Heart Of Darkness By Joseph Conrad

Filled with an enigmatic darkness, Heart of Darkness is layered with a very detailed blend of character development involving personality changes and an obvious plethora of racist ideologies. The way in which Conrad writes allows the reader to find a rather interesting and even exciting read. The story itself is filled with rich detail to provoke imagery. Symbolism and allegory can be found everywhere in the novel, focusing largely on the inherent darkness that surrounds and possibly influence us. Heart of Darkness is a classic that we should use to teach. Of course racism makes up the novel in of itself, but the imagery and detail that Conrad is able to evoke can offset the racism. The novel can be compared to that of Sherlock Holmes – both cause the reader to yearn to unravel the mysteries within them – a great piece of literature. Conrad’s work should not be completely lost or forgotten – being taught in schools could be the perfect case for its use.

One of the most reoccuring themes in the novel Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad, is the theme of race, more specifically, racism by the European and American characters towards the African characters. Critics of the book condemn Conrad as being racist, while others claim that it is just representative of the time period and that how Conrad depicted certain characters and groups within the novel was not uncommon during the time period that the book was written. Published in 1899, at that time it was not unusual for white people to have racist views towards people of other races. Whether or not Conrad was aware that some of the statements made in the book were racist and whether or not he actually intended for race to play as such a large

In the video documentary, “Africa, Voyage of Discovery: Different but Equal,” Dr. Basil Davidson generates many major arguments that favor the ancient and present culture and civilization of Africa. He challenges people who envision Africa to be inferior to other societies, or believe that the people of Africa are uncivilized and uneducated. He examined a variety of past documents who were written by Western explorers, who knew little to nothing about Africa, and formed their degrading opinions. The Westerners opinions, or their ‘declaration of facts’ were discriminating stereotypes which altered people’s perception of Africa. Africa was then forced to be inferior to those of Western Europe.

Achebe argues that the racist observed in the Heart of Darkness is expressed due to the western psychology or as Achebe states “desire,” this being to show Africa as an antithesis to Europe. He first states Conrad as “one of the great stylists of modern fiction.” [pg.1] He praises Conrad’s talents in writing but believes Conrad’s obvious racism has not been addressed. He later describes in more detail that

Chinua Achebe, a well-known writer, once gave a lecture at the University of Massachusetts about Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness, entitled "An Image of Africa: Racism in Conrad's Heart of Darkness." Throughout his essay, Achebe notes how Conrad used Africa as a background only, and how he "set Africa up as a foil to Europe,"(Achebe, p.251) while he also "projects the image of Africa as 'the other world,' the antithesis of Europe and therefore of civilization."(Achebe, p.252) By his own interpretations of the text, Achebe shows that Conrad eliminates "the African as a human factor," thereby "reducing Africa to the role of props."(Achebe, p.257)

Achebe comments on Conrad’s work as a hidden product of racism because criticisms for Heart of Darkness

Achebe misinterprets Conrad's work, and exhibits opacity to the narrative's message. He seems to purport, as any reader, a subjective interpretative reading of Conrad's book, with the peculiarity

He uses derogatory and offensive remarks that devalue people of color and make them out to be savages. Chinua Achebe, a well-known writer, talked about Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness, entitled "An Image of Africa: Racism in Conrad's Heart of Darkness." Throughout his essay, Achebe notes how Conrad "set Africa up as a foil to Europe,"(Achebe) while he also "projects the image of Africa as “the other world”. Africa is said to be a “prehistoric” world. Conrad described this land as non-advanced and inferior to the western countries.

Through contemplation of Joseph Conrad’s complex descriptions and ideas of life in Africa, or the heart of darkness, it can be established that he is, in fact, not racist. Conrad was simply expressing the dark, uncivilized manners of the African people to contrast the light European hoi polloi and the unfair dehumanization of slaves in his time period.

