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Analysis of Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
Critical essays on heart of darkness
An image of africa essay summary
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Recommended: Analysis of Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
Achebe's Misinterpretation of Heart of Darkness
Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness is heralded by many as a classic, but over the years has presented many problems of interpretation. One of the most notable misinterpretations is Chinua Achebe's An Image of Africa: Racism in Conrad's Heart of Darkness. In it, Achebe points to various passages in the book that supposedly prove that Conrad and his book are racist, and that the book should be cast out of the canon of classic literature. This is a false and inaccurate interpretation, and Achebe's objectivity is hindered by his anti-western bias.
From the beginning, Achebe brazenly assumes that Conrad's narrator, Marlow, is simply a mouthpiece for Conrad's ideas. No more thought is given to the subject. Achebe never considers the fact that there maybe implications as to why Conrad chose a framing narrative to tell his story, and he chooses to ignore that perhaps by telling the story through the eyes of a seamen from Europe with firsthand imperialist experience of Africa, he could better expose the evils of imperial...
...s still evidence of two social classes in today's society. While not as distinct as those described by Margaret Atwood, men are more often in positions of power, they are often paid more, and there is less pressure on males to have a specific body type. Women are still viewed as conquest and recent events such as the video and shootings by Elliot Rodger is enough proof that a large group of people still believe that women owe them sex. However, media coverage has not focused on the well documented misogynist opinions of the shooter, instead focusing on his suspected mental illness. The warnings from a book written 30 years ago still ring true in today's society. In The Handmaids Tale, Atwood portrays two distinct social classes through her choice of words and uses her novel as an warning against the treatment and perception of modern day women by conservative men.
The novella Heart of Darkness has, since it's publication in 1899, caused much controversy and invited much criticism. While some have hailed it's author, Joseph Conrad as producing a work ahead of it's time in it's treatment and criticism of colonialist practices in the Congo, others, most notably Chinua Achebe, have criticized it for it's racist and sexist construction of cultural identity. Heart of Darkness can therefore be described as a text of it's time, as the cultural identity of the dominant society, that is, the European male is constructed in opposition to "the other", "the other" in Heart of Darkness being defined as black and/or female. Notions of cultural identity are largely constructed through language and setting and are essential to the reader's understanding of the text.
Thesis Statement: Both 1984 by George Orwell and The Handmaid 's Tale by Margaret Atwood are similar as they are placed in dystopian societies with governments that have complete control over their citizens, however, the roles of the narrator in both novels contrast each other. In 1984, the point of view is Limited Omniscient while the point of view in The Handmaid 's Tale is first person.
The Handmaids Tale is a poetic tale of a woman's survival as a Handmaid in the male dominated Republic of Gilead. Offred portrayed the struggle living as a Handmaid, essentially becoming a walking womb and a slave to mankind. Women throughout Gilead are oppressed because they are seen as "potentially threatening and subversive and therefore require strict control" (Callaway 48). The fear of women rebelling and taking control of society is stopped through acts such as the caste system, the ceremony and the creation of the Handmaids. The Republic of Gilead is surrounded with people being oppressed. In order for the Republic to continue running the way it is, a sense of control needs to be felt by the government. Without control Gilead will collapse.
Margaret Atwood's renowned science fiction novel, The Handmaid's Tale, was written in 1986 during the rise of the opposition to the feminist movement. Atwood, a Native American, was a vigorous supporter of this movement. The battle that existed between both sides of the women's rights issue inspired her to write this work. Because it was not clear just what the end result of the feminist movement would be, the author begins at the outset to prod her reader to consider where the story will end. Her purpose in writing this serious satire is to warn women of what the female gender stands to lose if the feminist movement were to fail. Atwood envisions a society of extreme changes in governmental, social, and mental oppression to make her point.
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.
Ernest Hemmingway is one of the greatest writers of all time. Like many great authors he was influenced by the world in which he lived. The environment that surrounded him influenced Hemmingway. These included such things as serving in the war and living in post war areas where people went to forget about the war. Another influence on his writings was his hobbies. He loved the great outdoors. He spent a lot of his time deep sea fishing and enjoying bull fighting. These influences had an impact on Hemmingway and they were expressed in his writing.
The Handmaid's Tale is a dystopian novel in which Atwood creates a world which seems absurd and near impossible. Women being kept in slavery only to create babies, cult like religious control over the population, and the deportation of an entire race, these things all seem like fiction. However Atwood's novel is closer to fact than fiction; all the events which take place in the story have a base in the real world as well as a historical precedent. Atwood establishes the world of Gilead on historical events as well as the social and political trends which were taking place during her life time in the 1980's. Atwood shows her audience through political and historical reference that Gilead was and is closer than most people realize.
Achebe, Chinua. An Image of Africa: Racism in Conrad's Heart of Darkness. New York: Wylie Agency, 2006. Print.
People in The Handmaids Tale are helpless in their society, making them give up their power and knowledge. Gilead created a state where only specific people get to have power, which creates a corruption of power. Power creates misery and paranoia for people in Gilead. In Gilead, people had their freedom taken from them, later creating a totalitarian state.
From my dating experiences in the past, I have come to realize that of all the different guys that there are two main types. The first one I call the heartbreaker and the other is the sweetheart. This observation, that I have made, is not based on appearance, and it is mostly based on my own opinion.
The novel, The Handmaid's Tale, by Margaret Atwood focuses on the choices made by the society of Gilead in which the preservation and security of mankind is more highly regarded than freedom or happiness. This society has undergone many physical changes that have led to extreme psychological ramifications. I think that Ms. Atwood believes that the possibility of our society becoming as that of Gilead is very evident in the choices that we make today and from what has occured in the past. Our actions will inevitably catch up to us when we are most vulnerable.
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 Conrad’s “methods amount to no more than a steady, ponderous, fake-ritualistic repetition of two antithetical sentences.”
Achebe, Chinua. "An Image of Africa: Racism in Conrad's Heart of Darkness." Heart of Darkness: An Authoritative Text, Backgrounds and Sources, Essays in Criticism. 3rd ed. Ed. Robert Kimbrough. New York: W.W. Norton, 1988. 251-262.
Heart of Darkness is a story in which racism presents itself so deliberately that, for many, the dilemma of race must be tackled before anything else in the book may be dealt with. Conrad used derogatory, outdated and offensive terminology to devaluate people’s color as savages. This use of language disturbs many readers who read this book. Although Conrad uses racist language in this book, it doesn’t mean that he is really racist. When we look at the language, we are just looking at the very surface of the story.