What a great read! I was a lit major and tried to write papers like yours, and failed miserably (and am still struggling).

I read "Heart of Darkness" and Kafka in my youth. They rose above other literature for me because they uniquely were the world as it really is -- things were not explained because they can't be explained.

Have you heard of the novel "A Good Man in Africa"? It's an interesting contrast or inversion, because its hero is so comically and pathetically hapless.

Back to literary criticism: How do we know Marlow's inadequacies of perspective weren't Conrad's? Could Conrad have been blind to the same things as Marlow?

Your "paper" was a real joy to read and ponder. Thank you!