“There is something haunting in the light of the moon; it has all the dispassionateness of a disembodied soul, and something of its inconceivable mystery…. and gives a sinister reality to shadows alone.” (Joseph Conrad, Lord Jim, chapter 24)

Bentari’s introduction to war spans a few days and nights. During the nights, gathering clouds and a gibbous moon lend the “sinister reality” to the equatorial African setting. This, in homage and emulation, of Joseph Conrad’s brilliant craft found in the tropical crucible for Lord Jim and the forested exploits he created in Heart of Darkness.

Another nod to the masterful writer, Conrad, is in the naming of our stories’ villains.

Kurtz is Conrad’s enigmatic power broker in his classic novella Heart of Darkness, set in the Congo under the cruel imperial boot of King Leopold II. Kurtz attained his dubious greatness in the traditional manner. He imposed his ill-begotten will to accumulate wealth, power and fame. Why did Joseph Conrad choose “Kurtz” for this man’s name? The German word for “short” is “kurz”.[1] Is this significant? Did Conrad use this cutting, harsh name to underscore his villain’s short-sightedness? Was this name a symbol—a message about the fleeting fame and accelerated fate of a man with no compassion who lacks any vestige of a moral compass? I cannot say. There’s plenty of analysis available.[2]

What I can say, since I am the world’s only expert, is why I chose the name for my bad actor—Wilhelm Weltschmerz. The surname means “angst,” literally, “world pain.”[3] Weltschmerz is the leader of the German company invading the land of Bentari’s people. He is the man in charge. He represents the Third Reich. His actions are worthy of the power and global weight that he represents. He brings all that is wrong with the world into Mbara land, a secluded region that has largely escaped the Belgian powers by virtue of its remote location. All that is wrong with the world arrived with a murder and plans for the heist of all time. Africans would pay again for their losses in the customary colonial way—in African blood. World pain had reached them again, as if colonial Belgium were not enough. When it rains, it pours.

Images: Joseph Conrad and the moon[4]: the light of our nights, presiding over both hope and fear

[1] http://dictionary.reverso.net/german-english/kurz - short: brief: short-lived
[2] http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/heart/canalysis.html - “highly gifted but ultimately degenerate individual whose fall is the stuff of legend.” See also: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kurtz_(Heart_of_Darkness)
[3] http://dictionary.reverso.net/german-english/Weltschmerz - world-weariness: world-sorrow: angst
[4] http://www.noao.edu/image_gallery/html/im0650.html - Minimum credit line: T.A.Rector, I.P.Dell'Antonio/NOAO/AURA/NSF