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Chapter 6

Living by Surviving

Joseph Conrad's days were a period of hectic and fast changing political events

in Europe. As "material interests" dominated politics and commerce of nations, the life

of twentieth century man was identified as complex and modem. This phenomenon

finds creative expression in Conradian fiction wherein he lays emphasis on the political

scenario as the defining for the modernist's art and creativity.

Conrad's parents were directly battered by the politics of their nation. Russian

political domination over Poland not only hurt his parents, but it had also left an

indelible scar in the young mind of Conrad. Apart from his ambition to go in for a

career as a seaman, political compulsions were also partly responsible for Conrad's

dislocation from his homeland to seek his new life elsewhere. A study of his biography

unfolds the fact that politics and life remained inseparable for Conrad.

Conrad's father Apollo was a renowned patriot and scholar. Conrad inherited

the spirit of patriotism and scholarship from his father. Conrad lost his parents on

account of Russian ruthless tyranny, when he was a young boy. He was left lonely and

yearned for company. His maternal uncle who was a moderate in his political outlook

was his guardian. Conrad's subsequent political principles and aversion to the radical

violence were shaped by his uncle's mentorship. Naturally, his writings were very

much influenced by those political views. Conrad had, at first hand, known the

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sufferings and miseries of the common people of his country at the cruel hands of the

oppressive Russian tyranny. Hence, in his writings, his anger and aversion are directed

against the Russian imperialism and the Russian aristocracy. He, therefore, abhorred

the exploitations of the voiceless poor by the aristocrats and the capitalists. Conrad,

who is a moralist, believed that man is severely limited, prone to evil rather than good.

The range of themes in his political novels includes the themes of betrayal, isolation,

evil effects of power and pelf and the exploitation of the poor by the rich. As a

modernist writer, Conrad has given importance to the issues of individualism, one of

the characteristic features of modernist novels.

Conrad is considered as one of the most significant novelists of the world. He

has a profound and pervasive influence on the twentieth century fiction. In a relatively

short literary career, he has produced a distinctive body of work that remains unique in

British literary history. Scholars, leading to stimulating discussions, have given various

interpretations on his novels. There has been ever increasing flow of criticism on

Conrad and his works. His novels mainly highlight his intrinsic faith in the values of

fidelity and solidarity as essential moral attributes of an individual. According to

Conrad, loneliness poses a serious threat to the human existence. He believes that no

man is an island unto himself and it is through the relationship with other fellow human

beings that an individual can attain a sense of fullilment.

Conrad's novels generally follow a developing and changing pattern of an

individual in relation to his own self and to the outside world of human beings. He is

primarily concerned with the human values. The common feature, which is evident

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right from his early novels, is an individual fascination for material glory, which

controls his thought and action and the inter-relationship. Conrad shows his growing

concern over the disturbing question about the corrupting potential of power and pelf.

He is also preoccupied with the menace of evil in man. He makes his characters

conscious of the fact that man at the bottom is an animal of savage impulses and dark

powers, which may overwhelm him at any confrontation with evil.

In the four political novels Hear of Darkness, Nostromo, The Secret Agent and

Under Western Eyes considered for this thesis, Conrad paints a picture of domestic

world, too, consisting of a series of relationships such as father - son, husband - wife,

mother - daughter and brother - sister. These sets of relationships, instead of becoming

a source of strength and sustenance for the concerned individual, become rather

agonizing and burdensome. Conrad's protagonists have no family ties or roots. Kurtz in

Heart of Darkness, Razamov in Under Western Eyes are all isolated human beings

without any such ties or roots.

Conrad's views on the forms of Government that existed during his period are

more or less negative. His hatred of dictatorship is revealed through the character of

arch villain Guzman Bento in Nostrorno. Conrad pictures effectively the tyrannical and

cruel rule of the dictator Bento in Costaguana. He decries the imperialistic form of

Government too. He brings out very vividly the ugly and evil face of Belgian

imperialism in the Congo. Through Marlow, Conrad gives a horrible account of how

the innocent natives are mercilessly tortured by the imperialistic Belgian Government

and its white agents for extracting ivory. About the autocratic form of Government,

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Conrad guns, through the power of his pen, his severe attack on the Russian autocracy.

