Question+6

Marlow spends little time describing the jungle except that it seems timeless, prehistoric, and vast. What are his main concerns and activities as the steamboat proceeds up the river?

====Proceeding up the river, Marlow realizes that everything surrounding him is completely new. His one concern was getting lost: "..you lost your way on that river as you would in a desert, and butted all day long against shoals, trying to find the channel" (Conrad 103) Sailing out in unknown waters, one wrong turn and they could be forever lost in another existence. Marlow's main activities and responsibilities are to keep his eyes on the water to see any upcoming dangers. Sunken stones, and dead wood are some of the objects he had to look out for to prevent the boat from hitting. "I watched for sunken stones; I was learning to clap my teeth smartly before my heart flew out" (Conrad 103) Had the boat hit something and needed immediate repair, the people would be stuck in the middle of the water with no help! He dreaded miserably the thoughts of his ship previously hitting something and having a hole in its bottom: "You remember it, you dream of it, you wake up at night and think of it- years after- and go hot and cold all over." (Conrad 104) ====

Hjk
Whilst traveling up the river of the Congo, Marlow is aware of the events around him but is primarily concerned with the affairs of his own vessel and seeing it safely through the water. He knows that focusing on the reality of his work rather than getting caught up in the mystique of the jungle people will keep him grounded: "Fine sentiments, be hanged! I had no time. I had to mess about with white-lead and strips of woolen blanket helping to put bandages on those leaky steam-pipes -- I tell you. I had to watch the steering, and circumvent those snags, and get the tin-pot along by hook or by crook. There was surface-truth enough in these things to save a wiser man" (Conrad 106). While he certainly wondered at the strange and foreign ways of the savages, he had very little time to fully ruminate on them as he concentrated on his task of keeping his ship afloat and avoiding any possible hazards in the water, as well as overseeing the group of cannibals serving as a crew on the boat. DSL

While many can be caught up in the dark and mysterious nature of the jungle, Marlow remains steadfast in his attention to the conditions of his steamboat. To remain both sane and sound in mind, he needs to focus towards the issues onboard his ship, and can not risk getting lost or wrecked. not done CM