Głębie Conrada

Abstract

The paper shows the relation between the motifs of depth and interior and the subject of doppelganger in Joseph Conrad’s writing. The paper proves that in his novels the ocean’s depth and the interior of the black land are equivalent for his characters’ subcon sciousness, and the road deep into is – on the principle of correspondence – the road deep into oneself. According to the paper’s author, Conrad correlated the content of external and internal peregrinations with the figure of a doppelganger. It is the emanation of the characters’ mental content. It is the personification of the subconscious side of the personality, the visibility of the content which was repressed and driven away from the field of consciousness. The paper’s author demonstrates that a doppelganger is other I (alter ego) for the characters created by the author of Heart of Darkness. He states that the destiny of Conrad’s characters depends on the doppelganger’s adoption, on taking responsibility for the content it personifies.