The Darkness in Nostromo

“The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.” – John 1:5. Light and darkness are always inverses to one another; both cannot occupy the same place at the same time, and yet neither can be defined without the other. To know the light is to have known the darkness, if one is missing, the other is lost. Darkness is unable to comprehend light, it is unable to understand, it lacks to knowledge. Light in most religions and cultures stemming back thousands of years ago is seen as something that breeds knowledge while darkness destroys all understandings we hold. Nostromo is a modernist novel that enacts the establishment of modern capitalism in a fictional South American territory. Throughout Nostromo, the author Joseph Conrad continuously brings up the theme of darkness in many variations within the text, from the physical darkness cast over all of Costaguana, which is created by the setting sun and lack of light, to the psychological aspect of darkness within character’s hearts and minds, as we see within Nostromo himself when he chooses to forsake his ideology and steal the silver. Conrad was able to use an intangible element of darkness, which has the ability to conceal and destroy knowledge, as a tool to portray human consciousness when you believe that no one is able to discern your actions.
A brief history of Joseph Conrad and his writing will help give way to understanding his intent behind Nostromo. Conrad was a British writer with Polish origins, most famous for his novels such as Heart of Darkness, Lord Jim and Nostromo. Drawing from his experience as a mariner, he wrote using vibrant words, painting a beautiful picture of nature for his readers and always including the sea in his works. His novel Nostromo was possibly his most famous piece of work, as it is recognized as part of the forefront for Modernist and revered by other Modernist such as Virginia Woolf. Nostromo is also iconic for its anti-imperialism stance that displays the corruption which derives from foreigners having too much power in a country that isn’t theirs. The belief that capitalism brings peace and security to impoverished and unstable countries is one that has backed fired over and over. In Nostromo, the people are just as unhappy in the beginning of the story as they are in the end. Conrad is able to capture the human perspective and lay it out beautifully in a fictitious land, with a made up history. Although it is just a figment of Conrad’s imagination, Costaguana could very well have been a real place based on true events. That is just a testament to how great Conrad was when he put together Nostromo.
Conrad was also very interested in the psychological aspects of people, creating depth to his characters and giving them a past as well as an inherent nature. According to Allen O. McIntyre in his paper, Conrad on the Functions of Mind, “His statements are all the more amazing in that his aim as a novelist was not to initiate his readers into the mysteries of a new dialectic, but simply to clarify the motives of his fictional characters.” (1) McIntyre believes that Conrad wasn’t as interested in the dialog between his characters as much as he wanted to explain the reasoning behind his characters actions and thoughts. Throughout Nostromo we see much of this when Conrad suddenly takes us to a flashback to give us insight on a characters background. All of these flashbacks serve as a motive to his characters behavior throughout the book. This is only made possible because of Conrad’s ability to understand the human consciousness and applying it to his writing. Through this style of writing, we are presented with a much more in-depth look into the reasoning behind the main characters of Nostromo and even relate to them within their respective situations.
The first physical description we get of Costaguana and the Gulf is when the hot midday sun sets, he begins describing the night. This is the first time that darkness is mentioned within Nostromo, so it will serve as a baseline for future references to the darkness. “At night the body of clouds advancing higher up the sky smothers the whole quiet gulf below with an impenetrable darkness”—such a darkness that “The eye of God Himself could not find out what work a man’s hand is doing in there” (7). This introductory passage creates a profound image of the absolute darkness that envelops over the Gulf at night. The darkness is described as impenetrable, as something that is impossible to pass through. By presenting the darkness in this way, Conrad suggests that darkness is impossible to understand. The darkness is something unreasonable, something intangible that cannot be comprehended by man. It goes on to say that God himself would not be able to discern what anyone was doing within the darkness. Here we have created a contrast between light and dark, in which God is represented to be that of light, and that which is done in darkness has a secretive connotation to it. It’s as if Conrad is saying that, that which you do under the cloak of darkness is not something you want others to know about or see. The darkness is then linked to ominous, secretive, and evil acts. When trying to picture Costaguana at night, you visualize a void in which all is lost and irretrievable, something so vast and incomprehensible that even a higher power such as God could not see through it. This places the absolute power of the darkness to hide even higher that than of God, who is supposedly all knowing.
