Story of how Marlow got his job
"‘I got my appointment—of course; and I got it very quick.
It appears the Company had received news that one of their
captains had been killed in a scuffle with the natives. This
was my chance, and it made me the more anxious to go. It
was only months and months afterwards, when I made the
attempt to recover what was left of the body, that I heard
the original quarrel arose from a misunderstanding about
some hens. Yes, two black hens. Fresleven—that was the fellow’s
name, a Dane—thought himself wronged somehow in
the bargain, so he went ashore and started to hammer the
chief of the village with a stick. Oh, it didn’t surprise me in the least to hear this, and at the same time to be told
that Fresleven was the gentlest, quietest creature that ever
walked on two legs. No doubt he was; but he had been a
couple of years already out there engaged in the noble cause,you know, and he probably felt the need at last of asserting his self-respect in some way. Therefore he whacked the old nigger mercilessly, while a big crowd of his people watched him, thunderstruck, till some man— I was told the chief’s son—in desperation at hearing the old chap yell, made a tentative jab with a spear at the white man— and of course it went quite easy between the shoulder-blades. Then the whole population cleared into the forest, expecting all kinds of calamities to happen, while, on the other hand, the steamer Fresleven commanded left also in a bad panic, in charge of the engineer, I believe. Afterwards nobody seemed to trouble much about Fresleven’s remains, till I got out and stepped into his shoes"
Use of language: Marlow veils the horrific and grizzly events. Tries not to focused to much on the violence as he was the successor of Fresleven.