He uses strongest epithets to expose the depth of evil and cruel nature of that

Government. He expresses severe anguish through Mrs Haldin that one can have peace

and rest in Russia only in his grave. He hates, to the core, the despotic form of

Government at Russia. Conrad has his own misgivings even about the democratic form

of Government, since it pins its faith in the supremacy of "material interests" which

will pave the way for the domination of capitalists. He believes that such a form of

government will take care of the vested interests of the capitalists and the wealthy only,

throwing away to the winds, the interests of the masses.

It is, however, astonishing to note that Conrad who disapproves any existing

form of Government does not suggest any alternative form of Government which can

satisfy the political and economic aspirations of the people, while giving full

opportunity for the recognition of the individual worth. In his political novels, Conrad's

main interest lies in the exposition of the contemporary political themes, the potential

evil influence of power and pelf, the ruthless materialism of the capitalistic system, the

immaturity and moral corruption of man in the world of political instability and the

anarchy and revolution.

Chapter one, which is introductory in nature entitled "Conrad and the Modernist

Matrix", presents the social, historical and political background of Conrad's time. Apart

from providing a bio- sketch and a note on Conrad's creative career, this chapter

devotes some space to the major characteristics of modernist novels identified from the

available critical materials. This introductory chapter tells the actions and the choices,

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the dilemma and the failures of Conradian subjects as caused by an inevitable survival

crisis. It also deals with how the story of the individuals negotiating with politics is

studied in each of the four political novels. This chapter details how all the four novels

foreground the twentieth century man as a creature of condition, largely of a negative

scanario and how Conradian characters struggle to live and how they fail in their

survival crisis since politics does not spare anyone; none escapes the cosmos of crisis.

Conrad's Heart of Darkness documents the crisis of several groups aspiring for

power in the dark country known as the Congo, with the white protagonist's adventure

mixing politics and power. Conrad focuses on the evil and cruel face of the Belgian

imperialism. Marlow's discovery of Kurtz, the man who has surrendered to evil,

underlines the ruthlessness and rapacity of plundering white man in colonial Africa.

Conrad brings out very effectively the corrupting potential of power and pell which

blocks all chances of the relationships for the individual.

It is really a pity that Kurtz who is a very intelligent and civilized man is driven

mad by the temptation of the lure of ivory. Released from the social restriction of the

society and in the absence of any inner restraint, Kurtz finds himself faced with evil,

which ultimately destroys him. In this story, Conrad attaches much importance to an

individual's soul. He believes that there is no use for an individual possessing

enormous wealth and power, if he loses his soul. Kurtz acts as a man without a soul.

For Conrad, something human is dearer than anything else. Though he is a

moralist and hates uttering lies, he justifies Marlow's action in having uttered a lie to

Kurtz's Intended that the last word uttered by Kurtz before his death is her name,

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purely on humanitarian consideration, as he has saved the young girl from being

destroyed. Conrad has handled very effectively the themes of evil, colonialism,

exploitation and the primitivism in this tale.

Almost all the characters in Heart of Darkness fail in their survival crisis. The

native savages fail in their survival crisis on account of the merciless and the

treacherous domination of the Belgian imperialists'. Conrad's depiction of the natives

is respectful and he has a genuine soft corner for them. There is nothing irreconcilable

with the anti-imperialist theme of the novel. Heart of Darkness explores the evil

consequences of imperialism. The Belgian imperialists condition the actions of the

natives of the Congo. The Belgian colonizers are the root cause for the crisis of the

natives.

