Heart Of Darkness Conrad Racist Quotes

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When I read and finished the novel, my initial thoughts were, “Wow, this guy is really racist.” That negative disposition towards Conrad slowly developed as I read more and more vivid descriptions of Africans. Every single detail regarding Africans in the novel held animalistic qualities. They were never regarded as people, and often there were parts in the novel where the author would describe them as “poor devil”s or would regard their “savage” actions such as “stamping feet on the bank” etc. There was never any positive. Also, I recall there being a ridiculous moment in the novel where Conrad paints an African man as a “dog in a parody of breeches”. Seriously? At this very moment I was livid; I felt that the descriptions were totally unnecessary. …show more content…

He did not hate black people. Ameya and Roxy both based their arguments on the fact that Conrad did not understand the culture of Africa and that he was a “disrespectful visitor” (from “The Case Against Conrad” article). This spoke volumes for me. I immediately thought about my recent trip to Kosovo. I too was a “disrespectful visitor” just like Conrad. Upon arrival in Kosovo, I saw people who were polar opposites of us Americans. I saw people milking cows, walking everywhere, farming, and genuinely not caring about materialistic things. They dressed different than us. They looked different than us. They spoke differently and had different mannerisms. For this, my family and I made fun of them. “Do you see how they dress? It’s terrible!” I would exclaim. Instead of seeing the positives in what they did (such as spending time together, eating together, and being close-knit) I saw the extremes. I judged these people based off of milking cows or using outhouses. I saw them as much more primitive than America which was booming with technology. This correlates to Conrad’s views. He came from Europe which was much more advanced than Africa. He was very different than the people in Africa and saw them negatively for it. Rather than respecting their “Taboo Subjects: ordinary domestic scenes, love between Africans, etc” as seen in “How to Write About Africa”, he completely disrespects them and only pays attention to the extremes

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