Joseph
Conrad was a literary mastermind who would often express
his love for ships and sailing throughout his novels. The
creators of the Alien films apparently either appreciated
Conrad and thought they would look witty by alluding to
his works, and/or actually found some inspirations or connections
between Conrad’s creations and their own. I prefer
the latter, though it is, at best, merely a presupposition.
Here
are some quick-facts that summarize what exactly the producers
of the Alien films were alluding to in Conrad’s works:
1.
In Joseph Conrad’s Nostromo, the name of the
main character, an Italian sailor, is Nostromo. This inventive
novel explored man's susceptibility and corruptibility.
In the story, Nostromo is destroyed by his obsession with
reckless adventuring and the pursuit of glory. If you remember
correctly, you should know that the iron-ore mining ship
from Alien was named the Nostromo.
2.
Also in the novel Nostromo, the primary setting is
a town named Sulaco. In Aliens, the Colonial Marines’
ship was called the Sulaco.
3.
In Conrad’s Almayer’s Folly, the primary
character is a derelict Dutchman. Oftentimes, the Space
Jockey ship that gave off the distress (or warning) signal
that attracted the nearby Nostromo to LV-426 is called
the “Derelict” spaceship because it is in poor
condition.
4.
Joseph Conrad wrote a novel titled The Nigger of the
Narcissus, which detailed the events of a black sailor
serving on an all-white ship. In Alien, the shuttle that
Ripley escapes from the Nostromo on is called the Narcissus.
5.
Finally, in Conrad’s Lord Jim, a novel surrounded
the character of Jim, a cowardly man who abandoned the very
passengers he was entrusted to protect; the story starts
of with the exploits of a ship called the Patna.
In the novelizations of Alien 3, the ship Bishop II travels
to Fiorina 161 on is referred to as the Patna.
Upon
starting work on this project, I considered contacting the
people who made the decision to include allusions to Joseph
Conrad’s works in the first place -- Fox.
I e-mailed the bigwigs over at “Fox Movies,” but,
sadly, they never responded to me. Of course, I didn’t
at all expect any of the lackeys over at Fox to have a clue
as to what I was trying to discover.
>
From: ::GenoDice::
> To: foxmovies@fox.com
> Subject: A Question Relating to the Alien Films
> Date: Sun, 1 Feb 2004 14:26 - G.M.T.
>
> Hello,
>
> Searching through FOX's list of e-mail addresses,
I found this one to be most suitable for my inquiry.
> If it is not the most suitable, I would be happy
to be redirected.
>
> With the AvP movie set to come out on August 6th,
many people are returning to the original Alien and
> Predator films, and the website I work for--Planet AvP.com--though
its purpose is to focus on the series'
> games, has been posting information related to the
movies.
>
> I am currently writing an article about literary
and film allusions that are hidden throughout the Alien
films,
> and I learned that many of the names of ships
and locations from Joseph Conrad novels, such as
Heart of
> Darkness, are used in the Alien films.
>
> I already know what exactly is used, but not why.
Is it possible that you could inform me as to why
exactly
> the creators of the Alien films alluded to Joseph
Conrad's works, or redirect me to someone who does know
the answer/s?
>
> Many thanks for your time!
>
> Daniel DeMarzio
> Staff Writer, www.planetavp.com
To
be frank, the only people who know for sure are the folks
who actually worked on the Alien films firsthand. I decided
to search for the man who started it all; someone who set
a trend in using the names of Conrad’s various ships
and locales in the movies. That filmmaker was none other
than Ridley Scott.
Hopelessly, I searched for any sort of contact info for
the man. That was a quest in vain, though, as all the fan
sites were very clear in the fact that they were not affiliated
with Mr. Scott, and thus had no contact info. I found one
professional Web site that claimed to be capable of contacting
any celebrity anywhere (for a $15.00 price, of course),
but I was skeptical as to whether or not they could actually
get me through to him.
“Nope,”
I thought to myself. “I’m in this alone.”
I then knew I would only have one object; unreliable, crude,
and primal as it was, to rely upon: my own brain.
Thankfully, I had just finished reading Heart of Darkness
and had The Secret Sharer within my possession --
novels that perhaps could give me some insight into Joseph
Conrad and why the producers of Alien found his ideals so
appealing. My AP English IV literature book, Adventures
in English Literature, was quite keen to give an overview
into Conrad and his works. The summary provided on the Pole-turned-Briton
was brief, but still had some significant things to say
in regards to the man’s philosophies, life experiences,
struggles, and style.
Truly, in order to fully understand the Alien films, in
order to come just slightly close to comprehending the oft-pondered
xenomorph creature; if we want to even just barely skip
across the surface of these movies, we must understand Joseph
Conrad’s various novels and, more importantly, what
their themes are.
This, of course, all follows the assumption, recklessly
so, that the producers of the Alien films did not just toss
in references to Conrad’s works because they wanted
to pay tribute to him, or because they were big fans. This
goes under the presumption that the filmmakers found connections
in their movies to Conrad’s novels. That, or the works
were inspirations; meaning Joseph Conrad’s works were
a developmental factor in the films.
Once again, for any of the following to hold any credibility
whatsoever, the allusions to Conrad’s works must be
more than mere “Easter eggs.”
So,
I already explained what of Conrad’s works are included
in the Alien series, but to truly examine the movies, it’s
necessary to ask: why? There’s no easy answer. I tried
to contact Fox and the
creators to find that out; I searched for an easy way out,
but there was none. Besides, merely being told the nature
of mysteries diminishes the fun in finding it out for yourself.
I hope the only reason you, the reader, are still perusing
this (overlong) essay is because you alone could not find
all the solutions. Don’t be fooled, though. I offer
explanations, but that doesn’t mean they are tried-and-true
facts.
So, with that being said, let’s analyze!
RSS Feeds