ABSTRACT:Joseph Conrad is a pioneer of modernist writers in British literary history, and “An Outpost of Progress” is a short story of his early works. The novel had shaped a number of classic characters, and these characters had also shown different relationship in colorful states. In a large extent, different social and historical background combine with economic base had formed the different concepts of characters, and directly impact on the degree of close relationship between them. The relationship has changed in a certain extent with the changing of living social background. In short, the combination of formed concepts and specific social and historical background is the key factor of the degree of characters’ relationship in this short story. This article will try to use the combination of social and historical background as well as view of historical materialism, to analyze the relationship of characters in the short story.

Key Words: relationship; social and historical background; Marxism historical materialism;

摘  要:约瑟夫·康拉德是英国文学史上现代主义作家的先驱, 《进步前哨》是他的早期创作的短篇小说。小说中塑造了多个经典的人物形象， 这些人物之间的关系也呈现出缤纷多彩的状态。在很大程度上,不同的社会历史背景和经济基础使主人公形成不同的固有观念，并直接影响到他们之间的关系。这些关系也在一定程度上随着生活的社会背景改变而改变。简而言之，文中主人公在原有社会形成的固有观念和特定的社会历史背景的结合是导致其关系亲疏的关键因素。本文将试着使用把社会历史背景与历史唯物主义的观点相结合的方式对小说中的人物关系做出分析。

关键词： 关系；社会历史背景；马克思历史唯物主义