Kurtz is responsible for his survival crisis. His uncontrollable greed for ivory is

the prominent cause for his end. As his wealth increases, his health deteriorates. As the

imperialist Kurtz grows, the human being Kurtz perishes. In his hunt for ivory, he loses

his soul. A soulless body is equal to a dead body. At the last moment, his soul tries to

enter into his body not to make him a human being but to make him understand what a

horrible and merciless life he has been leading all these days to possess 'ivory'. Kurtz

proves to be a typical colonizer and this attitude dehumanizes him. Kurtz does not make

evil in him; it is the general attitude of an imperialist. The demonic politics in his blood

is responsible for his cultural and moral failure. The colonial politics and its definitions

of the 'ruler' and the 'ruled' are figured out by Conrad so as to unveil the truth that man

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is more a political animal than a social animal. Since the imperialist Kurtz has sold his

soul, he is dehumanized and loses his life. Hence, he fails in his "survival crisis".

Conrad exposes the hypocrisy of the white colonizers including Kurtz, how

they, in the name of bringing light and civilization to the native savages of the dark

country Congo, ill-treat them in a most cruel and inhuman manner to squeeze ivory

from them, throwing to the wind all human values. Conrad is of the firm view that

materialism is a negative force in the cultivation of fellow feelings and personalities.

Conrad details in Nostromo that the political involvement destroys the

participant's personality and fulfilment and obligations. The tale is also a brilliantly

detailed political and psychological criticism of capitalism. Conrad depicts very

graphically the civil strife and revolutions that rock Costaguana frequently and which

witness the usurpation of power by dictators like Guzman Bento. The civil strife and

the revolutions and the usurpation of power by a dictator depicted in the novel is a

recurrent phenomenon in the world. After the publication of Nostromo, the world has

witnessed revolutions in Russia, Italy and Germany and the emergence of dictators like

Lenin, Musolini and Hitler. This clearly shows Conrad's prophetic vision. The main

theme of the novel, fundamental to the political aspects, is the corrupting power of the

San Tome Silver Mine. Conrad reads the story around the Mine and the transport of the

white metal in the context of the native collective faith about the metal and the

corrupting evil that lands on modern man. The clash between the commercial class and

the politicians surrounding the San Tome Mine emerges as an intense theatre of great

ramifications, cutting across the life of several individuals who include traders,

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journalist and politicians. The incorruptible white metal, which is meant to safeguard

the physical comforts of the people, corrodes the moral fiber of Nostromo. The lure of

the silver is at the root of the political upheavals. The Silver Mine, which is the symbol

of modern capitalism and of "material interests" as well as economic and commercial

capitalism causes the isolation of Decoud and his subsequent suicide; crushes the

marital life of Mrs Gould and puts an end to the celebrated incorruptibility and honesty

of Nostromo. Silver is at the center of the novel and what Conrad minutely observes is

what that silver does to the people placed in different situations.

Conrad mercilessly exposes how the material interests symbolized by the silver

can corrupt both the society and the individual. The glorious political life and the

personal life of Nostromo run parallel to one another, until rails meet to dislocate the

smooth journey of Nostromo. Nostromo is initially hailed both by the capitalists and the

common people alike as an incorruptible, honest, reliable and a daring and adventurous

hero who would accomplish any assignment entrusted to him successfully. When such

a colossal personality comes into contact with the sinister silver, the evil in the form of

silver corrodes his excellent human qualities.

Nostromo' s enslavement to the silver adversely affects all sets of relationship

including the one with his financee Linda. Nostromo illustrates Conrad's ideas of the

individual who loses all sense of social commitments and begins to think of purely in

terms of self-interest. He is the metaphor of illusions, delusions, omissions and

commissions. The narrative portrays excellently Nostromo's metamorphosis as a hero,

a victim and finally a villain. In Nostrorno, Conrad portrays vividly the clash between

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commercial interests and the political interests in which the capitalists have an upper

hand. Charles Gould refuses to comply with the demand of Pedrito Montero and tells

him daringly that he will blow up his mine rather than allow it fall into the hands of any

one else. Gould's only weapon in his political life is the wealth of the mine. He

dominates the Province of Sulaco and even extends it to the rest of the country because

he uses that wealth to finance a revolution, which brings Ribiero of Blanco Party to

power. Gould has entered into the political fray partly to promote his commercial

interests and mainly to maintain the commonest decencies of organized society. Conrad

is contemptuous of the capitalist Charles Gould and the corrupt politicians both of

whom demoralise the society and the people. Through Charles Gould, Conrad explodes

the myth of European materialism, since Charles Gould has to forfeit all opportunities

of love, friendship and self-growth in fullilling his ambition.

In Nostromo, Conrad bitterly attacks the capitalists through the ironical

characterization of Hoiroyd, a proud American who represents international capitalism.

He justifies the pursuit of "material interests", for he is going to bring order, peace and

progress to the whole world. Through Charles Gould, Conrad ridicules ironically

Hoiroyd's capitalism. Charles Gould observes that Hoiroyd's is the "religion of silver

and iron". Charles Gould, who is also a capitalist boast, that once material interests get

a firm footing, "a better justice will come afterwards". Conrad shows that in all these

ideals, lies greed that is the characteristic bourgeois civilization. Conrad's object

evident in the novel is to glorify the proletariat on the one hand and to condemn the

capitalistic system on the other hand in its most vulnerable points.

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Decoud's intellectualism blocks his capacity for intimate relationship. Conrad

suggests that intelligence may guide a man in material situations, but it will not sustain

him in an emotional crisis. Decoud's suicide demonstrates Conrad's great

psychological powers in presenting the debilitating effect of silence and Conrad also

brings out the dangers that beset physical isolation. Dr. Monygham in Nostromo echoes

Conrad's views, when he says that there would be no peace and rest in the development

of "material interests", since "material interests" are founded not on any moral principle

but only on sheer expediency. Emilia Gould proclaims Conrad's belief in the futility of

materialism and his faith in the permanence of human relationship through love. The

story brings home the fact that in the pursuit of material interests, the capitalists and the

politicians wipe out the moral interests of the people.

In Nostrorno, Conrad deals with the life of a twentieth century man whose life is

conditioned by the cruel politics and capitalism. Almost all the characters fail in their

survival crisis. Don Jose Avellanos and Dr. Monygham have suffered under the

political dictatorship and through this, Conrad has depicted the contemporary Latin

American politics. Gould, the capitalist, who chants the name of the silver mine all the

time obtains nothing but hollowness. In his obsession with the mine he utterly fails to

keep up his obligation as a husband. Mrs. Gould has nothing but mental agony in her

marital life. The silver mine is a stumbling block between her and her husband. Her life

is sterile. She too fails in her survival crisis, since she is unable to enjoy the warmth of

her life partner.

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Nostromo loses his identity and becomes corrupt and is dehumanized on

account of his deep attachment to the silver. The capitalists are behind the screen. This

is the modernist problem. One is compelled to live against his wishes. Material interests

affect his personal life and finally he fails in his survival crisis. Nostrorno shows how

twentieth century man lives a complex life. He is a victim either in the hands of the

politicians or in the hands of the capitalists. Though religion wants to shield him by

advising him to look up to the heavens, the satanic world i.e.; either politics or

capitalism pushes him down into the chaotic deep earth.

Conrad's The Secret Agent traces the anarchists in London who are shams and

their trends and how their political activities engulf many lives. In this novel, Conrad is

very much concerned with the cruelties and inanities that are enacted in the name of

political ideologies and progress in the society. It is also profoundly an ironic study of

the ways in which domestic relations and political ideologies reflect and corrupt each

other.

This narrative tells how "material interests" debase human nature and how love

between man and woman can also take a destructive, evil turn and end in a domestic

tragedy, if it is falsely grounded. Most of the characters in the novel are working or

conspiring in a shadowy dark world. They fail to be honest in their personal and social

intercourse. Conrad explains the commitments made by men and women and the crisis

in which they land themselves. He depicts the political commitment of Verloc leading

to the domestic tragedy in which three valuable lives of Stevie, Verloc and Winnie are

lost for nothing. In the encounter between evil and good, evil triumphs. Conrad paints a

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very grim picture about Vladimir of the Russian Embassy. Vladimir believes in no

establishment, no system or social institution. The idea of human bond through

marriage and family is contemptible to him. Conrad portrays Vladimir as a typical

Russian Character. This novel brings out the failure of modem science and the

technology to solve the problems of man's life in the world.

