense
of
isolation.
remoteness,
For
the
instance,
in
psychological
through
aspects
An Outcast of the Islands,
of
in
"An Outpost of Progress"^ and in "Heart* of Darkness" which
narrate
different
deliberately
taken
social conditions
and perhaps
experiences,
out
of
their
to experience
unfavourable
all
the
protagonists
familiar
among
conditions.
physical
aliens
are
and
in unfamiliar
He finds
that outside
the bounds of organized community}and in the absence of the
very institutions which provide courage,
and security,
confidenceycomfort
men are afraid of the unknown,
to experience
"among
Conrad
of
speaks
the elemental
such
solitary
even when free
realities of nature"^.
ordeals
in
"An
Outpost
of
Progress" :
To the sentiment of being alone of one's kind, to
the clear
perception
of
the
loneliness
of
one's
thoughts, of one's sensations— to the negation of
the
habitual
affirmation
16
which
of
the
is
safe,
there
unusual , which
is
is
added
the
dangerous;
14. Joseph Conrad, Tales of Unrest, (1898).
15. Herbert Muller, o p . cit. , p. 257.
16. Joseph Conrad, "An Outpost of Progress", in Tales of
Unrest (1898), (Dent Coll, edn., 1946-54), p. 8 ^
87
This may well
apply to Almayer, too. Almayer is the
first instance of Conrad's exploration of the predicament of
the isolated man and of the incommunicable self.
By making
him a solitary white man in the remote settlement of Sambir
in
the
Borneo
jungle,
Conrad
makes
Almayer's
isolation
complete. The effects of the progressively isolating ordeal
are achieved,
subjective
as Vernon Young
apprehension of
background of the ...
reader, too,feels
states,
by working
futility against
the
out
"the
amorphous
tenebrous moral atmosphere..."^. The
the strong and almost oppressive
emotions
through the atmosphere of darkness, shade and gloom produced
by the descriptions
and
shown in chapter VIII.
of
solitude
fatality
grows
and
over
heavy
being
and
nature,
quietude
uncertain
presses
imprisoned
of
which
life.
The
that
loneliness
nature
of man
upon Almayer,
overpowered
itself
and
will
and
by
is
forms
itself
abandoned
17. Vernon Young, op. cit. , pp. 527-8.
the
1 ike
be
feeling
later works.
the
in
a
which
circumstances
part of
dismal universe.
broods
loneliness
Almayer's Folly anticipate many of Conrad's
appears
which
They suggest and heighten the sense
of omnious
man's
and
imagery
of
in
It
inescapable
a bleak
and
88
In
represents
a
man separated f rom the bonds of an esta blished tradition.
In
his
An Outcast of the Island,
sel f-love
case,
and
familial
from
evident
and
Willems
1ack of
real m s . His
social
alienate
others
for
contempt
straight away when he misappropriates
company where he is employed.
As
a result,
scruples
him
is
funds of the
he becomes
only a social outcast, but a moral outcast as well.
not
Lingard
his benefactor, offers him a new lease of life in Sambir, in
the
tropical
Willems
east.
There,
as a possible
transactions.
wilderness,
rival
Friendless
Willem's
however,
keeps
and
A3 ntayer
considers
him out of all
alone,
situation
who
in
among
thus
business
aliens
in
lonely-
one
the
of
experiencing freedom in isolation, which is also an ordeal.
For,in the end
in isolation
we are bound to ask,whether man experiencing
is
free
or
in bondage—
a question
which
all
stated,
the
situations of this nature raise in modernism.
In
the
isolated
context,
alienated mood dominates to assert
as
earlier
the independence of the
spirit. Alone and mistrusted, WL 11ems,too,is free to direct
his
own
course
unconditioned
in
his
by the
new
environment.
Uninhibited
regulating laws of civilized conduct,
and encouraged by the passionate appeal of tropical
finds
comfort
native girl,
from
the
painful
and
Aissa.
refuge
in
Initially
consciousness
isolation.
and
of
Soon,
the
her
his
life, he
primitive
charms
company
provides
humiliating
however,
his
of
the
relief
condition
and
individuality
89
dominates;
in
the
free
instinctive,
the
impulsive and the primitive urges in him are let loose,
and
he becomes a victim
self-control
environment,
the
of passion and lust. Willems's lack of
and his inability to suppress
this dominating
primitivism of his nature,
leads him into deeper misery of
intense
enslavement
solitude.
deceived
none
weakness,
him.
By
other
his
than himself.
the native
So overpowering
leaders
to
Taking
use Aissa
is her charm
Aissa,
he
has
advantage of his
as a bait
that Willems
to
trap
is totally
disarmed in her presence.
of his
Willems's
almost voluntary
situation
into
the
escape from
the
sanctuary of perverse
reality
pleasure,
leads him one after another into treachery and self-deception,
which
push
him
further
into
the
depths
of
moral
degradation, to suffer alone. Through the slow, yet poignant
self-awareness of Willems's dejected and helpless condition,
Conrad illustrates
status
and
that his hopes of recovering his social
recognition
must
end
in
utter
rejection
and
desolation. His is the self-destructive or nihilistic sense
of independent will, one which deprives him of kindred ties
and other associations.
Earlier, Aissa's embrace had kindled love, hope and
faith,
or
helpless
so
he
creature,
believed.
In
conscious
drained him of the moral
reality,
that
her
he
has
wily
become
charms
a
have
strength to survive crisis. He has
failed to assert his will. Rather he has lost
all
he has
90
sought for. His earlier "assurance of unquestioned superio­
rity"18 and his faith in his own abilities- "in his skill,
in his luck,
in his well-established
disarm suspicion...11
reputation
that would
disappear, when he realizes that the
hopes and emotions which Aissa's love enkindled,
now awaken
in him new fears— "the fear of something unknown that had
taken possession of his heart.."
