In Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, an unnamed narrator listens to Marlow’s tale of journeying into the Congo and meeting a mysterious man named Kurtz. This sets up a frame narrative in the novel. What is the effect of this frame?

The frame narrative process of narration gave multiple ways of seeing the scenes or understanding the plot of the story. This gives a wide view of what the story is dealing with, and provides the readers on the many perspectives of the story.

Explanation:

Frame narration is the form of narrative technique in which one narrator begins the narration of the story, making the frame of the story. Then, the narration shifts to another person, who takes over the role of the narration, while the first narrator remains nearby. Then, the closing narration was taken over by the first narrator.

In Heart of Darkness, Conrad used this 'narrative within a narrative' technique to present the scenes of the story. Even though there is no proof that the initial narrator of the story is Conrad himself, the identity of the anonymous narrator has been claimed by most critics that it is Conrad himself. This narrator sometimes merge with the character of Marlow, who is the second narrator of the story.

This frame narrative allows the presentation of the story in such a way that the perspective moves from the narrator to Marlow, giving the readers a multi-window on the scene. It provides the readers with multiple viewpoints on the events of the story.

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