Realism And Racism In Conrad's Heart Of Darkness

Things Fall Apart was written in response to Heart of Darkness in 1958, therefore, Things Fall Apart automatically has contrasting themes, symbols, and characters that are meant to oppose those set in Conrad’s novella. With the growing popularity of African literature, critics began to question the realism portrayed in each work. Viewing this situation through this lens raises questions about what would be a truthful depiction and what would be a biased depiction. Analyzing this situation through mimeticism and realism, is one way in which this could be observed. In Susan Andrade’s novel, A Forum on Fiction 42.2, she states:

“Mimeticism was the order of the day, and because it was then bound up with rationality and freedom struggles, the form mimeticism took was realism, the narrative mode for telling stories of the subjugation of rational people. Realism has often been understood rather simply as

Chinua Achebe states in his essay, “An Image of Africa: Racism in Conrad’s Heart of Darkness”, that, “Africa is to Europe as the picture is to Dorian Gray--a carrier onto whom the master unloads his physical and moral deformities so that he may go forward, erect and immaculate. Consequently Africa is something to be avoided just as the picture has to be hidden away to safeguard the man’s jeopardous integrity” (Achebe, p. 259-260). Achebe is essentially arguing that Conrad’s portrayal of civilization uses Africa as a scapegoat so that it can hide the hypocrisy of European imperialism. It is not Africa that is responsible for their madness, but it is their own delusion. Additionally, this doubles as a driving force in regards to the creation of Things Fall Apart where Achebe contrasts this theme through the explanation of the Igbo tribe’s structure and order that was in place before the arrival of the