. The outcast that he is,
he acknowledges with helpless resignation,
that
his
very
individuality
within himself...
His
was
manliness,
snatched
his
from
cleverness,
that assurance of what he was and of what he could
21
be were no longer there.
Willems
experiences
an
unknown
terror
of
fleeing
from
himself. His dangerous passion having robbed him of thesanity
of his thoughts and the clarity of his vision, he is easily
on
the
way
to
degradation.
For
instance,
incapable
of
guiding his own actions he unconsciously allows himself to
be
directed
intriguing
becomes
Lingard's
Lingard.
by
others.
Drawn
into
the
snare
of
the
chiefs— Lakamba, Baba!atchi and Abdulla— Willems-
part
of
the
trading
It
is
the
conspiracy
interests.
It
of
the
amounts
natives
to
19. Ibid, p. 11.
20. Ibid, p. 72.
21. Ibid, p. 77.
undo
betrayal
second occasion when Willems
18. Joseph Conrad, An Outcast of the Islands
Coll, edn., 1946-54) , p~! 5”!
to
of
alienates
(1896),
(Dent
91
himself from those of his kind. Earlier his wife}Joanna?had
rejected him for his treachery, now Lingard abandons him to
his fate. Lingard, in his magnanimity, does not kill Willems.
But the life that
Rather
its
suffering is
better, we
to
is spared has little hope of redemption.
wonder,
Wil lens's
prolonged.
Would
it have
if Aissa's father, Omar,
treacherous
life?
The
been
had put an end
scene
in
which
Omar
creeps forward to kill
the white man in his daughter's lap,
awakens
Willems
again
life...
where
once
he
could
guide,
and no one— not even himself"
live,
the
longer
to
must he
22
"the horror
control,
of bewildered
comprehend
nothing
. The longer he is allowed to
endure
the
excruciating
pain
of
intensity
of
abandonment and desolation.
Conrad
Willems's
natural
stresses
lonely pJight
more
the dark
Conrad
shows
suffering.
crushed"
23
designs
that
It
the
by reflecting his emotions
imagery, as will
traces
effectively
even
through
be shown in a later chapter. As he
and downward
nature
leaves Willems
is
course
of
his
life,
indifferent
to
human
"utterly
alone,
small
. Conrad concludes this story on a modernist note
that loneliness is man's Jot. It is
the
tremendous
loneliness
fact
of
impenetrable
and everlasting;
22. Ibid, p. 329.
23. Ibid.
and
our
and
isolation,
transparent,
of
that
elusive
of the indestructible loneliness
92
that surrounds, envelops, clothes every human soul
from
the
cradle
to
the grave,
and,
perhaps
beyond^.
In this story, as in "Heart of Darkness", Conrad is
concerned
with
the
isolation
resulting
from
lack
of
restraint or self-possession, an aspect discussed at length
with reference to Conrad novels by H.M. Daleski
25
. Although
the
perfections
of 1ater works are 1acking in this novel,
and
although not a very pointed illustration of complex man,
yet An Outcast of the Isl ands can cl aim
to be one
of
the
early and less perfect illustrations of "Conrad's sense of
the crisis of moral
isolation and responsibility
in which
O
the
individual
meets
And most of all,
the first full
it stresses
C
test of character"
through Wil Jems's
experience
the incommunicability of the man who lives by his own laws,
and also questions the meaning and reality of freedom in the
isolated context.
Now we shall go on to discuss Conrad's
treatment of isolation, not in the jungles of the east, or
the wilderness of Africa, but in the vast and mighty seas in
fierce and brutal weather.
24. Ibid, p. 250.
25. H.M. Daleski, Joseph Conrad : The Way of Dispossession
(Faber and Faber^ London, TW77TI
26. Morton Dauwen Zabel , op. cit., p. 158.
93
Conrad's concept of a crueJ
where man is alone
the
third
novel,
insignificance
physical
and helpless,
comes with full
force in
The Nigger of the 'Narcissus1.
and
danger,
and unfeeling unfverse
powerlessness
of
the
mighty
in
the
forces
face
of
of
sea
Man's
external-
and
weather,
renders his plight intensely lonely in the Conrad stories.
During
the
storm,
the crew of
the
'Narcissus'
are
bound together in a common cause by their sense of duty and
fear of a common enemy, death. So it is only when the storm
subsides that the men revert to thoughts of self.
of their mental
A review
situation finds them engaged only in their
private concerns. Quite oblivious of the others, their selfindulgent thoughts serve only to sever the
bond
and
isolation.
to
make
them
conscious
of
their
of unity
As
individuals they are alien and unknown to one another. They
have nothing in common except that they are sailors. So when
individuality dominates
each consciousness
it
renders
each
man helplessly lonely and distanced from one another.
In the course of the
further
poignancy
to the
narrative,
emotional
Conrad,
experience
of
to
impart
the men,
stresses their isolation both as the collective crew of the
ship
and
as
individuals.
The
sense
of
a lonely voyage
conveyed by reference to the 'Narcissus' as a lonely shipa fragment detached from the earth, went on lonely
and swift like a small planet... a great circular
solitude
moved
with 'her,
ever
changing
and
ever
is
94
the same,always monotonous and always imposing.
The accompanying
'circular solitude'
quietude which has a subtle
ship's company.
