Racism In Heart Of Darkness Analysis

In his essay "An Image of Africa: Racism in Conrad’s Heart of Darkness" Chinua Achebe argues that Joseph Conrad 's novel Heart of Darkness is a racist piece of art. Achebe believes that Africa and Africans are represented in the novel through Conrad 's eyes, not the way they really are, which gives the reader the wrong impression about the continent and the people as a whole. He also assures that the racism found in the novel is because Conrad 's own racist ideas and beliefs. Conrad 's intentions, whether he is a racist or not, are not clear, as the novel is written from the perspective of a foreign white man in a strange country. Conrad does not intend to be a racist, but his novel Heart of Darkness may look like to be one. Achebe, in the

This notion of inferiority, for Achebe, is the main reason behind Conrad 's racism. The first example of racism in the novel is the difference between River Thames and River Congo. Conrad begins the novel on the River Thames which is calm and peaceful, Conrad says "The old river in its broad reach rested unruffled at the decline of day, after ages of good service done to the race that peopled its banks, spread out in the tranquil dignity of a waterway leading to the uttermost ends of the earth" (pt.1, p.4). Yet, the story takes place on the River Congo

Well, you know, that was the worst of it—this suspicion of their not being inhuman. It would come slowly to one. They howled and leaped, and spun, and made horrid faces; but what thrilled you was just the thought of their humanity" (pt.II, p.58). Another example is when Conrad says "It was very curious to see the contrast of expressions of the white men and of the black fellows of our crew" (pt.II, p.65). One more example is when Conrad describes an African women, he says " She was savage and superb, wild-eyed and magnificent" (pt.III, p.101). Conrad also mocks the African people 's language, he says "they shouted periodically together strings of amazing words that resembled no sounds of human language; and the deep murmurs of the crowd, interrupted suddenly, were like the responses of some satanic litany" (pt.III, p112). Conrad refers to the Africans as "savage," "black," and "inhumane," and he is referring to Africa as "unearthly," which is an unpleasant way of describing a country and its people, at least for an African reader as Achebe. Conrad also refers to the African language as "satanic litany." These