Achebe’s article also states that Heart of Darkness allegedly makes use of the dichotomy between the river Thames and the Congo River to juxtaposition the light and dark, or civilized and savage themes of the novella.
Joseph Conrad also is purported to have deliberately influenced the reader’s emotions and perception through a combination of adjective and prose. He effectively delivers an immense amount of imagery and is able to convey thought in an allegedly crafty and tricky way, therefore influencing the readers mind on the subjects in the novella.
Achebe’s article alleges that Joseph Conrad also portrayed the indigenous peoples of Africa as savage and sub-human quite brazenly with open remarks that place the humanity of the Africans under question. Heart of Darkness supposedly also gave stereotypical remarks about the Africans which directly influenced the reader’s image of the natives. Joseph Conrad supposedly gave great detail to some Africans such as Kurt’s mistress; however they also apparently suggest that even this woman is only nearly capable of being a civilized human being. Achebe submits to the reader that dialogue between the Africans and the civilized Europeans (such as Marlow) were some of Conrads greatest remarks on the state of the Indigenous, including the cannibals.
Achebe also states that Joseph Conrad purportedly used his character Marlow, as a vessel to convey his racism without being criticized for his supposedly racist remarks in the book.
Achebe responds to many points students of heart of darkness have made to him, mainly on the subject of racism, by alleging that the book does spend a considerable amount of time on Kurtz’s deterioration in the jungle, but more importantly, that Africa was the setting for this corrosion of civilization.
Achebe concludes his article by surmising that people in our present day and age (or that of 1974) do not view the novella or Joseph Conrad himself as racist, because such an attitude towards Africans was normal in his time. He concludes however, by stating that its alleged racism may have been acceptable at the time, but it’s supposedly racist message still finds its way into classrooms of the modern age.
Achebe’s article claims that Conrad’s experience, documented through his very eyes (or at least those of Marlow’s) is allegedly not the genesis for the image of Africa that the reader experience, but rather the very common image the Western world held of Africa. Conrad was supposedly only perpetuating this already quite familiar western idea of Africa.
You May Also Find These Documents Helpful
-
In Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, the main character, Marlow travels through the Congo, witnessing scenes of torture, cruelty and near-slavery. The incidental scenery of the book offers a harsh picture of colonial enterprise. The book is regarded as an attack on imperialism and criticizes the immoral treatments of the European colonizers in Africa in the 19th century. However, the dehumanization of the Africans, and use of Africa as a backdrop setting for Marlow’s thought process, rather than an important focus has to do with hypocrisy inherent in the rhetoric used to justify imperialism.…
- 1795 Words
- 8 Pages
Powerful Essays -
Even though The Heart Of Darkness has two different views about the fate of imperialism the pessimistic view and the optimistic view, both views closely relate to the views depicted in Apocalypse Now Redux. “But at first glance you could see there a singleness of intention, an honest concern for the right way of doing work which made these humble pages thought out so many years ago luminous with another than a professional light.” All throughout the book and the movie the depiction of Kurtz is realized to be frightening…
- 411 Words
- 2 Pages
Satisfactory Essays -
The iniquity of the hearts of men precipitates the moral and social depravity of the entire population. In Heart of Darkness, by Joseph Conrad, Marlow finds that barbarism and savagery are universal among nations, and that the common man is able to be influenced by the slightest of impulses. The distinctive evil that roams Europe soon pervades newly discovered Africa and allows the darkness to fill the land. The European colonizers brought not only civilization and enlightenment to the land of the Congo, but also savagery and utter corruption. Throughout his journey, Marlow learns of the darkness of human kind, their hearts, and their minds through…
- 765 Words
- 4 Pages
Satisfactory Essays -
After setting foot on the land and beginning his journey to the Inner Station, Marlow observes a group of slaves, from which a particular one stands out in his decimated clothing and deprived appearance. Marlow, in vain, offers the slave a biscuit immediately before they die of hunger right before his eyes (28). This simple encounter echoes the irrefutable damages caused by imperialism and the idea that no matter what anyone does to try and reverse the effects, including Europeans themselves, the damage that has been done has been set in stone for centuries to come. As noted in Edward Said’s essay critiquing Heart of Darkness, “Conrad… could clearly see… imperialism was pure dominance, [but] he could not conclude that imperialism had to end so that natives could lead lives free of European domination” (Said par. 18). This quote unequivocally supports the notion that Europe became a necessary crutch for Africa, and provides evidence for the transformation of darkness to convey the idea of the long-lasting effects of…
- 994 Words
- 4 Pages
Good Essays -
The Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad is regarded as one of the most superlative novels of English literature written in the twentieth century. However, the ideas and notions presented by Conrad in this story has generated quite a bit of controversy among academic scholars and literature experts who believe the novel creates a sense of racial animosity towards the African continent and its people. With further analyzation it can be inferred that this novel does indeed show signs of racial enmity and presents a rather deplorable situation in which one must evaluate if Conrad himself is a racist. Some would argue that his novel was…
- 997 Words
- 4 Pages
Good Essays -
