Fog Revisited

Part II of Joseph Conrad's novel, "Heart of Darkness", depicts Charlie Marlow's journey being conveniently interrupted by the "whiteness of a blinding mist". Marlow's experience with a palpable fog establishes a parallelism with Chief Bromden's hallucinative fog in Ken Kesey's, "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest". But do both fogs deliver the same message?

In "OFOCN", Bromden claims that he feels the safest when going unnoticed by hiding behind a symbolic, blinding fog that builds up whenever he feels fear. Marlow, similarly, feels comfortable in the fog that encapsulates his steamboat; it reassures him that no native attack will likely happen. Although he is overwhelmed by how the mist makes them practically blind, he is calm. Marlow knows, much like Chief Bromden did in "OFOCN", that nothing will happen to them if they stay hidden in the fog. It is some sort of a "if I do not see them, they will not see me" mentality that really seems to work out for human beings.

Overcoming the fog what allowed Chief Bromden from "OFOCN" to extricate the ward. However, escaping the fog was what led Marlow's steamboat to a shower of lethal arrow. Marlow acquired a greater panorama once the mist faded out, but his crew is now vulnerable again; the steamboat is not hidden anymore. But which of the two situations is better? Should we stay hidden behind our fears or should we overcome them and face all the possible consequences that may arise?

The concept of fog has appeared twice in two consecutive, unrelated novels. It represents, in both, the safety of hiding behind one's fears. Marlow and his crew escape the fog as they navigate up the river and closer to Mr. Kurtz's station, while Chief Bromden escapes the fog once he establishes a relationship with McMurphy. Is the symbolism of both fogs reliant on the existence of these two particular characters?