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Symbolic importance of "heart of Darkness
Racism theme in heart of darkness
An image of africa racism in conrad's heart of darkness analysis
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Heart of Darkness: Racist or not?
Many critics, including Chinua Achebe in his essay "An Image of Africa: Racism in Conrad's Heart of Darkness", have made the claim that Joseph Conrad's novel Heart of Darkness, despite the insights which it offers into the human condition, ought to be removed from the canon of Western literature. This claim is based on the supposition that the novel is racist, more so than other novels of its time. While it can be read in this way, it is possible to look under the surface and create an interpretation of Conrad's novel that does not require the supposition of extreme racism on the part of Conrad. Furthermore, we must keep in mind that Conrad was a product of a rather racist period in history, and it seems unfair to penalize him for not being able to transcend his contemporaries in this respect.
This novel, it seems, must be read in a symbolic manner. Objects and characters are not so simple as they seem. Achebe tells us: "Quite simply it is the desire... in Western psychology to set Africa up as a foil to Europe, as a place of negations at once remote and vaguely familiar, in comparison with which Europe's own state of spiritual grace will be manifest" (251-252). If Africa is a foil to Europe, as stated here, then perhaps Conrad only uses the continent of Africa symbolically, without regard to its people - as Achebe himself states, descriptions of Africans as anything more than vague limbs in the darkness are few and far between in the novel. The opposition between light and darkness in the novel, far from being Conrad's own, is traditional in Western literature. Conrad simply uses the most familiar of symbols for the dichotomy between good and evil to enhance his novel's psycho...
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.... One might also argue that while Marlow is racist, Conrad is not - something like the scenario in another famous river novel, Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. However, I reject this claim - Marlow does the vast majority of the speaking in this novel, and so the reader identifies him as the novel's narrative voice even though there is, strictly speaking, a frame story outside of this.
Finally, even if Conrad was more racist than other authors of his time, why is this so significant? The novel is still valuable as an object of art, for the psychological insights it offers both into the human condition at large and into the motivations of European imperialism and colonization. A novel such as this should not be removed from the canon on the simple basis of its offensive potential. All great literature must have at least the potential to offend.
Racism is a relative term. While many people argue that Conrad's novel, Heart of Darkness, contains the theme of racism, they tend to ignore the fact that this novel was written around the turn of the century. During this time period it was accepted practice to think of a black man as savage because that was how the popular culture viewed the African American race. If someone called a black man "savage" today, that someone would be considered a racist. Of course, this turn of the century view of blacks is inexcusable but it was the accepted norm of the time. The problem is that modern critics tend to apply modern thinking to all novels, including those written in a specific time period with beliefs different from today. These critics do not incorporate the context of the novel and simply rage forward with a directed, ignorant viewpoint, arguing from a more civilized stance. The definition of a racist has changed a great deal since the early 1900s, and we must consider this when analyzing any piece of literature. The problem arises when modern thinkers assume that we must continue to build on our ever-expanding knowledge instead of looking into the past and trying to relate to the accepted views of the time.
In the present era of decolonization, Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness presents one of fiction’s strongest accounts of British imperialism. Conrad’s attitude towards imperialism and race has been the subject of much literary and historical debate. Many literary critics view Conrad as blindly accepting the arrogant attitude of the white male European and condemn Conrad to be a racist and imperialist. The other side vehemently defends Conrad, perceiving the novel to be an attack on imperialism and the colonial experience. Understanding the two viewpoints side by side provides a unique understanding that leads to a commonality that both share; the novel simply presents a criticism of colonialists in Africa.
The first significant reference to legend occurs when Wittman is putting his entire night's worth of writing into the incinerator (42). As he does so, he reflects on the arrival of Monkey, Tripitaka and friends at the Western Paradise. They secure the sacred scriptures, and are on their way home to china when curious Monkey takes a peek at the books, only to find that the pages are blank. They return to Paradise to complain, and because their spiritual incapacity makes hem unable to absorb the truths of a blank text, are given pages with writing on them. But it turns out that the Heart Sutra's wisdom concerns the emptiness of inherent existence, and the blank text was the right way to express that truth after all. Kingston is illustrating the frustration Wittman feels at having to put into words the truths that are obvious to him.
Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness shows the disparity between the European ideal of civilization and the reality of it, displayed by the domination, torture, exploitation and dehumanization of the African people. Conrad often emphasizes the idea of what is civilized versus what is primitive or savage. While reading the novel, the reader can picture how savage the Europeans seem. They are cruel and devious towards the very people they are supposed to be helping.
"I don't want to bother you much with what happened to me personally,' [Conrad] began, showing in this remark the weakness of many tellers of tales who seem so often unaware of what their audience would most like to hear" (Conrad, 9). Heart of Darkness, Joseph Conrad's best-known work, has been examined on many bases more than I can possibly list here, but including imperialism, colonialism, and racism. I would reason that all bases of analysis are perfectly acceptable through which to critique Conrad's novella, or any piece of writing. I would reason this, were some of these bases mainly, racism not taken to an extreme level. In arguing racism, many critics seem to take Heart of Darkness as Conrad's unwavering view on Africa, Africans, life, or whatever else one may please to take it as. I, therefore, propose that Heart of Darkness be taken for what it truly is: a work of fiction set in late 19th century Europe and Africa.