As opposed to the opening passage where the lack of the sun gave way to the impenetrable darkness, here the sun is described as creating darkness. “The declining sun had shifted the shadows from west to east amongst the houses of the town… The sunset rays striking the snow-slope of Higuerota from afar gave it an air of rosy youth, while the serrated mass of distant peaks remained black, as if calcined in the fiery radiance” (page 282) Here, the sun is able create darkness from the shadows it casts from shifting from west to eat, as well as its radiance producing a black appearance to the distant mountains. Instead of light and darkness being separate, we see the two elements as interchangeable through the sun. Light cannot exist without creating some sort of darkness. Light will always cast a shadow, and here we are focused upon the shadows in which the setting sun casts over. This is really interesting because Conrad uses the Sun as a medium to create darkness when ordinarily we think of the sun’s light and the radiance it gives off. This may be one of Conrad’s way of showing that no matter how bright any light is, it will still create some darkness.
This interchangeability between light and darkness can also be true of men as well. In Charles Gould case as an example, he is displayed as a god-like figure within the confines of Costaguana, one that is above all others. During the building of the railway, Sir John and the chief engineer of the Costaguana railway are arguing about whether it's easier to move mountains or for Charles Gould to influence the locals. “The chief engineer believed that the obstinacy of men was the lesser obstacle. Moreover, to combat that they had the great influence of Charles Gould, whereas tunneling under Higuerota would have been a colossal undertaking.” (33) Charles Gould’s name here is thrown around as a means of power. He was seen and described as a man above men, but he too creates darkness by backing leaders that ultimately lead to a revolution. Conrad is showing that even the greatest of men, with the most respect and wealth, are still subjected to creating shadows. Charles Gould had nothing but good intentions, but his light was turned into darkness when revolution broke out. The chaos of the revolution is a direct cause of Charles Gould’s actions, darkness he never wished for but was born of the light from his intentions.
The Gulf scene where Nostromo and Decoud are on the lighter with the silver is the climax for our story, as well as one of the most important places in which the darkness plays an important role of being that which destroys knowledge. “The Capataz, extending his hand, put out the candle suddenly. It was to Decoud as if his companion had destroyed, by a single touch, the world of affairs, of loves, of revolution… he suffered from being deprived of the only weapon he could use with effect. No intelligence could penetrate the darkness of the Placid Gulf.” (Page 198-199) Here within the Gulf, Nostromo puts out the only source of light they have on their boat, a candle. When Nostromo reaches his hand out to put out the only source of light, Decoud feels the reality crushing darkness consume him. All the conventions of the world are useless within the total darkness of the Gulf. We see darkness as something that steals and crushes intelligence, as something that disrupts Decoud’s reality and understanding of the world. Darkness is chaotic and destructive while light provides stability and gives power to intelligence. This is such a disaster to Decoud because he relies heavily on his intelligence to get by, but within the darkness, that intelligence is made null. The reason darkness is able to destroy all sense of intelligence is because you need light in order to prove something to be true. Light then becomes necessary for the existence of knowledge. Darkness pays no heed to what you think you may know, it only wishes to hide and conceal, as opposed to light being able to reveal that which you did not know.
Nostromo chooses to integrate himself within the darkness rather than to steer through it. Within the same Gulf scene, Nostromo says “The darkness is our friend, I am going to lower the sail, and trust our escape to this black gulf. No eyes could make us out lying silent with a naked mast.” (201) As a steamer approaches with men seeking to steal the silver the Nostromo and Decoud are in possession of, Nostromo already having put out the only light source they have, lowers the sail to conceal their presence within the Gulf. Nostromo says that the darkness is their friend and chooses to rely on the impenetrable cloak that is cast over them. Nostromo “trusts” their escape to the black gulf, as if it were going to be their savior. The belief that not even God himself could see what was going on within the darkness of the gulf was assuring enough to Nostromo that no man could ever make out their boat when they have no sail up and are traveling silently. Making an ally out of something intangible like the darkness gave Nostromo the chance to survive through the gulf. As opposed to Decoud who fears the darkness for what he is unable to understand, Nostromo chooses to become part of the darkness, part of the unknown.