Further
and
suggests the pervading
unnerving
the handful
oi
impact
men which
on the
the
ship
carries are dissociated from the rest of mankind, a solitary
group
lost
in vast
and unknown
waters,
under
stretches of sky. Kxposed to the elemental
the
endless
fury of the storm
which appears to have no mercy on them, these men are thus
projected as lonely both collectively and individually.
All around the ship,
nature seems
to be conspiring
to intensify rather than to mitigate the helplessness of the
crew. The "abyssmal
of the winds"
deepen
the
"unnatural
29
darkness"
28
and "the invisible violence
, and every aspect of "an avenging terror"
isolating
gloom.
and threatening"
Even
the
daylight
30
appears
. The silence and the vastness
of the sea and sky during the calm,
and
the
"impenetrable
darkness of earth and heaven" as the ship drifts "in a vast
universe of night and silence"
the
unbroken
solitude.
distance thus recall
of
everyday
1ife
32
Recurring
impart
images
the remoteness
and
convey
added intensity to
from
further
of
dimension
the familiarities
impressions
27. Joseph
Conrad, The Nigger of the 'Narcissus'
(Dent Coll, edn . 1946-54) , p~i 29 .
28. Ibid, p. 53.
29. Ibid, p. 49.
30. Ibid, p. 54.
31. Ibid, p. 55.
32. Ibid, p. 104.
and
of
the
(1897),
95
loneliness of the voyage. In "Typhoon" another sea story (in
Typhoon and Other Stories (1903),
threatens
to
separate
disintegrating
one's kind"
story
and
seems
to
these
of
men,
it
is
evident
a great wind...
the gale
that
"the
one
from
isolates
. Walter F. Wright notes the similarity in this
in The Nigger of the 'Narcissus'
suggest
and
towards
33
power
the
in a scene where
that
other
each
stories,
focussing
the
man
face
individual's
"the
gale
alone" 3^ . And
it
Conrad's
that
interest
reaction
leans
and
in
more
isolated
emotions.
The
"forlorn
souls"
35
of
the
'Narcissus'
sustained only by the instinct to be alive.
mentally
tired,
languishing
in
thirst
are
Physically and
and cold,
they
must
put up with "their patience and their suffering, through the
stormy solitude of the sea"
disemblance
towards
. They must also keep up their
the "almost
inhuman"
37
yet
fascinating
Jimmy Wait, and keep hope alive in their lonely hearts.
Jimmy
the
only
contrast
Wait,
black
himself
sailor
a lonely
among
the
and
whites,
suffering
stands
as conspicuously isolated from the rest.
being,
out
by
The sick
and dying black man in the midst of the healthy crew is seen
33. Joseph Conrad,
Typhoon and Other Stories , (Dent
edn., 1946-54), p. 40.
Coll,
34. Walter F. Wright, Romance and Tragedy in Joseph Conrad,
(Russel and Russel, N. York, 1966), p. 63.
35. Joseph Conrad, The Nigger of the 'Narcissus1, p. 104.
36. Ibid, p . 81.
37. Ibid, p. 139.
96
to
be
"utterly
fear"38; and
death.
His
alone
he
is
in
alone
the
in
impenetrable
his
solitude
struggle
with
of
oncoming
solitariness
among others is further emphasised
39
by identifying him with a "black idol" in a "white shrine
,
as he lies alone in his white-painted cabin. His confinement
isolates him both physically and psychologically.
His only
companions are his hollow, empty cough and lonely visions of
approaching death.
By exposing the mental
separately,
the
novelist
workings of some of the men
makes
us aware of
their
isolated
concerns. Donkin is the disgruntled rebel. Ego-dominated and
solitary,
for
self-concern
individual
makes
the
makes
rights.
men more
By
him
his
a schemer
impudence
self-centred
and
and
and
is
exploit
the
advantage.
withdrawn.
concern.
also
impelled
psychology
The
If
by
his
of
the
already
they
If they
pity
isolated
crew
demoralized
Wait,
it
bullying,
self-indulgent.
himself dying and in desperate need to ward
death,
instigator
he
Wait,
off thoughts of
self-concern
for
his
to
personal
crew members become more
is
are about to mutiny,
only
out
of
self­
it is to gain their
rights as individuals.
The old and experienced sail or,Sing]eton,both by age
and by the values he upholds, stands apart from the mutinous
crew
like
experience
a
statue
and
the
38. Ibid, p. 118.
39. Ibid, p. 104.
towaring
wisdom
above
the
acquired
from
others.
his
long
Both
life
the
at
97
sea, isolate him in a way from the young inexperienced crew
of
the
ship.
He
is
"a
lonely
relic
of
a...
forgotten
generation" with "a vast empty past and with no future"
40
He is conspicuous by his aloofness and his devotion to his
work, but more so by the faith and the certitude which he
displays
when
their fate.
others
doubt
and
fear
and
are
uncertain
The outbreak of mutiny on the ship
isolate the captain from the crew.
face the crisis
alone
and
is seen
of
to
Captain Alistoun has to
it is his
lonely
task
to bring
back order and harmony. He reminds us of Captain MacWhirrin
"Typhoon" who feels "the grave loneliness of c o m m a n d " ^ , and
the
young
captain
of
The Shadow Line
tensions of his "lonely task"
who
experiences
the
A- 2
The isolation of the crew is conveyed intermittently
by
the
images
chapter VIII.
of
shadow
The same
and
death,
as
will
be
shown
is also stressed by suggestive
in
and
repetitive descriptions of vastness and immensity of the sea
and
sky.
The
sense
of
impenetrability
and
of
mystery
is
frequently introduced to render both voyage and the voyagers
exceedingly lonely.
