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Joseph Conrad’s Nostromo, as Robert Penn Warren pointed out, is “one of the few mastering vision of our human lot.” In this novel many characters’ fate is related to a paradox: they pursue their ideal dreams, but in spite of their constructive idealism, they fail to come true their dreams and their actions only bring about the self-destructive results. However, the most prominent paradox in Nostromo is “the reversal of the order of value” and this is embodied through Charles Gould’s “materialistic idealism.” In this paper I intend to examine the nature of Gould’s materialistic idealism and why his idealism failed in the end. As an incorrigible upholder of the ideal of “material interest,” Gould pins his faith to the material interest, i. e. the silver of San Tomé mine, to secure the law, good faith and order in a swirl of the moral darkness of Costaguana. Paradoxically, in pursuing his ideal, he subordinates the ideal to the importance of the mine, and becomes a monomaniac who can only think of the mine as identified with himself and his own life. Therefore he finally regards the mine not as means but only the goal itself. Charles Gould, the most paradoxical and tragic protagonist in Conrad’s novel, represents a moral nihilism. We cannot expect from him any moral awareness such as Jim’s “a proud and unflinching glance” or Kurtz’s last cry “the horror! the horror!” He remains only a “hollow man” in our mind.

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키워드

콘라드 『노스트로모』 찰스굴드 역설 물질적 이상주의 가치전도 Conrad Nostromo Charles Gould paradox materialistic idealism reversal of the order of value

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• 이남철 [ Lee, Nam-Chul | 한중대학교 ]

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