African American Imperialism Analysis

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 civilization."(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)

In Achebe’s essay, he writes, “Heart of Darkness, projects the image of Africa as “the other world,” the antithesis of Europe and therefore of civilization, a place where man’s vaunted intelligence and refinement are finally mocked by triumphant bestiality.” Conrad says to juxtapose Africa to Europe and how they are different from one another. By using

It makes no sense for Achebe to stretch his information so far to come to this conclusion. It also makes no sense for Achebe to question Conrad’s description of the continent while Conrad has made the trip into the country. Achebe says, “I will not accept just any traveler’s tales solely on the grounds that I have not made the journey myself” (7). Achebe has never been to the Congo like Conrad has, yet he has the audacity to question what Conrad witnessed there while Achebe’s father was a baby. Achebe accuses Conrad of depicting Africa incorrectly without having ever having stepped foot into the continent, which makes him even more clueless to the Africa of Conrad’s age. He declares that Conrad of making Africans seem more savage than they actually were, while unable to even imagine how they were so long ago. Achebe charges Conrad with racism and ignorance while completely dismissing his own. Although Achebe is a celebrated author, at many points during this essay his arguments are weak, even pathetic because of the irrational conclusions that he comes to. This gives a preview to the carelessness of his essay that becomes evident upon further inspection.

Achebe is a reactionary. From Things Fall Apart, to his criticism of Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, a novella that is an allegory against the imperialism, racism, and colonialism that plagued the world during the late nineteenth century and the early twentieth century, a novella that tries to show the hypocrisy of the European countries; Achebe is reacting negatively to this novella that proves that European white guilt, the white man’s burden, are lies because Achebe does not want to see the evidence but wants to react with emotion. It is true Europeans never went to Africa to make the African continent like Europe; they never went to truly colonize for the benefit of the African people, nor did they go to truly spread their religion.

Achebe’s first allegation is that Conrad, and Western society in general, develops Africa “as a foil to Europe” in order to draw attention to

Conrad’s Heart of Darkness illustrates how the power from the imperialism that the Europeans have causes them to treat the native people of Congo Africa as slaves and as bodies that are meant for work. Conrad expresses the horrors of the Europeans toward the natives of Congo through the state of the natives’ bodies. Conrad describes the Congo as though it is a graveyard for all of the natives that are being treated as slaves by the Europeans. The natives in the setting are characterized as living inferior to the Europeans that come to conquer the land. In “Envisioning Africa: Racism and Imperialism in Conrad’s ‘Heart of Darkness,’” Peter Firchow examines Heart of Darkness and the allegations of racism against the novel. In response to Heart of Darkness, Firchow states how Conrad’s own experiences to Africa may play a role in his perception of the Congo and Africa in general. Firchow focuses on how Conrad draws racism into Heart of Darkness by exploring “misrepresentations of Africa and Africans”. The “misrepresentations” of Africans include how the natives are assumed to be weak and poor although their type of civilization is the opposite of the Europeans and of Conrad’s. The poor state the Africans are assumed by the Europeans to be a call for help. Misrepresentations of Africa are further described as being an opportunity to explore one’s hidden, dark inner self. The poor state that Africans live in can easily be overruled by stronger forces such as European countries. Imperialism places a strong suit in the overruling of the Africans as Europeans start to

Throughout Chinua Achebe’s novel Things Fall Apart, Achebe addresses various criticisms stated in an essay written about Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness. In the article, written by Achebe, Achebe mentions Conrad’s ruthless denunciations on African people and their humanity, Africa as being an antithesis to Europe, and further—western desire for things being in their place. Through these affirmations, Achebe argues mercilessly that Conrad is undeniably a racist, and that Heart of Darkness is a toxic novella, which through its poeticism and dense imagery undermines a race with utmost prejudice (“An Image of Africa: Racism in Conrad’s Heart of Darkness.” 1-8). Moreover, as evidence will show, one undoubtedly sees that these arguments transpire elegantly onto the pages within Achebe's Things Fall Apart.