40. Ibid, p. 24.
41. Joseph Conrad, Typhoon and Other Stories,
Coll.edn. 1946-54), p. 40.
(1903),
(Dent
42. Joseph Conrad, The Shadow Line (1917), (Dent Coll, edn.,
1946-54), p. 76.
98
When Daniel R. Schwarz observes that
story
of
men
"seeking
to
define
Nostromo is the
their lives
in
bold
and
/ Q
heroic
terms"
, he obviously has
in mind
the
individual's
search for identity and of the fixed obsessions of Conrad's
heroes. The novel
themselves
the
shows that in the process of discovering
through
personal
self-contradictory
ideals,
nature
of
they
discover
such
instead
ideals,
and
the
suffering of unbearable loneliness which accompany them. The
story of the mining interests
for the material development
of Costaguana, a republic in South America, in a remote and
isolated
background,
emotional
isolation
is
and
eventually
the
story
disil1usionments
of
of
the
individuals
connected with it.
By making the insularity and impenetrability of this
place
of
significant
Conrad
proceeds
which
the
to
importance
show how
re-opening
of
the
the
in
the
process
mining
early
of
chapters,
modernization^
interests
herald,
stimulates individualistic feelings. The mythical background
serves to produce the sense of remoteness from the world of
material
values.
The
added
impact
of
the
legend
of
the
forbidden treasures of the Azuera mountains is unmistakable.
For
it
signals
adventure- seeking
displacement
of
by
implication,
colonial
the
animated
that
enterprise
values
any
intrusion
would
of
a
mean
or
the
community
43. Daniel R. Schwarz, "Conrad's Quarrel with Politics : The
Disrupted Family in Nost romo" , in The University of
Toronto Quarterly, (VoFT XLVlI, 19 7 7 ) , p . 38.
99
integrated by nature and religion.
Then the novelist
steps
down, as it were, from an imagined world of myth and legend
into
one
method
of
personal
is, to
histories"^
ideas
isolate
and
and
material
study
ideals
emotional
apart
the
His
"personal
and fixed obsessions of individuals connected
with the San Tome" mine, to expose
private
interests.
in
the
midst
experiences
of
and secret
the
isolating
community
nature
endeavour.
of
The
ambit ions ,of some of the
major characters in the background of political
rivalry and
intrigue, will give us an idea of Conrad's treatment of the
theme of isolation in this novel.
Charles Gould
is initially guided by the interests
of community development and welfare. But in due course,
it
is proved that this idealistic venture finally amounts to a
conflict
of
man
and
nature,
to
a
fierce
rivalry
between
natural values and progressive man's instinct for wealth and
power.
It
nature
involving
Charles
Gould
gives
rise
to
divisive-
isolating
himself,
his
impulses
experience.
In
whole-hearted
within
the
devotion
human
case
of
to
the
mine, which he feels gives meaning and significance to his
life,
ironically
renders
values of society.
His
him
incapable
silence,
his
of
moral
and human
aloof bearing
and his
reticence,indicate his indifference to life outside him. But
they are also signs of an inner pre-occupation and of a mind
44. F.R. Leavis, The Great Tradition
Windus, London, 1955) , p^ 191.
(1948),
(Chatto
and
100
engaged
in
self-communion.
The
course
of
the
narrative
traces his egocentricism and "reveals an imperialist aspect"
of the man and his venture,
to the extent that he attaches
not only the safety of Costaguana,
and safety with
that
of
the
but his
mine^5 . As
personal
the
mine
power
consumes
him, and as his identity merges with the mine, we note the
emotional
the
estrangement
people
around
with his wife and from
him—
an
instance
of
the
the
life of
incommunicable
sel f .
Although his wife Emilia is initially carried
away
by her husband's idealism and has "a fascinating vision"
of her future life,
just
the
"mere
the progress of events
insignificant
aspirations"^.
She
registers
behaviour with concern.
a "fetish"
and
has
vestiges
his
Her fear
developed
4-6
leaves her with
of
the
indifferent
initial
and
cold
that the mine has become
"into
a monstrous
weight"
48
soon becomes a reality. These apprehensions of her husband's
enslavement to the mine make her desperation show.
tormenting
consuming,
visions
of
"the
San
Tome'
mine
burning the life..." of her husband
distanced he becomes,
She has
possessing,
49
. The more
the more oblivious he is, of anything
45. Suresh
Raval,
The Art of Failure : Conrad's Fiction,
(Allen and Unwin, 1986) , p . 65.
46. Joseph
Conrad,
1946-54), p. 65.
47. Ibid, p. 222.
48. Ibid, p. 227.
49. Ibid, p. 522.
Nostromo,
(1904),
(Dent
Coll.
edn.,
101
not connected with the mine, and the more clear it becomes
that
he
has
alienated
himself
"to
dwell
alone
among a
50
circumvallation of precious metal leaving her outside..."
As if to compensate for her sense of deprivation and frustra­
ting
loneliness,
Mrs.
Gould
busies herself
in her welfare
work among the poor and needy. One cannot help feeling that
while she keeps up her role of first lady of Sulaco with a
smile and a manner becoming of her status,
one
of
the
loneliest
beings.
Drawn
more
Emilia Gould is
by
circumstances
than by choice, she remains thus occupied in public life to
conceal
wealth
her private sorrow.
and honour
that
come
In spite of the love,
her way,
her
social
respect,
position
fails to atone for the underlying solitude which has become
a condition of her life.
Conrad, to give more credence to this aspect of her
existence,
makes frequent references to her friendship with
Dr. Monygham,
who does not fail
couple's relationship.
