The Power of Writing

Abstract

Let us begin with the title of Under Western Eyes. A moment’s reflection is enough to make you realise how unusual it is. Because it bears the imprint of an eye, it usually does not attract much attention. In the list of titles selected by Conrad it is unique, however, as we shall see. The usual Conradian title includes a name which immediately puts the reader on familiar terms with the hero or heroine. Sometimes, a title like Nostromo/our man indicates a long-standing acquaintance with the main character. The bond of solidarity which exists between the narrative and its subject is thus extended to include the reader, who is admitted into the circle of initiates, into a circle which he may consider to be a kind of Victorian club or a land of magic, depending on whether or not he chooses to associate the narrator with the ordinary present tense or with a more prestigious past.

Their ears are dull and their eyes are closed

(Matthew)

Is it possible that you haven’t seen that in this book I am concerned with nothing but ideas, to the exclusion of everything else, with no arrière-pensée of any kind?

Letter from Joseph Conrad to Edward Garnett, 20 October 1911