Casting aside Conrad’s primacy in the literary canon, Achebe is extremely critical of his stance towards the corrupt ethics of the Empire that manifests in his personal life and his works, all the while taking into consideration the distinct social milieu that has shaped both. In his essay “An Image of Africa: Racism in

Initially, in “An Image of Africa” Chinua Achebe states his respect for Conrad despite his resentment toward his racist sentiments. Conrad is only acknowledged as a good writes, instead of as a racist, which Achebe feels is unfair and ‘a shame.’ To bring Conrad’s racism to light, Achebe begins his argument by explaining, broadly, that Conrad used Africa in contrast to Europe to show good versus evil. He says,“Quite simply it is the desire--one might indeed say the need-- in Western psychology to set

Joseph Conrad’s 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 154) as though the continent could neither breed nor support any true human life. Conrad lived through a time when European colonies were scattered all over the world. This phenomenon and the doctrine of colonialism bought into at his time obviously influenced his views at the time of Heart of Darkness publication. Very few people saw anything amiss with colonialism in Africa and the African people. From a Eurocentric point of view, colonialism was the natural next-step in any powerful countries political agenda. The colonizers did not pay heed to the native peoples in their territories, nor did they think of the natives as anything but savages. In the Heart of Darkness, Joseph Conrad uses Marlow to contradict the acts of man and the destruction they brought forth to Africa and their people. Conrad shows, through fiction, that the blindness and lack of morality in Africa allowed for the release of the darkness from the hearts of the colonists.

Joseph Conrad often mocked the African peoples. In his novel, Heart of Darkness, he referred to the African people as “savages” and used strong language that looked down upon them. Conrad describes a passing native, “They passed me within six inches, without a glance, with that complete, deathlike indifference of unhappy savages.” Conrad depicts the Africans in very vivid descriptions and uses negative language with an almost disgusted tone. He sees the Africans as inhuman, feels they are not civilized, and believes himself to be far more superior than them. Conrad does not bother to try and understand their culture or language. He insults their language and believes it is merely just incomprehensible grunts. Conrad remarks that looking at an African “was as edifying as seeing a dog in a parody of breeches and a feather hat, walking on his hind legs.” The comparison he uses is very insulting to the African people and so degrading that Conrad found an African working as so surprising. He was taken away that an African could be civilized and Conrad was just mocking the natives. By using such cynical language, Conrad changes what the readers think of Africans to become negative. This view of African peoples from Conrad contrasts Achebe’s perspective of African peoples and their lives which was more influenced by his own race, culture, and beliefs just as Conrad’s novel was.

In the article "An Image of Africa: Racism in Conrad's Heart of Darkness," Chinua Achebe criticizes Joseph Conrad for his racist views toward the natives of Africa. After one reads Achebe’s critique, it is clear that Conrad wanted the novella to be perceived as a racist text. Conrad depicts the uncivilized treatment of nonwhites during the period of colonization without condemning such actions. After analyzing Achebe’s famous work and Conrad’s novella I have come to agree with Achebe; Conrad “was a thoroughgoing racist.” (Achebe) Heart of Darkness portrays this position clearly. Throughout the novella, Conrad describes and represents the Africans and Africa itself in a racist way. According to Chinua Achebe, the harsh behavior of English people towards the natives, the lack of equality felt by the English towards the Africans, and the word choices of the English to and about the savages reveal Conrad's racist position in the work.

In an interview with Chinua Achebe, a renowned professor of Language and Literature in African Studies, Caryl Phillips discusses the topic of Joseph Conrad and the claim made by Achebe in his lecture, “An Image of Africa: Racism in Conrad’s Heart of Darkness”, that Conrad was a racist and his novella, Heart of Darkness, was not an attack on imperialism, but rather, a philosophical analysis on the psyche of the European mind as a result of colonization.

Nassab continues to say that Conrad may have been influenced by Authors with a similar view of Africa such as Henry Stanleys, ‘The dark Continent’ Quoting Chinua Achebe, Nassaab tells us this was, and still is, ‘The dominant image of Africa in the Western imagination and Conrad merely brought the peculiar gifts of his own mind to bear it’. Conrads constant portrayal of Africans as Barbarians, and uneducated savages, reflects Africa as the antithesis of Europe. This preconception was based largely on a lack of knowledge thus leaving Europeans predisposed to viewing Africans in this way.

In Achebe’s “An Image of Africa,” he discusses aspects of the Heart of Darkness that make it racist, concluding upon Conrad being “a thoroughgoing racist.” Achebe defends his argument based on the white desire to view Africa as “a foil to Europe.” He continues analyzing Conrad’s antithesis between Europe and Africa, the River Thames and the River Congo, as well as Mr. Kurtz’s Mistress and his Intended. Achebe compares each showing how they set apart Europe as civilized and Africa as savage. He elaborates on the comparison referencing the “meaning of Heart of Darkness” and the fascination with the distant relation between the civilized and savage. Achebe challenges Conrad on the grounds of his accuracy, since Conrad speaks as a traveler and was “notoriously inaccurate,” and on the grounds of the vulgarity of Heart of Darkness in its dehumanization of Africans. Achebe interprets these grounds as part of Westerners’ “need for constant reassurance [of superiority and civility] in comparison with Africa.” These reasons defend Achebe’s conclusion of racism in Conrad’s Heart of Darkness (Chinua Achebe).