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  • Language as a Tool of Inclusion, Seclusion and Exclusion in Joseph Conrad’s “Falk”
  • Ewa Kujawska-Lis (bio)

I. INTRODUCTORY REMARKS ON “FALK”

Joseph Conrad’s short story “Falk,” written in 1901 and published in the volume entitled Typhoon and Other Stories in 1903, is generally regarded as a tale focusing on heroism, this interpretation being enhanced by the narrator, or on cannibalism, which is at the core of Falk’s story.1 Constructed in a typical Conradian manner, it is structurally similar to such works as “Youth” and “Heart of Darkness” (Baines 161). A group of people connected in some way with the sea is dining together, and, naturally enough, inspired by some detail (in this case ‘chops,’ creating a link with Falk’s aversion to meat), one of them begins to spin a yarn. However, both the frame narrator and the main narrator remain anonymous, unlike Charlie Marlow, the cross-textual narrator of the other mentioned stories. Before the main narrator takes over, the frame narrator draws the readers’ attention to the main ideas in the story: the talk was of “wrecks, of short rations and of heroism” (“Falk” 146). At that point cannibalism is only alluded to through a reference to earlier, more primitive times. The food served in the river-hostelry “brought forcibly to one’s mind the night of ages when the primeval man, evolving the first rudiments of cookery from his dim consciousness, scorched lumps of flesh at a fire of sticks in the company of other good fellows; then, gorged and happy, sat him back among the gnawed bones to tell his artless tales of experience—the tales of hunger and hunt—and of women, perhaps!” (“Falk” 145–146). Food is initially associated with animal flesh and becomes conceptualized as human flesh through Falk’s words. The main narrator tells a story of the strange courtship of Falk, who in turn discloses his secret: the account of a disaster at sea which ends in the act of cannibalism on board. [End Page 227]

“Falk” does not explore human behavior in an extreme situation as thoroughly as “Heart of Darkness” (Baines 161). This theme, though underlying the work, is only barely touched upon. On the whole, the tale is provided with a comic vein, which is indicated through the narrator himself, who introduces his story of Falk as “an absurd episode in my life” (“Falk” 147). “Falk” may be considered as a story with a happy ending. The eponymous character finds blissful peace with his beloved, whereas the narrator does not appear to have undergone any psychological or ethical transformation as a result of becoming Falk’s confidant.

The main narrator’s story revolves around Falk’s persecution of him in an unnamed eastern seaport. He is suspected by Falk of being secretly in love with the niece of a German captain named Hermann, thus apparently becoming his rival. During the confrontation between the two men, it turns out that the narrator is not interested in the girl romantically, being “already engaged to an extremely charming lady at home” (“Falk” 207); whereas Falk reveals his secret. His past experiences make him behave in an apparently strange manner. He never eats meat, preferring fish and rice, which provokes negative opinions: “‘He’s a miser. A miserable miser,” affirmed the hotel-keeper with great force. “The meat here is not so good as at home—of course. And dear too. But look at me. I only charge a dollar for the tiffin, and one dollar and fifty cents for the dinner. Show me anything cheaper. … Falk wouldn’t look at it’” (“Falk” 174). He hates the smell of food being prepared. Moreover, he is rather reserved and taciturn, known as “a notoriously unsociable man” (“Falk” 167). These are, of course, the results of the traumatic events on board the Borgmester Dahl, unknown to others. In this story Conrad returns to some themes from his previous works, especially solidarity in a life-threatening situation, which he already dealt with in The Nigger of “The Narcissus.” Tragic events inspire a glimpse into human conduct in the face of danger. As in his other works, Conrad “shows how an...

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