Schwarz's
to notice the
rent
in the
I am inclined to subscribe to Daniel
view that by making her childless, Conrad renders
her condition more pathetic in its want of familial love and
affection 51 . And by particular attention to her friendship
with Dr.
her
Monygham,
need
narrative
proportion
to
be
loved,
focusses
it
the novelist highlights her
understood
on
the
suggests
the
growth
and
of
increasing
50. Ibid, p. 222.
51. Daniel Schwarz, op. cit, p. 40.
plight
protected.
the
mine,
solitude
As
in
and
the
like
of Gould's
102
wif e .
For Nostromo, the Italian born cargadore, who has so
long been part of the social fabric in Sulaco and whose life
gains
meaning
and
significance
by
his
activities
in
the
public sphere, existence apart from that crowd is unthinkable
He thrives on his public image. That is all
he craves
for.
But when circumstances suddenly bring about a change in the
nature of responsibility, involving
known
before,
his
hitherto
risks
which
he
carefree existence
had
comes
not
to an
abrupt halt, and one of crisis takes over. It is the typical
Conradian situation of the test of man's moral worth.
It is
by conscious design of the novelist that Nostromo is "thrust
... almost brutally
into some crisis in which he must rely
on his own resources"
52
. Emotionally
segregated
from
he loved and experiencing alone, Nostromo feels,
pressure
of
circumstances, "conscious of himself
the natural world"
pective.
Ego
and
existence, allow
him.
His
and from others.
impulse, taking
thoughts
impulse
to
of
under the
apart
from
This makes him intros­
control
betrayal
betray,
those
of
to take
however,
his
isolated
shape within
implicates
him
in
action which further isolates him, not only emotionally, but
also from his moral obligations to others— to Teresa Viola,
to
Linda,
to
the
people
and
to
his
own
reputation
of
52. Herbert Muller, o p . cit. , p. 257 .
53. Walter F, Wright, Romance and Tragedy in Joseph Conrad,
{Russel and Russel, New York, 1966), p. 201.
103
incorruptibility.
This
moral
isolation, which
denies him his love and reputation,
also
tragically futile and lonely end. The
eventually
leads
him
to his
nihilistic despair of
the dying Nostromo is that of a man hopelessly isolated from
his
cherished
personal
gains
goals,
has
a man
dragged
whose
him
deviated
path
a point
of
to
towards
spiritual
poverty and the pain of despair.
Decoud in Nostromo, like Heyst in Victory (1915), is
an instance of self-inflicted isolation of sceptical man. In
Nostromo, Decoud's sceptical detachment is exposed to reveal
his persona]
motives of love for Antonia Avellanos
guiding principle behind his actions.
Impelled,
as
that
the
is to
say, by self-love, he in the end, becomes the victim of his
lonely idea. Although his intellectual
superiority deceives
him into thinking that he has projected a convincing image
of
his
personality,
his
scepticism
and
his
doubts
of
the
rightness of things and of people eventually make him doubt
his own integrity. Gradually the falsehood of his projected
image isolates him from others.
The
so-called
confidence
in
self
which Decoud
has
displayed all along, disappears as the growing consciousness
of being
Conrad
Sulacan
riots,
alone
impresses
describes
uprising.
itself
Decoud's
On
the
upon
mental
day
after
him
condition
the
as he sits writing to his sister,
loneliness confronts him. His watches
stage
by
stage.
during
outbreak
of
the
the
a strange kind of
the darkness)spreading
104
over the town, blurring all the outlines into a formless and
lifeless darkness. The description of a featureless darkness
is
suggestive
peculiar
the
sensation
loneliness
wierd
of
makes
feeling
blurred
thoughts
overpowers him;
him
shudder.
He
a
of
a
sceptic.
A
frightening chill
tries
by visualizing himself
to
ward
off
of
this
in conversation with
his sister, as though she is physically present in the room.
But
the
loneliness
"ominous"^.
is
"very
The consolation of oral
illusion of his
to
and
experience
the
But
inescapable
loneliness
and
silence,
temporary
of
very
and
the
relief to
soon they disappear
moment of sudden and complete oblivion"
The
the
communication
sister's presence give
the self-suspecting Decoud.
begins
real",
and he
uncertainty
"in
a
55
confused
sense
of
solitude
experienced in the secure confinements of a room in the Casa
Viola later assumes a reality for Decoud. That happens when
he accompanies Nostromo in the lighter with the consignment
of silver in the darkness of the night. The sense of guilt,
which
his
solitary
thoughts
further deepens his misery.
the Gulfo Placcido,
of
escape
bring
the
"enormous
intermittently
by
the dark and motionless waters
stillness"
Nostromo's
and continuous
voice
54. Joseph Conrad, Nostromo, p. 231.
55. Ibid, p. 249.
him,
The "circumambient darkness" of
aura of undefined space and feeling benumb
and
upon
only
and the
his sensations;
silence
broken
intensify,
by
105
contrast,
the
endless
oppressive
instance of psychological
Richard Curie have
atmosphere which
the
lonely
when
their
56
. Here
atmosphere which critics
associated with Conrad's
matches
experience.
reflections,
quietude
the sensations
Thus
art.
and
accompanied
an
such as
It is an
the
by
is
stress
his
of
solitary
Decoud awakens to a sudden awareness of danger
boat suddenly
collides
Jerked into a more vivid
sense
with
of
Sotillo's
the
reality
steamer.
of
danger,
Decoud is now only conscious that there is none to share his
lonely experience. Not even Nostromo can share or understand
Decoud's
suffering.
For
he,
too,
is impelled by different
motives and is engaged in separate reflections.
