Uncertainty in Heart of Darkness and The Stranger Essay

In The Stranger, Albert Camus establishes uncertainty to diffuse the tension surrounding Meursault while in Heart of Darkness, Joseph Conrad creates uncertainty to intensify the tension around Marlow. Both authors use a first person narrator, which limits the information the reader receives. Also both lead characters miss information though Meursault does so intentionally while Marlow does so unintentionally. Camus enforces the correlation of uncertainty and tension in The Stranger when Meursault gains certainty and the tension that then flows from the book. While the correlation in show in Heart of Darkness when Marlow is uncertain and the tension around him heightens. In both The Stranger and Heart of Darkness, the authors choose a†¦show more content†¦In The Stranger, Meursault voluntarily misses information to alleviate tension while in Heart of Darkness, Marlow misses information unintentionally, which only heightens the tension of his surroundings. These uses of ambi guity lead the readers’ emotions to the desired feeling. When Meursault becomes bored with a conversation he loses focus and the reader loses information. In one conversation with the director, Meursault note, â€Å"The director spoke to me again. But I wasn’t really listening anymore†(Camus 5). Because of Meursault’s lack of focus much information is lost, but with which tension is relieved because, if Meursault does not care the reader also does not. This absence occurs again during the trial’s closing arguments when Meursault sates, â€Å"I stopped listening to the prosecutor† (Camus 100). The closing arguments can be some of the tensest times of a trial but Meursault just dismisses them, which ameliorates the tension of the trial. In Heart of Darkness, Marlow misses information because of circumstances out of his control. When Marlow first sees Kurtz, Marlow hears from a distance, â€Å"A deep voice (that) reached me faintly†(Conr ad 130). 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