Telephone is a game that has quite often been used as an example of miscommunication. At the start of a line, a child says one thing to another, and by the time the information reaches the end, the message has been changed. The children will laugh, humored at the magic that has just taken place, but while this seems to be a fun game to them, the act itself has occurred in serious arguments outside of children’s activities. In “An Image of Africa: Racism in Heart of Darkness,” Chinua Achebe takes the ideas within Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness and labels them as pure acts of racism. Conrad’s gruesome novella delves into the brutal world of the Congo under Britain’s imperialistic ruling. The character that readers follow is a man named Marlow, …show more content…
a narrator speaking to the work’s actual protagonist. As readers learn of Marlow’s journey through imperialism’s destructive force, they find themselves seeing the racial and brutal acts that others commit. The novella’s content allows Achebe to argue that such a canon piece was written to make defamatory statements on the people of Africa. Separating the speaker from Conrad’s actual protagonist gives Conrad the opportunity to speak as he wishes, Achebe argues, without any heavy consequences placed onto himself. Actually, Achebe is glossing over the idea of what it means for Conrad to use a fictional character. Prose is devoted to telling a tale, and it is that what Conrad does; he uses a protagonist to pass a message that not many might have been able to see or say at the time that the novella was published. By Achebe making his argument through the method of holding a magnifying glass to a forest of ideas, he is twisting Conrad’s lkln5work and missing the construction process of a historically-based character. Achebe’s argument is founded on deep, reader-based analysis and what the novella’s themes exactly say about Conrad himself. No matter the genre, literature pulls from an author’s life. This major influence presents a certain world-view even after revision and editing. Conrad’s painting of Africa captivates readers with the brutality and gruesome imagery of imperialism and colonialism. He takes what he knows and presents it to readers in a format that they are comfortable with, yet Achebe argues that how this setting is shown is what presents Conrad as racist. Looking into the text, Achebe states that his argument is him “talking about a book which parades in the most vulgar fashion prejudices and insults” and him “talking about a story in which the very humanity of black people is called into question” (346). The text itself heavily focuses on the wrong that British colonists had done. It speaks of brutal killings and uses words such as “nigger” to tell its story. Conrad’s work is shown as racist because rather than show empathy when writing in such a way, the character Marlow simply continues to act and ignore any offense being given. Furthermore, Achebe writes, “Heart of Darkness portrays Africa as ‘the other world,’ the antithesis of Europe and therefore civilization, a place where man’s vaunted intelligence and refinement are finally mocked by triumphant beastiality.” (338). Achebe is arguing that Conrad has taken a developing country and made it into an obvious stereotype of what it means to not be civilized. Along with the use of offensive terms and portrayal of cultures, Achebe argues, the juxtaposition between countries is coming off too close to be anything but a coincidence. Even if Conrad had used a character to state how prosperous and beautiful Africa can be, the use of it in contrast to London is what creates racial tension. Conrad is using Africa to illustrate a world of madness and suffering, and because Conrad has set up Africa as some dark world uncaring to the lives of supposedly civilized men, he has ultimately painted his own ideas as racist and callous. As hard as Achebe has worked to show Heart of Darkness as painfully racist, fellow scholars question how exactly the famed author can find such an idea in a work like Conrad’s.
Achebe’s claim that the Thames is used as a civilized world that mocks Africa and its supposed “triumphant beastiality” is strong, but the setting itself may be seen as nothing special, causing confusion (338). Stuart Oliver, writer of “Navigability and Improvement of the River Thames,” writes that “the Thames has traditionally been used to provide consumable products, water power, and transport” (166). Any citizen of Britain could have used the Thames, including Conrad. His selection of this specific river may not be an attack on Africa but a logical choice in what was available. Conrad could have used the Thames when visiting the Congo, an idea only leading some to question their own knowledge and ideas of Conrad’s work. Caryl Phillips, a member of Yale University’s English department, states in “Was Joseph Conrad Really a Racist?” that she disagrees with Achebe, for she has “never viewed Conrad—as Achebe states in his lecture—as a thorough going racist” (60). “Conrad uses colonialization,” she writes, “...to explore [the novel’s] universal questions about man’s capacity for evil...I constantly ask myself, was Conrad really a racist? If so, how did I miss this?” (62). The themes Conrad uses are true to the world that surrounds his character Marlow. For Phillips, this is not an act of racism but a …show more content…
connection to the world surrounding the novel’s setting. “But is it not ridiculous to demand of Conrad that he imagine an African humanity that is totally out of line with both the times in which he was living and the larger purpose of his novel?” Phillips asks (63). Indeed, what Achebe misses throughout his argument, ultimately causing this misperception, is the idea that in order to portray a world realistic to whosoever sees it, an author must portray that world as realistically as possible. Achebe’s argument flounders because in order to craft a fictional tale based on reality, one must be as close to truth as possible.
