Pages 29-31

“Do you see the story? Do you see anything? It seems to me I am trying to tell you a dream—making a vain attempt, because no relation of a dream can convey the dream-sensation, that commingling of absurdity, surprise, and bewilderment in a tremor of struggling revolt, that notion of being captured by the incredible which is of the very essence of dreams….”

He was silent for a while.

“… No, it is impossible; it is impossible to convey the life-sensation of any given epoch of one’s existence—that which makes its truth, its meaning—its subtle and penetrating essence. It is impossible. We live, as we dream—alone….”

In this passage, Marlow is speaking as if he is talking directly to the reader, exclaiming how even his best attempt will fall short in conveying the dream-like sensation of his experience. He comments on how sometimes people are faced with “life-sensations”  and how those experiences are the very elements that give a person meaning and contribute to their existence. Though these are impossible to convey.