Later, left alone on the island of the Great Isabel,
to keep watch over the hidden silver, Decoud becomes aware
not
only
of
physical
isolation
death. Conrad says in the novel
but
also
of
a
spiritual
:
Solitude from mere outward condition of existence
becomes very swiftly a state of soul
affectations of
irony
and
in which the
scepticism
have
no
place... After three days of waiting Decoud caught
himself
entertaining
a doubt
of
his
individua­
lity57.
Robert Penn Warren observes on Decoud's fate thus— "As soon
as he finds himself outside the human orbit, alone with sea
56. Ibid, p. 262.
57. Ibid, p. 497.
106
and sky, he cannot
live"
58
. And true enough,
the narrative
has it that Decoud died of solitude. Decoud had confidently
"erected passions into duties. Both his intelligence and his
passion were swallowed up... in this great unbroken solitude
of
waiting
without
faith"
59
. Harry
Martin
notes
of
the
disillusioned sceptic,that "victim of his own hungry ego" he
realizes
at
the
end
that
the
faithless
cannot
exist
in
solitude*^.
Dr.
Monygham,
introduced
as
a foil
to
Decoud
and
Nostromo, makes his appearance early in the story as a man
whose previous experience of inner defeat makeshim a
loner.
Tortured during the Guzman Bento regime,
in Costaguana,
forced
under
to
make
certain
disclosures
duress,
and
he
continues to suffer that ignoble sense of indignity and lost
honour,
years
after
spiritual
degradation
incident,
and
the
he
has
regained
which
he
bitterness
of
his
freedom.
The
after
that
self-inflicted
agony
experienced
his
render him the misanthorpe he is made out to be.
solitary being,
distinguishes
Decoud,
all
in his concern
himself
from
Yet
this
for another suffering soul ,
Charles
Gould,
Nostromo
and
of whom suffer because of self-love. While Dr.
Monygham's selfless devotion to a cause is rewarded by his
58. Robert Penn Warren, "Nostromo"
(Vol. LIX, 1951) , p. 379.
in
The Sewanee Review,
59. Joseph Conrad, Nostromo, p. 496.
60. Harry Martin, "Conrad's Sceptic Reconsidered : A Study
of Martin Decoud" in Nineteenth Century Fiction, (Vol.
27, 1972-73), p. 94.
107
acceptance in society, the others are destined to a life of
loneliness and disintegration.
There are other characters such as Don Jose Avellanos,
his
daughter
Antonia,
Giorgio
and
Teresa
Viola,
Hirsch
Sotillo and others whose personal visions and ideas render
their
experiences
lonely.
So
the
element
of
their 1ives,too,add to this dominating aspect
isolation
in
in the novel.
Apart from being the story of a politically divided
nature,
and of "betrayal
and punishment"
Eyes (1912) is perhaps Joseph
f\
1
, Under Western
Conrad's most inward-looking
novel and one with a sustained theme of isolation. Here the
novelist begins by stressing the loneliness arising from
the
circumstances of birth and suggests an "unfettered, unmoored,
2
alienated state" , and then goes on to show that isolation
L'
becomes a condition of life.
By stressing the illegitimacy of the protagonist's
birth,
Conrad
family
ties,
straight
and
away
hints
consequently
from
at
his
other
alienation from
forms
of
social
connections. Having shown how the dearth of the human factor
makes Razumov withdrawn
and
subjectively
occupied,
Conrad
proceeds to trace the more heightened stages of alienation
under
the
influence
of
other
conditioning
factors
of his
61. Albert Guerard, op. cit., p. 231.
62. Tony Tanner, "Nightmare and Complacency : Razumov and the
Western Eye", in Critical Quarterly, (Vol.4, 1962),p.201.
108
life. The narrative focuses on Razumov's
simple
codes
of
social
existence
ignorance of the
owing mainly
to
the
limitations of his detached and subjectively organized life.
This, and his
personal ambiguities, are seen as leading him
to an act of
betrayal,
and
the
narrative
highlights
the
consequences of betrayal as "carrying him from one solitude
to another"
lonely,
. The exile from family is thus rendered more
for his
action now alienates him, first
friends and academic
life,
and then from his
from his
country
and
from the very ideals and goals which he thinks would give
meaning to his life.
As a student whose parentage is in question, Razumov
is "as lonely in the world as a man swimming in the deep
sea"^.
Initially
his
isolated
existence
provides
a safe
recluse for the young man aspiring for recognition through
his intellectual
abilities,
in his effort
to surmount
the
loneliness of an anonymous existence. Concentrating on the
prize-winning essay which he hopes will
his
unknown
controversy.
state,
he
remains
provide
aloof
and
is
above
Detached from society and politics, Razumov's
self-directing thoughts form a wall
and
alleviate him from
the
comforting
sense
of security around him
"of
the
established
normalness of things"
63. Albert Guerard, op. cit., p. 231.
64. Joseph Conrad, Under Western Eyes,
1946-54), p. 10.
65. Ibid, p. 14.
(Dent
Coll,
edn.,
109
We find that when Haldin, his revolutionary friend,
comes into his
Razumov's
room unexpectedly with an appeal
hitherto
dislocated.
This
undisturbed,
intrusion
orderly,
poses
as
for help,
routine
a
life
threat
self-created security and independence and makes
to
is
his
claims
on
his person which also threaten his intellectual freedom; it
brings his ideal conception of life into conflict with moral
and social obligations. Not only are his aspirations on the
verge of collapse, but as Tony Tanner states, his friend's
appeal
finally
imposes
an
forces
of
"alien
world",
an
alliance
with
the
against
which
intelligence may not be sufficiently strong
Victory
(1915), he too
is
disarmed,
as
conflicting
66
it
Razumov's
.Like Heyst in
were,
by
the
invading forces of the outer world, of which he knows very
little.
make
Razumov finds himself
a
crucial
choice
in a situation when he must
between
self-interest
and
responsibility towards a friend.