Instead, it paints a controversial historical account of the culture in African tribes and societies, defying the Western imperialist views that have dominated the minds of many. Through Umuofian tribe, Achebe shows his readers that African culture is more than imbellic, and unthorough; instead, it's complex, unique, and rational. He also dispels the stereotypes that African countries and tribes are savages with no sense of government, by showing the functionality and stability of the Umuofian government. Lastly, he disregards the blame that has been put on Africans for their dysfunctionality by people like Joseph Conrad and the District Commissioner, and puts accurate blame on the colonizers. In Achebe’s critical article about Conrad’s Heart of Darkness he states: “The real question is the dehumanization of Africa and Africans which this age-long attitude has fostered and continues to foster in the world” (An Image of Africa 4). His argument is that these Western imperialist accounts of Africa have remained the imperious story of Africa through many years. His argument is valid; these accounts have shaped and sculpted not only the peripheral and outsiders minds, but also the minds of many Africans today. In one of his later expositions; The Novelist as Teacher, Achebe states, "I would be quite satisfied if my novels…
- 1471 Words
- 6 Pages
Better Essays -
In Heart of Darkness what initially stuck out to me was the extent in which Joseph Conrad describes the un-human like qualities of Africans. At one point in the excerpt Conrad calls africans a “prehistoric man”, and at another point describes the way in which the Africans live as a “madhouse”. It seemed to me as if he was not looking at a people rather Conrad was looking onto Africans as if they were caged animals simply there as a resource for Conrad and his men. The overall condescending nature of the excerpt frankly made the passages difficult for me to read. Mainly it called into question for me how a person can look at another human being as somehow innately inferior to himself.…
- 693 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
In this excerpt from the novel, Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad, the author effectively portrays the Congo River as an inhospitable location unfit for human existence. Through Conrad’s diction, syntax and detail of the environment, the author reveals a great deal of psychological stress, due to the hostile environment, which leads to physical anguish.…
- 543 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
In Neil Bissoondath’s “I’m Not Racist But…” the narrator intends to bring awareness to his readers on the connection between stereotyping and racism and condemns such acts against one another, while in Joseph Conrad’s “Heart of Darkness, the protagonist informs his audience on the consequences of African colonization. Bissoondath’s work is oriented to educate the reader in the different types of racial acts leading to hatred, abuse or enforcement of power toward any given group of people. He condemns their use whether ignorantly or intentionally. Conrad’s work however, informs the reader of how the goals of the European settlers in Africa, such as ….., led them to exploit the Africans and their raw materials for the purpose of earning profits.…
- 830 Words
- 4 Pages
Good Essays -
Heart of Darkness is a very bias story about the imperialism of Africa. Conrad’s purpose for writing this story was to inform Europeans about the African colonization, but fails to show the African’s perspective. Throughout the novella many examples of bias occurred. For example, he uses inflammatory language when he compared the Africans to “dark things” and “red eyed devil” (Conrad 11). Furthermore, there are claims that elevate what the Europeans were doing is good and justified. “I was a part of the great cause of these high and just proceedings” (Conrad 11). Let alone, there are also demeaning words to the Africans that call them creatures and unearthly with no differentiating characteristics. “Black shapes…
- 720 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
Throughout Heart of Darkness, the reader receives Joseph Conrad’s portrayal of Africa and its people under a remarkably demeaning light. When the author was born in 1857, racial tensions were at a heightened point in history and Conrad used the novel as a vehicle to advance his innately racist views. During the late nineteenth century, Imperialism struck Africa, leaving harmful effects on many of the native people and marking a dark moment in human history. The colonization of Africa, which had significant economic incentives behind it, ultimately led to intensely strained relationships between white Europeans and black natives, especially in Central Africa. Charles Marlow, the protagonist, is regularly confronted with the racism that stained…
- 1756 Words
- 8 Pages
Better Essays -
Joseph Conrad does not consider the good of the culture, but instead judges it. In “The Heart of Darkness”, he portrays Africans to be savages,inhuman, and people who can be exploited. In Achebe’s novel “Things Fall Apart, Africans are represented as people capable of speech, not just one massive group of natives. There culture is not regarded as strange, but as normal…
- 328 Words
- 2 Pages
Satisfactory Essays -
The heart of darkness can be read as a political critique of western imperialism as exercised by the Belgians, who more or less raped the Congo of its resources while brutalizing the country's people and making them slaves of unbridled political avarice.…
- 1531 Words
- 7 Pages
Good Essays -
Hawkins argues that Conrad implements the evolutionary trope in Heart of Darkness, but also exposes the downfall of Europeans by showing their desire for merciless control and inhumane actions to control the African colonies. An evolutionary trope is a developmental logic that white civilization is more advanced than African civilizations (Lecture 2/16/17). Kurtz himself is a representation of Europe because he is a civilized man who becomes barbaric and savage after living in Africa. In addition, Hawkins noted that in Heart of Darkness, racism explicitly occurred as “Conrad likely didn’t show more of the Africans because he wanted to focus on the Europeans” (370). Much like Kurtz himself, Conrad and Marlow conceal a lot in their use of sophisticated words and diction. In addition, their high-strung eloquence is very underrated; people will do anything that the voice asks them to do, including the African people. Ultimately, by denying the humanity of Africa, Europeans are destroying their own humanity, and therefore, Europe is destroying…
- 1593 Words
- 7 Pages
Powerful Essays -
Heart of Darkness is a captivating adventure tale of a journey into the Belgian Congo designed to give us a thrill. The main character, Marlow, is intrigued by the mystery of Africa as represented on the map and travels up the Congo to seek the unknowns in Africa. We’re told Marlow’s journey into the jungles of Africa, getting a glimpse of the provoked attacks on other Europeans for ivory. Joseph Conrad creates a symbolic journey into Africa, digging deep into the darkness of human conscience.…
- 510 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays