Joseph Conrad's Ideas And Presentations Of The Self In His Jungle Fiction

Joseph Conrad, ranking among the greatest novelists in English literature, has acquired an international reputation for his modernist innovation as well as his moral profundity. As a writer in exile, Conrad's life and art prove to be a continual, but unsuccessful search for a stable identity in a universe whose cruelties he finds beyond comprehension. In all his great works, he endeavors to explore and express many levels of human consciousness as his ideas of the self. Acclaimed as a profoundly psychological writer, Conrad's novels vividly capture the tragic isolation and moral deterioration of men who, despite their quest for truth, are unable to achieve their fullest self.Therefore, Conrad's ideas of the self in characterization of male characters are what this thesis concerns. It attempts to analyze different paradigms of the self in his two famous jungle fictions: Heart of Darkness and Lord Jim. And the artistic presentation of the theme in both works is also systematically examined to demonstrate the writer's passionate concern about the self. This thesis falls into four parts. Chapterâ… clarifies the intention, arrangement of the thesis with a brief review of Conrad's life and a general survey of the social context as well as the historical background. Chapterâ…¡will respectively explore the struggling and confrontation of the self in the two novels. The focus is laid on two contrasting paradigms of the self, namely Kurtz and Marlow, Jim and Marlow. Chapterâ…¢will make an analysis of his artistic presentation of the theme in the delicate narrative structure and obscure language. In Conclusion there is a summary of Conrad's treatment of the diverse character and a confirmation of Conrad's modernity through his understanding and presentation of the self.