Reality and Ignorance

"And this stillness of life did not in the least resemble a peace. It was the stillness of an implacable force brooding over an inscrutable intention. It looked at you with a vengeful aspect. I got used to it afterwards; I did not see it any more; I had no time. I had to keep guessing at the channel; I had to discern, mostly by inspiration, the signs of hidden banks; I watched for sunken stones; I was learning to clap my teeth smartly before my heart flew out, when I shaved by a fluke some infernal sly old snag that would have ripped the life out of the tin-pot steamboat and drowned all the pilgrims; I had to keep a lookout for the signs of dead wood we could cut up in the night for next day’s steaming. When you have to attend to things of that sort, to the mere incidents of the surface, the reality—the reality, I tell you—fades. The inner truth is hidden—luckily, luckily. But I felt it all the same; I felt often its mysterious stillness watching me at my monkey tricks, just as it watches you fellows performing on your respective tight-ropes for—what is it? half-a-crown a tumble—" (103)

Marlow is constantly searching for answers, for a greater understanding of life, and this is partly what motivates him so much to find Kurtz. However, Marlow isn't in Africa to self-analyze. Because he has a job, his desires must take a backseat in certain situations: one of which being his duty to steer the steamboat. Here, looking back on the event, Marlow offers some insight. He claims that "luckily" the "inner truth" is hidden. Marlow can't even understand this truth, yet he calls it lucky that it is hidden, and this offers insight into Marlow's philosophy.

The forest, according to Marlow, contains an "implacable force" with an "inscrutable intention." Marlow believed, and still does at the time of the narration, that the landscape held ill-intentions. His use of implacable shows that this malevolence can't be stopped or appeased either, existing beyond the desires of man. Marlow calls its intention "inscrutable," yet his language suggests otherwise.
Because it does not resemble peace, because it's implacable, and because it has vengeful aspect, one can assume Marlow believes this force is out to get him. Furthermore, as he goes on to describe his experience steering the steamboat, his language is just as dismal. An "infernal snag" could "rip the life out of" his ship. The use of infernal and of a ripping (or reaping) life away conjure a specific image to the Western mind.

Throughout the novella, Marlow is painted as a Buddha figure while narrating. This is mostly based on his posture and demeanor, yet this passage offers more support to his comparison with the Buddha. This passage focuses largely on a disparity between what Marlow sees and the reality of his situation. He is surrounded by the distractions. This idea of reality happening behind the scenes of the average human life is prominent in Buddhism. Breaking out of samsara, the cycle of dying and rebirth, and avidya, ignorance, to achieve the Right view (samma ditthi) is a key process in ridding oneself of suffering in Buddhist philosophy. Though it is not explicit, Marlow's language suggests his views are quite similar. The unknown force is always watching Marlow's "monkey tricks." His relating his behavior to pointless "monkey tricks" suggests that here he was in that ignorance, that he had not bridged the gap between avidya and dharma. He could feel the reality happening, yet he could not focus on it, he was too distracted.

    Though this passage may seem mundane enough it first, it offers a lot of insight to Marlow's character. There seems to be a lack of support as to Marlow's likeness to the Buddha throughout the text, as it seems to only appear when he is being observed by others as the narrator. This passage offers some of that support, though it is somewhat obscured. Furthermore, because this reality is negative, is it really dharma? Dharma is usually considered positive, as it is all that makes the universe possible. Maybe in this specific instance, Marlow or Conrad is suggesting that the reality of this situation is negative, that what is happening is wrong, yet one must question whether that fits with Buddhist ideology. Marlow's understanding of the world around him is difficult to pin down, and it may not fit one specific branch of thought at all. Here, though, one can collect bits and pieces and attempt to form a fuller picture of Marlow as a narrator.