In The Secret Agent, Conrad focuses our attention on the dangers of anarchism.

The anarchist professor always carries a-bomb and detonator in his pocket and he

openly challenges everyone including the Police. The London Police are only helpless

passive spectators. It is this Professor who has supplied a bomb to Verloc to blast the

Greenwich observatory. Victor Haldin in Under Western Eyes kills a minister by

throwing a powerful bomb at him. Conrad's creation of these characters is indeed a

great tribute and credit to his genius and prophetic vision, when we consider the fact

how a human bomb has snatched away the precious life of our former Prime Minister

Rajiv Gandhi and how the magnificent building of the World Trading Centre in the

mighty U.S.A. was blasted and reduced to ashes due to the instigation of the terrorist

Osama Bin Laden.

The Secret Agent is an affirmation of the fact that the destiny of life involves

negotiation with crisis as well as accentuation of commitments. The politically

motivated groups play their role of anarchism. The secret agents in this novel are the

players of strong violence masked in weak physical outfits. Their life exists in living

dangerously. They have a justification for this because their actions are engendered by

their commitments. Their commitments lead to their crisis. The political loggerheads

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put the innocent community in endangered positions. Suddenly they find themselves

thrown into a crisis. Strangely, some of them may be unaware of the commitments that

cause their crisis. Both the anarchists and the affected persons are caught up in a drama

of survival. Conrad portrays anarchism and its evil effects i.e., the contemporary

politics. He focuses how the tentative life of modern individuals is caught up in the

towering game of politics.

The attitudes and actions of the evil are not exclusively determined by

individual dispensation of the challenges, but mostly decided by the forces, the contexts

and the compulsions characterized by an invisible game of politics that makes human

beings agents for or victims of a political agenda. The human crisis is mostly a

negotiation of external political forces than radiation of judgment and action

engendered by any internal mental make up.

In Under Western Eyes, nature of modern politics and nature of evil in man

appear to coalesce a theme which Conrad undertakes even in Nostromo and in

The Secret Agent, but cannot do full justice. Apart from dealing with politics as a

vicious and dirty game, Conrad powerfully presents the dilemma of the protagonist

Razumov who is caught up helplessly in the political net of the day. Razumov, a

promising Russian student finds his dreams of bright academic future shattered by the

Russian autocratic Government, which chooses him as a spy in Geneva after his

betrayal of his own Comrade Haldin. Conrad exposes, at length, the Russian Tsarist

tyranny and the brutality, the fanaticism and the hollowness of the Russian

revolutionaries. Conrad has painted the two types of revolutionaries i.e., the

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revolutionaries in Russia and the revolutionaries in Geneva. Choice and chance play a

prominent role and the choice of the individual is crippled by the choice of the

unscrupulous autocratic state. Conrad brings out tellingly how the ironical relationship

of Haldin's sister Natalia and Razumov leads to two levels of betrayals and two levels

of confessions. This novel throws light on Conrad's anti-Russian views.

It is in Under Western Eyes, that Conrad has very clearly voiced his political

views. He has also depicted the redeeming power of pure and unalloyed love shown by

Natalia towards the guilty Razumov. Conrad treats Natalia alone, of all the Russians in

Geneva, with respect and admiration. She expresses her fond hope for a regenerated

Russia in which both the revolutionaries and the tyrants will be forgotten in a social

"concord". Razumov's final choice on these values embodied in Natalia, Sophia and

Tekia - which Conrad claims are at the heart of his view of life. These values include a

belief in mutual betterment of human life through them.

Conrad describes how choice and chance play a vital role in the whole novel.