In his
become
lonely and companionless
psychologically
self-centred.
state Razumov has
Not
in
the
habit
of
thinking for others, he now rationalizes from his subjective
point
of view.
superior
Although he
reason" and the
intellect^,
feels
"clear
we can see that
confident
grasp"
of his
of
"cool
his
a life devoid of social
own
and
66. Tony Tanner, "Nightmare and Complacency : Razumov and
the Western Eye", in Critical Quarterly, (Vol. 4, 1962),
p. 203.
67. Joseph Conrad, Linder Western Eyes, p. 35.
110
familial relationships and a life lived apart from objective
reality
renders
correctness.
to
make
Razumov
incapable
of
discerning
When Razumov finally decides
good
his
positive concern
escape,
he
is
for o friend's
to assist
prompted
not
so
with
Haldin
much
safety and well-being,
by
but
by subjective necessity and the secret urge to be left free
to pursue his own ambitions.
That his isolated ordeal
proves too much for him is
evident when his mission to the sledge-driver,
proves
sense
futile.
of
his
futility
helplessness
isolation.
dilemma.
The
On
his
and
solitary
vision
the
thoughts
rational
of
to
betrayal
unseen"
fears.
visit
crisis
back
The
68
aware
aggravates
portending
his
mind
of
take
shape.
his
his
his
his
moral
is
lonely
and
in
a
Thereafter,
the
become
plight.
interferes
deliberations,
thoughts
until
more
he
alarmingly
His mind is gripped with "the absurd dread of
,
and
he
becomes
hallucination
of
emotional
the
Haldin's
aptly contrived by the novelist
Razumov's
of
isolated thoughts
course
rationalize,
inconsistent.
the
a
walk
makes him
Self-interest dominates his
tries
of
the
The immensity of the unknown stretched out before
mental
with
of
Ziemianitch
victim
As
irrational
body on the
to stress
estrangement.
of
a
snow
is
the intensity of
reflection
of
his
over-wrought mind, it significantly suggests, according to a
critic, "the disintegration of moral perspicacity which had
68. Ibid, p. 35.
Ill
characterized his first actions"
69
. Alone in his guilt,
is in desperate need of some other mind's approval,
more
convincing
sense
of
the
rightness
of
his
he
for a
planned
actions. Leo Gurko rightly observes that Razumov is "goaded
by his threatened and resentful egotism" to put in his lot
with "the established Russian power"^.
Events which follow his decision to betray Haldin,
recount
the mounting tensions of deepening
progressive
stages
of
and
initial
irrationality
isolating
circumstances,
intellect
must discover
true
loneliness
moral
support,
Razumov
in
illegitimate
71
. In
solitude
error
lead
Razumov,
the
for himself
his
the
spiritual
Author's
Hyacinth
of Decoud
in
Note,
Robinson
experience
Nostromo
of
him
man
"the
this "nobody's child"
Cassamassima. His
that
psychic
crisis
Henry
true
(1904),
to.
of
In
such
need
for
one
Axel
and
of
James's
of
his
terror"
and
loneliness
and
the
reason
72
, as Conrad
reminds
in
which
naked
crisis
and
refers
of
to
the
Princess
resembles
Heyst
in
Victory (1915), who also feel the desperate need to overcome
their annihilating feelings.
69. Christopher
Cooper,
Conrad and the Human Dilemma,
(Chatto and Windus, London 1970) , .p . 62 .
70. Leo Gurko, Joseph Conrad, Giant in Exile (Muller, London
1962), p. 188.
’
71. Joseph Conrad, Under Western Eyes, p. 39.
72. Ibid, p. IX.
112
Razumov
check his
attempts,
growing
by
tensions
reasoning
and,
and
as Tony
by
action, to
Tanner
keep his life from turning into a phantasmagoria"
to
say,
every
effort
plunges
him,
instead,
sends
Haldin out
of his
rooms
to fall
73
"to
. But sad
into
agonizing awareness of alienation and solitude.
he
says,
a
The
more
moment
into the police
trap, Razumov experiences a fit of hysterica]
insecurity. In
frenzied terror he writes out the principles he upholds,
reassure
his
actions.
Yet
doubt-filled
they fail
mind
and
hence
ironically
implicates
the
to convince
rational izings may teach him
conscience
of
safe
him
soundness
of
to
his
him. Much as his na'ive
that he has not betrayed his
from
in
complications,
the
politics
of
his
his
action
country
which he has always tried to avoid. All attempts to justify
his actions only serve to remind him that they have driven
him to unbearable isolation. Self-motivated action leads to
self-inf1icting
pain
from
which
there
is
little
hope
of
recovery, for he has none to share his burden.
The
that
disturbed
fellow,
does
not
condition
allow
of
him
his
to
mind,
find
in
the
solace
days
in
the
<i
company
of
withdrawn.
that,
his
university
A critic
friends.
observes
that
He
the
becomes
irony of
even
it
more
all
is
by ignoring the bonds of fellowship with Haldin,
by
73. Tony Tanner, "Nightmare and Complacency; Razumov and the
Western Eye", in Critical Quarterly (Vol. 4, 1962),
p .207.
*
113
deliberately
denying
sympathy
and
assistance,
fallen "in his own harsh Judgement
friends
still
admire
alleged
involvement
him
in
for
on himself"
what
a heroic
Razumov
they
act.
