Eurocentric Perspective In Heart Of Darkness

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I have to agree with the statement that ‘the novel Heart of Darkness has two contradictory sides in its treatment of the African characters and land’. I can see the reasons why it is said that while Joseph Conrad writes about the feeling of sympathy he felt for the native Africans in the novel, at the same time he actually writes the novel from a Eurocentric point of view. I cannot deny it that there are positive things that show some of the Europeans are not too good that were being portrayed in the novel, but for me it was just so that the readers would not realize the fact that it was written from a Eurocentric point of view. In this essay, I will provide some details and quotations from the novella and also from other sources in order to make my opinion concrete on why I agree with the statement. From what I have read, Joseph Conrad wrote the novel using his own experiences from his early life in Congo. In addition, in the novel, Marlow is the main character so I assume that Marlow is actually the representation of Joseph Conrad himself.
First of all, as we take a look at the title of the novel, which is Heart of Darkness, the word darkness itself sounds so gloomy, so devilish-like, and dark with no light. I am not trying to be racist but as we all know the fact that native Africans are dark-skinned people. So looking at the title of the novel, in my own opinion, it is literally and also figuratively referring or naming the Africans. However that is just my humble opinion. Other than that, I once read an opinion that said “even the title of the novel emphasizes the darkness of Africa”. So when I read the summary of the novel again, I finally realize the heart of darkness that Joseph Conrad wanted to convey is actually the jung...

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...me curious is when Marlow says that Thames River “has been one of the dark places of the earth”. At first I did not understand why but then as I read the analysis from people who had analyze the story thoroughly, I found out that it “means the river is enlightened now, and represents European Enlightenment and civilization, it is the antithesis of what the Congo River stands for now: darkness, savagery, and blind terror”. Looking through the point of view of Eurocentric for a country like Africa, it is only regarded as the antithesis of Europe. By saying that, it is like Europe itself, claims Africa as “the other world”. It is said by Ashcroft et al. that it is crucial for Europe to create “the other” in the novel of Heart of Darkness, so that they can demark and place itself as higher in rank to “one part of human race,” which is in this story, the native Africans.

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