Conrad believed that the mind which relied too heavily on intelligence would surely lead to idiocy. According to McIntyre, “The state of mind which acted upon conscience, tradition, and illusion was far more to Conrad's taste than that which responded to the more academic stimuli of logic, reflection, and intelligence. And an extensive knowledge he thought doubly harmful. "I think that to understand everything is not good for the intellect. A well-stocked intelligence weakens the impulse to action; an overstocked one leads gently to idiocy" (Chance, p. 62).” Within this analysis, we can see the difference of reliance on intelligence between Decoud and Nostromo throughout the gulf scene. Decoud is a character built upon the foundation of knowledge, and Conrad used the darkness as a catalyst to show that even with all of his intelligence, he could do nothing in the face of trial. Nostromo on the other hand, a character whose intelligence was sub-par, was the one who lead them to safety through his ability to act rather than to think.
Nostromo does not wish for there to be light because it would expose the location of the silver he had buried, and most importantly, expose Nostromo’s true character, as a lowly thief. The darkness thus becomes an ally to Nostromo, because the darkness conceals all off that which Nostromo wishes not to be seen. Upon hiding the silver on the Great Isabella, a lighthouse is being erected to Nostromo’s surprise, “What could save him from detection now? Nothing! He was struck with amazed dread at this turn of chance that would kindle a far-reaching light upon the only secret spot of his life; that life whose very essence, value, reality, consisted in its reflection from the admiring eyes of men.”(357) The darkness had always concealed the only disgrace Nostromo feels he has, now that darkness is ironically being threatened by the light from and actual lighthouse. If the light were to reveal the silver, the darkness of Nostromo, it would enlighten every one of the true character of Nostromo. The light has the ability to dispel the illusion Nostromo has been able to create through the darkness. People would no longer think highly of Nostromo, his reputation would be tainted, a reputation he holds dearer than his life.
Nostromo believed the darkness to be an ally, instead of the light which he feared would reveal his transgression, it was the very darkness that became Nostromo’s undoing. In Susan E. Cook’s paper, Nostromo’s Uncanny Light, she says “the lighthouse does not shed light on the silver and Nostromo; rather than light, an obfuscating “shade” on the island brings about Nostromo’s downfall. Instead of illuminating Nostromo’s crime and bringing the novel to a more conventional resolution.” (1) Nostromo is found creeping around in the shadows, trying to convene with Giorgio’s younger daughter, while being promised to his eldest daughter. Giorgio mistakes Nostromo as Ramirez, a man who was persistent to be with the younger daughter, and shoots Nostromo. Conrad chooses to betray the foolish Nostromo and uses the same darkness he called ally to become his demise. The darkness which concealed Nostromo’s secrets and intentions, also concealed his identity, the darkness made Nostromo become that which was unknown. Giorgio did not knowingly shoot Nostromo, he only shot at the darkness that concealed a man with evil intent. Had Giorgio known it was Nostromo, he would not have shot him, but the darkness destroyed that knowledge. If Nostromo had nothing to hide, he would have not been clinging to the shadows, instead have been able to walk in the light and avoid being shot.
In conclusion, Conrad was able to use an intangible element of darkness, which has the ability to conceal and destroy knowledge, as a tool to portray human consciousness when you believe that no one is able to discern your actions. We saw that light and darkness can be interchangeable with one another, as well as how light can breed darkness. From Conrad’s perspective of having too much intelligence, we got insight on why Decoud was not able to act within the darkness but why Nostromo could adapt to it. Conrad also ironically allowed the darkness which Nostromo thought to be an ally, to be Nostromo’s undoing as opposed to the light which would have led to a more conventional ending.

Bibliography

* Cook, Susan E. "Nostromo's Uncanny Light." Conradiana: A Journal of Joseph Conrad Studies: 44.2-3 (2012 Fall-Winter), pp. 127-144. * Conrad, Joseph, Jacques Berthoud, and Mara Kalnins. Nostromo: A Tale of the Seaboard. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2007. Print. * McIntyre, Allan O. "Conrad on the Functions of the Mind". Modern Language Quarterly: 25. (1964), pp. 187-197.