• for his
think
He
has
to
alone
be
his
knows
the
secret truth, he alone carries the burden of Hal din's death
and
cannot
share
the
truth
with
others.
The
persistent
illusion of Haldin's spirit, the phantom figure, which never
leaves his
side,
is
a reiterating and tormenting
reminder
that the "logical consequence" of betrayal and the violation
75
of the ideals of fellowship is "complete isolation"
. His
condition
becomes
all
the
consciousness
enforces
betrayed
out
of, self-love,
selfless
devotion
to
upon
a
more
pathetic
him,
that
had
cause.
all
It
the
along
is
when
man
his
he
has
demonstrated
this
contrasting
analysis between his own and Haldin's motives that subjects
him to severe self-condemnation.
Whether
room,
Razumov
among
is
friends, or
hounded
by
in
the
Haldin's
sol itude
spirit.
"cannot shake it off any more" , because it will
of
Since
his
he
"cling" to
him at all times76, he is destined to endure this suffering
solitude.
It is evident from his distraught appearance that
his
of
act
betrayal
has
also
led
to
an
emotional
displacement. Familiar things around him seem to be strange,
unnatural and grotesque. Even his room and his books do not
74. H.M. Daleski, op. cit. , p. 198.
75. Ibid.
76. Joseph Conrad, Under Western Eyes, p. 83.
114
provide the companionship as they did earlier. This is what
he
experiences
stagnation was
:
"An
sensible
incredible
to his
dullness,
perceptions
had withdrawn itself from all things
a
as
ditchwater
though
life
and even from his own
thoug h t s " ^ .
At the time of betraying Haldin,
thereby to assert
Razumov had hoped
the freedom of his mind and to find his
place in that social circle which the anonymity of his birth
had deprived
and has
him.
failed to gain
Russian Government.
as his
But,
by
murder,
Yet he has
78
divulging
the
secret
he
only
the
earns
and
becomes
identity or the freedom
humiliating
weakens
confidence
sustained him.
would
of
the
sanity
aristocratic
foster his
knowledge
merciless
a tool
in
their
of
aspirations.
the
minister's
suspicion
hands
as
a
convictions,
political
which
in
of
that
without
to direct his own course
condition
Razumov's
intellectual
He had vainly hoped that the government
"closest parentage"
government
His
the
lost his
any
in life.
suspect
normal
further
times
Self-confidence having deserted him, Razumov
remains helpless in the realization that his self-beguiling
reason and his self-destroying intellect have robbed him of
the liberty which he valued, and have made him an unwilling
agent of autocracy. Hope, too, has deserted him; life has no
79
meaning. He is like "a man totally abandoned by Providence" deft
77. Ibid, p. 68.
78. T b ld , p. 10.
79. Ibid, p. 301.
115
only
with
the
dread
and
humiliation
which
accompany
the
sense of not belonging to himself.
Razumov's situation as a police spy sadly forces him
into more extreme forms of exile. His academic career having
come
to an
abrupt
halt,
he
is
now
required
to
leave
the
security of his apartments and to leave his country in order
to take up a new assignment in an alien country. Ruthlessly
thrust
among
other
exiles
in Geneva,
where
alien, Razumov's loneliness becomes the most
of
his
existence.
recovery.
Geneva
Here his
offers
inner turmoil
Razumov
can
he
feels
tragic
no
more
aspect
scope
be detected
for
from his
haunting gaze, aloof bearing and strange reserve, which even
the teacher of languages makes note of. Having to hold back
a terrifying
truth,
he must be on his guard all
the while
among strangers in a foreign land.
Here^Razumov must adopt
and maintain a double
role
which fate imposes on him. The tension-filled task disgusts
and depresses him and deepens his solitude. For the dualism
which he must retain in order to survive, isolates him in a
unique
way
working),
from
and
the
the
Russian
government
revolutionaries
while concealing his mission.
whom
he
(for
must
which he is
befriend
It is a strain which
him with little "moral resistance"
80
leaves
to defend himself.
It is clear in Razumov's case in Genevasthat crowds
mean
loneliness.
80. Ibid, p. 230.
His
perplexities
increase
in their
midst
116
and the agony of solitude intensifies;
for they remind him
in different ways of the depths his deception has taken him
to. His escape from the suspicious world of secret spies, to
a deserted environment at the foot of Rousseau's statue,finds
him in secret dialogue with himself. The imp]ied associat ion
with Rousseau's
bronze
statue
brings
home
the
solitude
of
the incommunicable self.
Sel f-centredness and faith in his own abilities have,,
in the end,delivered Razumov to the ruling class. They have
spelt
self-destruction,
loss
of
morality,
of
personality,
and of identity, and have relegated him to a life of painful
secrets. Even love has been denied him as he has been denied
a life of fulfilment. The last days in a hospital
endorse
the
continuity
of
the
solitude,
of
bed simply
solitude
as
a
condition of being, ever since his initial act of betrayal.
These few novels dealt
the
nature
of
self-inflicted
isolation
or
and moral. This
with
in
circumstantial,
above,
Conrad
is
aspect distinguishes
thus
show
novels,
eventually
that
whether
emotional
the modernist hero in
the critical
situation, who must struggle and endure alone.
Through
these
all
themes,
Conrad
emphasises
that
special
awareness of the Conradian protagonist,
of his existence
different
Isolation
and
distanced
from
others.
stories, therefore, brings out the emotional
in
as
Conrad
break with the
objective
in
life,
thought
and
action,
and
thereby
gives
special significance to the unique behaviour of the isolated
sensibility which the modern novel celebrates.
From this study
of the theme of isolation and alienation, Conrad, therefore,
deserves to be counted a modernist.