A nice and neat example here:
(…) and, as if by enchantment, streams of human beings–of naked human beings–with spears in their hands, with bows, with shield, with wild glances and savage movements, were poured into the clearing by the dark-faced and pensive forest. (p.74)
Though I questioned the “poured” connection to a face, it is a feasible reference if one considers the mouth, and a spew of words, or vomit, or whatever. I rather liked the concept particularly of the “dark-faced and pensive forest,” as Conrad has already established the forest (jungle?) as having a heart, thus anthropomorphism of the setting is becoming a metaphor for an evil being.
Conrad nicely ties this back in a few paragraphs later:
(…) and almost at the same time I noticed that the crowd of savages was vanishing without any perceptible movement of retreat, as if the forest that had ejected these beings so suddenly had drawn them in again as the breath is drawn in a long aspiration.
The Lost Children: A Charity Anthology
missed the beginning of this analysis and you made me want to read this book again… will do and then return 😉 cheers!
Hmm. I’d be interested in your thoughts. I wasn’t particularly moved by it and believe I just may not like stories of adventure, and trying to find the meaning beyond the situations.