Achebe passionately believes that the book is racist and the writer of it is to. He thinks the book should not be taught and analyzed in learning centers anymore. He has expressed his thoughts through lecters and pieces of writing or interviews. One of the pieces of work is An Image of Africa: Racism in Conrad’s Heart of Darkness where he clearly shows his opinions and gives evidence for it. Something that he used for a quote from the book that clearly shows the racism is, “We are accustomed to look upon the shackled form of a conquered monster, but there-there you could look at a thing monstrous and free. It was unearthly and the men were-No, they were not inhuman.”. That quote shows the racism that is in Heart of Darkness about how he explains Africans. The writer uses very strong words by explaining Africans as “monster” and throughout the book he says similar things. He portrays characters in a way that the white men are above the black and also how he uses no Africans as main character. He just uses them as a backdrop for the story, Achebe also made that point in his writing. The racism is clearly shown throughout the

Chinua Achebe says that Conrad does "not hint, clearly and adequately at an alternative frame of reference by which we may judge the actions and opinions of his characters." Achebe says that Marlow is saying Conrad’s thoughts and believes. Those who think that “Heart of Darkness” is racist, say that many books of the time period are influenced by experiences of the author. This novel says that the Africans are savages and are good for nothing unless there is a white man to rule over them. In response to this statement Chinua Achebe has written “Things Fall Apart”. This novel shows that the Africans not only have order in their communities, but family, music, economy, laws, a class system, religion, farming techniques, and is a patriarchy system, like the Europeans. But Achebe doesn’t present his culture as a perfect society, like Europe is presented. He shows the flaws in society

In the story Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad a sailor decides to travel to Africa on a whim, using family connections he enlists as the captain of a ship travelling up the Congo River. The novella provides many themes, however is the text in itself racist? One of the main concepts portrayed in Heart of Darkness is the treatment of the natives of Africa and their image. This is most commonly shown through the disparity of the image between what is said in the novel and what can be read through subtext.

Chinua Achebe creates a strong argument against Joseph Conrad, attempting to point out the racism innate within Conrad's "Heart of Darkness. In Achebe's essay, he explicitly said, "Joseph Conrad was a thoroughgoing racist" (343). Achebe depicts the narration, and setting of "Heart of Darkness" to further prove his point. But, he falls short in one aspect of his argument, when he decides to declassify "Heart of Darkness" as a great work of art.

Achebe criticizes Schweitzer’s statement that “The African is indeed my brother but my junior brother.” Moreover, Achebe denounces Schweitzer’s hospital, which had “standards of hygiene reminiscent of medical practice in the days before germ theory of disease came into being.” His critique is very clear: calling an African a “junior brother” and building a contaminated hospital does not make Schweitzer a hero. Watts disagrees. Upon arguing that some liberalism (as it was shown in Conrad’s novel) is better than no liberalism, Watt’s affirms “Albert Schweitzer’s hospital was a big improvement on no hospital at all.” Watts goes one step further and criticizes Achebe’s entire view on liberalism, claiming that “in his treatment of liberalism Achebe seems to be assailing what he should try to defend.” In this, Watts reveals a deep misinterpretation of Achebe’s words. Achebe is not against, nor does he assail, liberalism. Of course having a hospital is better than having no hospital at all. What Achebe is conveying is that showing some liberal tendencies in writing a novel with a few critiques of imperialism, is not nearly enough. He is criticizing the white men who believe that, by writing a few sentences, or building an unfit hospital, they do their part to help end imperialism and racial

Racism is incredibly evident to readers in Joseph Conrad's famous novel, Heart of Darkness. Readers are able to easily identify the repulsive treatment of African Americans through protagonist character Marlow's eyes. Many are repelled by the incredibly grotesque description of the native Africans as "savages". However, the underlying theme of sexism is often overlooked in Conrad's writing. He uses his characters to express his own opinions on a woman's place in society-or lack thereof. Though this book was written over 100 years ago, it is incredibly ironic how relevant this trend is to-day. Present-day America pushes so hard to distance itself from racial prejudices-whereas prejudices against women are not only frequently recurring in society,