...passing strange this regret for a savage who was no more account than ft grain of sand in a black Sahara. Well, don't you see, he had done something, he had steered; for months I had him at my back^-a help—an instrument. It was a kind of partnership. vJHe steered for me—I had to look after...

...the Heart oj Darkness, Conrad's spokesman says of his black helmsman who was shot going up the river, "I had to look after him. I worried about his deficiencies, and thus a subtle bond has been created of which I only became aware when it was broken." Man's duty to himself may dictate...

...fellow-travellers with his coldness: 'Perhaps you will think it passing strange, this regret for a savage . . . Well, don't you see, he had done something, he had steered; for months I had him by my back - a help - an instrument. It was a kind of partnership' (p. 87). This is echoed in his attitude...

...rhetorical form to his description of the French lieutenant: "I missed my late helmsman awfully. . . . [H]e had steered; for months I had him at my back — a help — an instrument" (HDug). Although racial condescension may overlap nationalistic superiority in a novel that must continually...

...of partnership. And he accommodates that partnership to the unequal positions colonialism commands: "It was a kind of partnership. He steered for me —...look after him, I worried about his deficiencies. . ." (52). Relegated to culturally determined slots — instrumentality and lack — the helmsman's...

...passing strange, this regret for a savage who was no more account than a grain of sand in a black Sahara. Well, don't you see, he had done something, he had...him, I worried about his deficiencies, and thus a subde bond had been created, of which I only became aware when it was suddenly broken. And the intimate...

...Mrange, this regret for a savage who was no more account than a grain of sand in a black Sabara. Wel), don't you see, he had done something, he had steered;...which I only became aware when it was suddenly broken (HD, 209). Marlow performs a balancing act between conflicting attitudes. On the one hand, he shares...

...certain kinship with Kurtz, he also feels a powerful tug in the direction of his slain African helmsman: "for months I had him at my back — a help — an...deficiencies, and thus a subtle bond had been created. . . . And the intimate profundity of that look he gave me when he received his hurt remains to this...

...he lost the chance of when he recognizes too late "a kind of partnership" with his African helmsman: "He steered for me - I had to look after him. I worried...I only became aware when it was suddenly broken", when he died and looked at Marlow with an "intimate profundity like a claim of distant kinship kinship...

...the helmsman's labour, it is more akin to Marlow's work ethic than is anything Kurtz has to offer: "He had done something, he had steered; for months...help - an instrument. It was a kind of partnership ... a subtle bond had been created of which I only became aware when it was suddenly broken" (87-8)....