Impressionism as viewed By Ford

The idea behind impressionism is to allow the recipient to live in the moment of the presenter. Be it in writing, painting, photography, etc. It was a way of going out of what society said was the normal standard for conduct and presenting it in a new light. Ford Madox Ford offered some interesting insight on the subject matter, especially when it came to the presentation of a character for the first time. He says when introducing one, it should be general, which will keep the recipient from formulating any preconceived opinions about the individual. If you give an introduction littered with a great amount of detail, the receiver is able to form this belief concerning the individual, which may or may not be accurate (p. 39-40). Charlie Marlow, Heart of Darkness, when the reader is first introduced to his character he comes off as the eager, ready to go, let us take on the Congo River and travel into the depths of Africa individual. He did not seem underhanded or cut throat or like he had an ulterior motive. Marlow’s character stayed true from his introduction, so even though there was no generalization from the onset, the preconceived opinion was correct.

            Another interesting concept that Ford brought to light was how an Impressionist would never give a long speech of a character verbatim on the strength that they would lose their credibility with their reader. The reader simply would not believe what they are trying to portray because the mind just does not remember long spouts of discourse. People pick and choose from what they hear as to what they remember. They remember the aspects that stuck out to them, not every miniscule word. The mind also tends to wander and you think about what else you got going on in your life (p. 41-24). It reminds me of something I learned in one of my communication classes. The first twenty minutes are the most crucial when speaking because after that, the mind begins to think about any and everything else, only picking up bits and pieces of what the speaker is saying.

            Charlie Marlow, which I perceive to be the narrator of Heart of Darkness, gives the impression that he is this individual who has this life’s mission to travel the Congo into Africa and meet Mr. Kurtz who has this reputation that precedes him.  However as he is traveling, he finds that things are not quite as he pictured. Africa is being colonized, Kurtz is not who he thought he was and he has quite the experience with the people of the land.