Whether writing fiction or nonfiction, an author is tied to the basic premise of realism. The world that exists influences much of what is set in prose, even if fictional. Heart of Darkness, specifically, focuses on a setting that is very real and very true to what was happening at the time of its creation. It is this setting, Achebe claims, that explains Conrad’s racism. Achebe’s argument, though, misses the idea of realism because he is directly ignoring what Conrad is doing. Simply, it is not that Conrad tries to be racist in his work; it is that he must be racist because his subjects are creations of a very racist civilization. In On Writing: a Memoir of the Craft, best-selling author Stephen King asserts that when it comes to writing, one may write “anything [he or she] damn well [wants]. Anything at all...as long as [one tells] the truth” (158). From his terse and direct approach, King is ultimately supporting Conrad because writing requires its artists to be truthful and honest in their work. One must be able to write what is on his or her mind and show what is or what is not happening, which precludes any racism in Heart of Darkness, for Conrad is doing so. When Achebe states that Conrad “portrays Africa as ‘the other world’” through Marlow, it is because he is, just as anyone else would be doing coming from a nation bred to do so and
surrounded by such cruel racism (338). Both Marlow and the unknown protagonist retelling the story are creations of their western world; Conrad is not at fault because he is, as King writes, telling the truth, for he is providing a real image of Britain and its views on Africa. Just the same, Achebe does not believe in a book “which parades in the most vulgar fashion prejudices and insults,” but this is further ignoring what writing requires (346). Had Conrad taken his novella and twisted it to be more caring for the African people it discusses, the novella would not have been truthful to how men from England were treating the nation. The characters would be flawed and miss what Conrad was going for in its entirety. King may have written his work years after both Conrad and Achebe had written theirs, but his statement rings true for prose entirely. Achebe has taken someone’s fictional words and inner beliefs head-on and faltered in his argument. Heart of Darkness is not an easy piece to read. The themes and images within are dark and have been studied by many scholars for various reasons. Conrad uses the Thames and Congo River to look into the loss of humanity, but at no point can his work be stated as a racial attack, no matter how much Achebe peers into the work. Even though he seems to use every tool imaginable to try and prove his point, Achebe’s argument on Conrad fails because he, like a child, left out a key idea of prose: all fiction is based on reality. Had the reality been different and the novella be written the same, then unlike a children’s game, Achebe’s argument on Conrad being a thorough-going racist would stand against any argumentation.
Chinua Achebe, a well known writer, once gave a lecture at the University of Massachusetts about Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness, entitled "An image of Africa: Racism in Conrad's Heart of Darkness." Throughout his essay, Achebe notes how Conrad used Africa as a background only, and how he "set Africa up as a foil to Europe," (Achebe, p.251) while he also "projects the image of Africa as the other world,' the antithesis of Europe and therefore of civilizations" (Achebe, p.252). By his own interpretations of the text, Achebe shows that Conrad eliminates "The African as a human factor," thereby "reducing Africa to the role of props" (Achebe, p.257).
Three Works Cited The story is about a man named Marlow, who is hired by The Company, which is a shipping company located in England. Although Marlow had sailed before, he had never sailed to Africa. The people who operated The Company (those located in England) are so far removed from reality, that they have no concept of the devastation caused in order to ship vast loads of ivory. The Company is a perfect example of how these profit driven industries obtain their wealth – through the blatant disregard of the environment and their fellow man.
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.
...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.