...nters many of the degrading stereotypes that colonial literature has placed on Africa. In his lecture, "An Image of Africa: Racism in Conrad's Heart of Darkness," Achebe documents the ways that Conrad dehumanizes Africans by reducing their religious practices to superstition, saying that they should remain in their place, taking away their ability of speech, and depreciating their complex geography to just a single mass of jungle. Achebe carefully crafts Things Fall Apart to counter these stereotypes and show that Africa is in fact a rich land full of intelligent people who are, in fact, very human.
I agree with that fact that his use of offensive terms for the African, definitely shows, at least a more modern day reader, that the narrative is racist. I also agree with his view that the presence of what should be the main subject of the novella is very absent in many parts of the novella, the Africans. As Achebe states on page 346 of the Norton critical edition, “But more importantly by far is the abundant testimony about Conrad’s savages which we could gather if we were so inclined from other sources and which might lead us to think that these people must have had other occupations besides merging into the evil forest or materializing out of it simply to plague Marlow and his dispirited band”. Even with all this said I would not completely condemn this book as Achebe does because I don’t believe Conrad really intended it to be racist. It might be a very racist novella as Achebe states but, much of that racism can be contributed to the time period, and the novella it gives an interesting view in other aspects such as its depiction of
In recent years, the debate over the merits versus the racial shortcomings of Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness has raged hot. Many, notably David Denby and Chinua Achebe, have come down on one side or another of the issue. I contend, with the help of the written opinions of Denby and Achebe, that Heart of Darkness, while racist in its views, is nonetheless a valuable and commendable work of art.
Achebe, Chinua. An Image of Africa: Racism in Conrad's Heart of Darkness. New York: Wylie Agency, 2006. Print.
One of Achebe’s main points is that the dehumanization of Africa and Africans has fostered and will continue to foster unless otherwise opposed. As Achebe begins to move away from the novel and towards Conrad’s life, he states that Conrad was born, at a time, when the black population was viewed at a low level. Achebe describes the accuracy of Conrad’s view of the people of the Congo as “grossly inadequate even at the height. of King Leopold’s International Association for the Civilization of Central Africa.” [pg.6] Achebe states that Conrad’s image of Africa is not of his own, but of the Western imagination and that Conrad is simply showing the norm.
* Watts, Cedric. “‘A Bloody Racist’: About Achebe’s View of Conrad” in Joseph Conrad; Critical Assessments, Keith Carabine, ed., Volume II: ‘The Critical Response: Almayer’s Folly to The Mirror of the Sea’ (Mountfield: Helm Information Ltd., 1992)
In the article "An Image of Africa: Racism in Conrad's Heart of Darkness," Chinua Achebe criticizes Joseph Conrad for his racist stereotypes towards the people of Africa. He claims that Conrad broadcasted the "dominant image of Africa in the Western imagination" rather than portraying the continent in its true form (Achebe 13). Africans were portrayed in Conrad's novel as inhuman savages with no language other than sound and with no "other occupations besides merging into the evil forest or materializing out of it simply to plague Marlow" (Achebe 7). To Joseph Conrad, the Africans were not just characters in his story, but rather props. After reading Achebe’s famous essay and Conrad’s novella I’ve come to side with Achebe. Conrad “was a thoroughgoing racist”; Heart of Darkness platforms this clearly. Throughout the novella Conrad describes and represents the Africans and Africa itself in a patronizing and racist way.
By exhibiting the deeds of the Europeans, their portrayal becomes so negative that they become the savages. Conrad clearly is sympathetic to the plight of the Africans, and any racial epithets, if not accepted by progressives of the time, are not meant as attacks directed at the natives. It should be obvious that Conrad is on their side -- or is this "undermined by the mindlessness of its context and the pretty explicit
Conrad uses the character of Marlow to make use of his own thoughts and views about the people in the Congo. He feels pity for them as he sees them falling down carrying heavy packages and Kurtz commanding them like a batallion of troups. This sight angers Marlow and when he gets to Kurtz, it’s too late. Even he has been pulled in by the darkness. Conrad makes an effective distinction between Marlow and Kurtz.
Joseph Conrad's novel Heart of Darkness portrays an image of Africa that is dark and inhuman. Not only does he describe the actual, physical continent of Africa as "so hopeless and so dark, so impenetrable to human thought, so pitiless to human weakness" (Conrad 94), as though the continent could neither breed nor support any true human life, but he also manages to depict Africans as though they are not worthy of the respect commonly due to the white man. At one point the main character, Marlow, describes one of the paths he follows: "Can't say I saw any road or any upkeep, unless the body of a middle-aged negro, with a bullet-hole in the forehead, upon which I absolutely stumbled three miles farther on, may be considered as a permanent improvement" (48). Conrad's description of Africa and Africans served to misinform the Western world, and went uncontested for many years.