You can read Part One of this series here.
THE RIVER, so beguiling with beauty, is filled with dangers. Immediately after Charlie agrees to continue with the journey, the two confront their first trial. The German fort of Shoma overlooks the river and the Queen must pass without incident. As Charlie and Rose hunker beneath the sides of the boat, German rifle fire strikes the engine and the boxes carrying explosives. After the boiler’s hose comes undone, Charlie must expose himself to the shooting to fix it. A German officer gets him in the scope of his rifle but before he is able to shoot, he is blinded by the sun. Soon the Queen is safely out of range.
Free of the German guns, Charlie and Rose have no time to celebrate. The boat immediately enters a stretch of rapids even worse than the previous whitewater. Thanks to some deft piloting, the boat descends a succession of falls, avoiding rocks which would tear it to pieces. Somehow the engine keeps running and the boat remains upright. At last the water is calm and the boat is still in one piece. The two masters of the river celebrate their accomplishment. Charlie, overcome with joy, kisses Rose who, surprised by his affection, does not find it unwelcome.
From this point on, Charlie’s transformation is rapid. Never again does he ridicule Rose for her impractical suggestions. Instead, he takes her seriously, even if he thinks her plans will lead to their destruction. Ironically, the journey becomes all the more joyful even as the dangers grow more severe. Once Charlie gives himself to a more noble purpose, even if it is a fool’s errand, life becomes more satisfying. The idea of whiling away his time drinking and smoking becomes just as preposterous to him as it is to his high-minded shipmate.
The next trial that the couple face is perhaps the greatest in the story. They have reached the part of the river where it branches into innumerable channels forming a marshy labyrinth. With no map to guide them, Charlie and Rose know that taking the wrong turn will be fatal. In the towering papyrus they will be hidden from the Germans but prone to hunger, disease and whatever predators lurk in the overgrowth.
As the vegetation grows thicker around them, the pace of the boat slows to a crawl. Pretty soon Charlie and Rose must punt the boat forward with poles thrust into the muck. After some time, even this strategy is inadequate. Charlie is compelled to get into the water and haul the boat forward. The Sisyphean chore becomes even more torturous when they discover leeches covering his body. After Rose removes the ‘filthy buggers’, Charlie re-enters the water, dreading the parasites that await him. Like Christ on his way to Calvary, Charlie proceeds against every instinct of his body, moved only by the love of Rose and his sense of duty. The scene provides one of the most iconic images from the movie.
It is a miracle that Rose and Charlie have made it this far but finally the boat is stuck fast and there is no chance of going back. With no strength left to give, the two heroes lie collapsed on the deck of the boat. Their only comfort is the fact that they are together and that the boat, which has become their home, remains intact. Despite their failure to achieve their goal and the prospect of imminent death, Charlie is almost happy. ‘I’m not one bit sorry I came,’ he whispers to Rose before passing out.
The transformation of Charlie to this point is remarkable and probably for many viewers unbelievable. What could have driven him to this point? How does Charlie go from a man content with an easy and predictable life to a heroic figure who is, in Rose’s words, ‘the greatest man who ever lived’? The answer is two words: love and shame.
Until Charlie took Rose aboard his boat, he was content with a life of routine and simple comfort. He was usefully engaged in an honest job, with predicable rewards. No doubt travelling up and down the Ulanga River had its dangers, but they were manageable, just enough to focus his attention and make the time pass quickly. We do not know how Charlie came to possess his boat. But he was certainly proud of it, apparently content to live out his days plying the river and getting drunk in the evenings.
The moment Charlie takes Rose aboard, the meagreness of his situation begins to appear to him. Charlie has shared his boat with rough deckhands before but never has he had the company of a lady, never mind a missionary with a high sense of decorum. The craft is small and the engine is barely functional. Although the ship is well stocked, gin, cigarettes and explosives are hardly marks of refinement. The most dignified item on board is the tea Charlie serves to Rose, which he makes from rusty water poured from the ship’s boiler. The ship lacks any means of privacy, save for the engine dividing prow and stern. A small awning covers the rear, barely enough to keep out the rain, which comes frequently in torrents.
Charlie is not embarrassed by any of this. Indeed, he seems proud of the boat’s spartan simplicity. Nevertheless, he is attracted to the slender elegance that Rose brings. Once he has accepted the destruction of his liquor, he begins to warm to her way of life. He washes and shaves. He cleans the engine, inside and out, saying it’s the best she’s looked in years. The morning after their triumphant escape from the Germans, and implied intimacy, Rose brings tea to Charlie as he feigns sleep on the deck. ‘That’s more like it,’ he says, ‘Breakfast in bed!’ Rosie has converted the African Queen into a home and Charlie enjoys a new level of happiness.
Yet all the comforts that Rose imparts to him are by no means gratuitous. All her affection is contingent on Charlie’s living up to her high standards. And Rose’s standards of virtue are far higher than anyone’s he has ever known. His drunken protests about her ‘absurd ideas’ have a childlike character to them. True, his knowledge of the boat and the river are vastly superior to Rose’s and his judgment of the surrounding dangers is more sound. But Rose’s objective is more noble and her courage more pronounced. He is forced to concede that her proposal to blow up the German gunboat is not impossible, and that the only thing standing in the way is his will. Out of a growing love for Rose and a desire to measure up to her ideals, he takes on the challenge. When he succeeds, first by eluding the Germans and then by descending safely the rapids, he basks in her admiration and praise.
To be continued
