He tells us "ironic treatment alone would enable me to say all I felt I would have to say in scorn as well as pity" (Conrad: p41). ... Upon hearing of the tearing off of an officer's ear via a revolutionary newspaper Stevie is sent into a frenzy of righteous anger, leaving him pacing up and down, ominously and ironically holding the carving knife that will later be used to kill his murderer. ... Although Stevie is essentially vulnerable his position as a half-wit allows him to be a Quixotic figure, in the tradition of "the comic jester who is free to reveal the madness and corruption of a...

• Word Count: 1949
• Approx Pages: 8
• Grade Level: Undergraduate