Misguided idealism in Conrad's texts

Reading Lord Jim made me think about one similarity that it has with Heart of Darkness—the theme of misguided idealism. This is apparent in the character of Jim who constantly envisions himself living out his heroic aspirations. In fact, he is even described as frequently having thoughts “full of valorous deeds” and that “he loved these dreams and the success of his imaginary achievements (25). At one point, Jim even sees “himself saving people from sinking ships, cutting away masts in a hurricane” (13-14). However, this is shown to be highly ironic when he abandons the supposedly sinking Patna. Brought to the test, Jim falls short of his romantic and heroic projections of himself.

This misguided idealism can also be found in HOD in the characters of Marlow’s aunt and the Intended. For example, when Marlow tells his aunt of his decision to join the Belgian company, she sees him as “something like an emissary of light, something like a lower sort of apostle” and this suggests how she genuinely believes in the religious moral rhetoric behind colonialism. There is a very ironic use of Christian-inflected terms here and Marlow’s aunt is a case in point of misguided idealism! Misguided idealism is also seen in the Intended who continues to believe that Kurtz is a benevolent humanitarian on a civilising mission in Africa, largely due to the fact that Marlow withholds Kurtz’s true depravity from her.

However, despite both texts having the theme of misguided idealism, in HOD, it is more a critique of the misguided idealism of colonialism. While some remain misguided about the true intentions of the colonial enterprise, others continue to perpetuate others’ misguided idealism. In LJ, it is more a critique of one man’s character and his overly-romanticised visions of himself.

(295 words)