Both choice and chance often intrude and act favourably on some occasions and

unfavourably on many other occasions in respect of the most of the characters. When

there is conflict between the ideal choice of an individual and the selfish choice of the

state, the choice of the powerful state prevails. Choice in the novel is psychological and

chance is linked with politics. Razumov is compelled to make a choice. Choice of a

person is conditioned by political compulsions. Razumov chooses to betray his fellow

student and when he betrays him, he betrays himself; he betrays his weakness,

loneliness and guilt. Under Western Eyes is a psychological and a political novel. It is a

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psychological novel that unfolds the complexities of life. It details the various

psychological feelings in the mind of Razumov. It is a story of betrayal, guilt, love,

redemption and confession. Razumov's mindscape is quite wide to accommodate the

various tumults of human life. 'Living in this modern world in painful' - This is

depicted by Razumov. Living is painful because of the most powerful and the

extraneous forces, which are beyond control i.e., "politics". This nasty politics intrudes

in the lives of Haldin, Razumov, Natalia and her mother. It intrudes in everybody's life

and haunts him or her. The demon politics does not allow anyone to inhale free air. The

politicians crush a promising individual ferociously. Hence the protagonist Razumov

fails in his survival crisis.

Conrad's political views are very clearly expressed in his four political novels.

In Conrad's assessment, generally, the dictatorial, imperialistic autocratic governments,

which are totalitarian in nature, look upon common man with different eyes. They

consider individuals, not as men and women of freedom and free will. As they impose

their will on the individuals and the society, they remain prohibitive. On the other side

of the game, comes commercial and industrial capitalism, which exploit the material

interests of the man and their expansion into colonial imperialism. It privileges and

protects the vested interests of the commercial and capitalist class and engages itself in

all kinds of political game to retain the seat of power. Individual human beings are used

as pawns, agents and catalysts so as to suit the target needs of the political managers. In

the entire war of political interests, human beings are thrown in situations of despair or

crisis. Chance in human life is made by the political events that envelop human life.

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Modern man of early twentieth century has found himself at once free and not free. He

is free to do what he wants. But all his actions are found and conditioned by the

political forces of the world he occupies. Conrad portrays human life in this tumultuous

political context and reads the evils of disaster, degradation, inhumanity, animalism and

cruelty in the changed context. In other words, Conradian figures fight themselves in

certain conditions made precarious by the political context.

Themes of capitalism, imperialism, colonialism, isolation, betrayal, guilt, evil,

redemption, love, confession, primitivism are prominently figured out in the political

context of life. Politics becomes the root cause for the demise of many values. All the

four political novels Heart of Darkness, Nostromo, The Secret Agent and Under

Western Eyes, foreground individual's life, but what predominates in their life seems to

be the political condition.

In all the four novels Conrad strongly stresses how modern life is full of

complexity and how one lives by pulling the other down. Betrayal and hurting others

are common. In this tense and complex world, though man struggles to live by

surviving, he fails pathetically in his attempt, since the chain 'politics' ties his hands.

During the growth of humanity, Man has been invested with different values that

recognize him as a proud and elegant individual. The value of heroism was the defining

definition during the medieval age. During the growth of Christianity and the other

civilizing religions all across the world, the Moralists attempted to define Man by his

love for the fellow being, compassion for the suffering, pity and service for the

underprivileged. The modem societies which ushered in a new civilization however,

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could not grant a unifying value to the typical man. If at all one is compelled to define

Man, one has to go for the negative vocabulary. When the welfare states at the mercy of

market capitalism believe in exploitive imperialism, the human beings drafted by the

State to serve it also undergo a corresponding deterioration. But they have to live with

the evil, encounter chance and accidents that are not always windfalls, and life becomes

a struggle against a fellow being as well as the dangers caused by the state. Though the

modem man appears to inhale free air, actually it is not so. He is the creature of a

political condition, largely, of a negative scenario. This study of modernist Conrad asks

for a redefinition of Man, as one conditioned by a survival crisis, he being a struggling

creature, mostly a victim of a political society in whose hands he is also an agent.

Conradian political narratives are documents that endorse and highlight this message.