In the present era of decolonization, Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness presents one of fictions 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 accepting blindly the arrogant attitude of the white male European and condemn Conrad to be a racist and imperialists. 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 novel merely portrays a fictional account of British imperialism in the African jungle, where fiction offers maximum entertainment it lacks in focus. The novel is not a critique of European colonialism and imperialism, but rather a presentation of colonialism and the theme of darkness throughout the novel sheds a negative light on the selfishness of humanity and the system that was taking advantage of the native peoples. In Joseph Conrad’s novel, Heart of Darkness, Conrad presents a criticism of British imperial colonization not for the purpose of taking sides, but with aims of bettering the system that was in place during Conrad’s experience in the African Congo. Conrad uses the character of Marlow and his original justification of imperialism so long as it was efficient and unselfish that was later transformed when the reality of colonialism displayed the selfishness of man, to show that colonialism throughout history displaces the needs of the mother country over the colonized peoples and is thus always selfish.
The entire dispute surrounding Heart of Darkness is reminiscent of the debate about Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. As in that debate, I tend to come down closer to Denby's opinion on Heart of Darkness than that of Achebe. Although I agree that Conrad was a racist, I also think that because of the time at which the book was written and the main focus of the book, this shading is, if not commendable, at least excusable.
In the 1900s novella Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad, the protagonist often encounters women at landmarks of his life. Charlie Marlow is a sailor and imperialist who sets out along the Congo River to “civilize” the “savages.” The novella begins with a crew on the Thames waiting for the tides to change. During their wait, a character named Marlow tells of his exploits on the African continent. In his recounted travels, Marlow meets other imperialists such as Mr. Kurtz, a man who is obsessed with the pursuit of ivory and riches. Like Mr. Kurtz, Marlow embarks across the African continent in hopes of earning both money and respect. One early critic of the novel, Edward Garnett, wrote in his review that “[Heart of Darkness] is simply a piece of art…the artist is intent on presenting his sensations in that sequence and arrangements whereby the meaning or meaninglessness of the white man in uncivilized Africa can be felt in its really significant aspects,” (Garnett). What Garnett fails to observe is that Heart of Darkness is not only an observation of “the white man,” but the white woman as well.
Every aspect in Conrad?s book has a deep meaning, which can then be linked to the light and dark imagery. In the novel there are two rivers, the Thames and the Congo. The...
"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.
In the novel, Heart of Darkness, the author Joseph Conrad makes some comments, and he uses different terms to describe people of color that may offend some people. Also the readers can see how racist the Europeans were toward blacks not only because they were turned into slaves. We can see how the European people seem to think the Africans are not equal to them. There are many examples of discrimination towards woman in this story. Women were looked down and they were considered to be worth less then men, or even not as important. Racism and discrimination are all over in this novel.
Literary theory gives people the opportunity to look at texts from different perspectives. It’s a tool that deepens personal understanding of texts. “Literary theory is the set of concepts and intellectual assumptions on which rests the work of interpreting literary texts.” (Brenton, Vice) It gives people the opportunity to look at texts from different perspectives. We all comprehend texts, art, etc. and literary theory helps us to understand literature a little better than we did before. You might read something and find a lot of details that you missed when you didn’t have literary theory to help you. For example, you can read something and feel like you have a complete and total understanding of everything you read and be wrong. Not to
In “An Image of Africa: Racism in Conrad's Heart of Darkness," Achebe takes notes the ways that Conrad degrades Africans by reducing their religious practices to misconception, belittling their complex geography to just a single mass of jungle, telling them to remain in their place, and taking away their capability of speaking. Achebe criticizes Joseph Conrad for his racist stereotypes towards the people of Africa. Achebe also sensibly labels these stereotypes and shows that Africa is in fact a rich land full of intelligent people who are, in fact, very human.
He states that many of Conrad’s critics simply see this as a stylistic flaw. Achebe believes that Conrad’s choice “the role of purveyor of comforting myths,” this being, according to Achebe, to guarantee him not to be in conflict with the “psychological predisposition of the reader.” [pg.2]. He first moved to analyzing Conrad’s distinction of the two rivers in the novel, but later moved to a more important topic, the “racism” towards blacks in the novel. He argues that their lack of speech is viewed as “dehumanized.”
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.