Heart Of Darkness By Joseph Conrad

An essay, An Image of Africa: Racism in Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, written by Chinua Achebe came from an amended version of the second Chancellor’s Lecture at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, February 1975; later publish in the Massachusetts Review, vol. 18, no. 4, winter 1977, Amherst. This essay is regarding to the racism that was used in Conrad’s novel, Heart of Darkness, and how it influenced the topic at hand of Achebe’s essay. Achebe was not happy when he noticed the racial remarks being used in the books and how no one really focused on them and wanted to fix the problems. Chinua was brave enough to write an essay, even after Conrad’s death, to express his opinions on racism in Heart of Darkness, but also remarks on other racial factors that happen in other countries. His main idea is to prove that racism is a problem and that “Joseph Conrad was thoroughgoing racist.” I agree with Achebe’s opinions because he uses a lot of evidence to support his claim, and by reading the actual novel, I too believe he is a racist because of the words that were used to describe the Africans’ appearance and their actions.

Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness has allowed me to view the world through a multitude of new lenses. In seeing Kurtz and Marlow’s disintegration when removed from society’s watchful eye, I began to understand that all people have a streak of darkness in them under the right circumstances. While the narrator, and many readers at the time of this novella’s publication, believed that the African natives being colonized were “savages”, this book sheds light on the true brutes in this scenario: the thoughtless Europeans. The other complexity that I never truly understood until reading this book, is the idea that there is a single story told about Africans in Western literature. Africa is portrayed as weak, primitive, and impoverished in most books

The Heart of Darkness, by Joseph Conrad, is one of the most critically debated novellas of its time. It is about a man, named Marlow, who joins the Trading Company, specifically having to do with the ivory trade, so that he can adventure into the African Congo. The setting of this story is around the time of the colonization of Africa. Due to the time period and the sensitive things that are addressed in the story, there are many ethical decisions and dilemmas found in the Heart of Darkness. This is discovered in the time period itself, in Kurtz’s decisions, and in Marlow’s loyalty.

Joseph Conrad’s novella, Heart of Darkness, was written in 1899, near the end of the imperialism of Africa. Far from European civilization, the imperialists are without rules and ransacking Africa in search ivory and glory. One of the most significant themes in Heart of Darkness is the psychological issues catalyzed by the lawlessness of the jungle. Due to the breakdown of societal convention, the characters of Heart of Darkness are exposed to not only the corruption of imperialism, but the sickness of their minds.

Written in the late 1800’s, Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness is a novella about one man’s travel into the Congo Free State by way of the Congo River. The title “Heart of Darkness” actually holds two different meanings. Heart of Darkness is both a metaphor for a psychological “dark side” of man, and an allusion to Africa. The title suggests both a physical and mental reference.

Edward Said, author of “Two Visions in the Heart of Darkness”, provides commentary on the work of Conrad exclaiming that Conrad provided readers a sense of humanity to the inhumane treatments regarding colonization by European powers. Said understands that the primary theme of Conrad’s Heart of Darkness lies in the dissonance of culture and purpose of these African citizens as a result of imperialism.

The novel Heart of Darkness, by Joseph Conrad, contains several implications of racism that can be further understood based on Conrad’s diction, symbolism, and background. Conrad is shown to be racist through close scrutinization of his wording. Throughout the story, Conrad uses diction that is odd and shocking for readers. Conrad’s choice of words is derogatory and condescending when he makes it seem like the people who live in the Congo are less than Europeans, as though they are not even human. Singh says “he uses words like brutal, monstrous, vengeful, implacable, inscrutable, evil, accursed, hopeless, dark, and pitiless so constantly in talking about Africa that the people of Africa begin to be tinged by the qualities that these words

Joseph Conrad’s novella Heart of Darkness is the story of a man who was sent into the depths of the African jungle to obtain ivory. On this quest the protagonist, Marlow, becomes aware of the oppression set forth by the European settlers in the African Congo. A major subject of dispute set forth in this book is the manner in which these social atrocities are described. Joseph Conrad’s descriptions of the African natives and the setting in which the story takes place have long been dismissed simply as usage of the racist language and ideals of the time. But there seems to be a deeper meaning in his usage of this language.

Human is a term associated with many connotations. Humans encase the ability to stick to their morals in a time when most would differ on the easier path. When humans chose to keep their own morals it demonstrates flexibility as well as willingness to take risks. These ideas web together because people take a risk keeping to their own morals and therefore exhibit the ability to adapt to any situation. Flexibility is a characteristic that most people default to in order to seek a sense of comfort. Humans try their best to be comfortable in a situation because comfort and success are believed to be proportional. Heart of Darkness, by Joseph Conrad, could imply that being human means to display morality, flexibility towards all situations, and willingness to take risks.

Joseph Conrad’s novella, Heart of Darkness, effectively exposed the racism that was common during his lifetime. Through the harsh behavior and word choice of the characters and narrator, Conrad displays the uncivilized treatment of nonwhites that occurred during the period of colonization. Edward Garnett, an English writer and critic, summarized the plot of Heart of Darkness as being “an impression… of the civilizing methods of a certain great European Trading Company face to face with the “nigger” (145 Heart of darkness backgrounds and Criticisms). Conrad use of harsh language and terrifying situations, which were based off of his own experiences, capture the audience’s attention and helps them see the cruelty of the European

When Marlow sees the disturbing fence, he realizes what he has gotten himself into. He sees head on a fence surrounding the home that Kurtz is leaving in. This shows that Kurtz is coldhearted and by doing this to the natives heads it shows that they want to conquer the land and make it civilized.

When read at face value, Joseph Conrad’s novella, Heart of Darkness, portrays a tale of white, imperial, oppression of the African natives of the Congo. However, when viewed through the lenses of psychoanalysis and feminism, different interpretations emerge. Psychoanalysis provides a glimpse into the mind of Marlow. The story reads as if it takes place within a dream world. Feminist theory examines the perceptible qualities associated with women. Each theory presents a new way of interpreting and understanding the character development and imagery within the story.

In Joseph Conrad’s, Heart of Darkness, there can be many literary images found within that develop the idea of horror. Heart of Darkness is noted for its horror within the Congo between the Africans and the Europeans. The horror in Heart of Darkness is a contribution of many ideas that are formed and contributed from the European colonists. The purpose of this essay aims to argue that the horror in and of the novella, Heart of Darkness is from literary images that correlate within the ideas of racism, colonization, and imperialism.

Joseph Conrad was born by the name Jozej Teodor Konrad Korzeniowski on Dec. 3, 1857. He was an English novelist and short story writer who wrote many titles to include Lord Jim, Nostromo, and The secret Agent. He was known for his richness of the use of prose and also using his encounters with living on the high seas. His reputation as a great story teller covers up his great fascination when people are faced with nature’s invaraiable unconcern, man’s frequent malevolence, and his inner battle with good and evil. Conrad’s father was a poet and a polish patriot who was arrested and sent in to exile in late 1861. Conrad was introduced to English at the young age of eight while listening to his father translate some great

In “An Image of Africa”, Chinua Achebe comes to the bold conclusion that Joseph Conrad “was a bloody racist” (788), with his discussion centering primarily on Conrad’s Heart of Darkness as a racist text. Achebe’s reasoning for this branding rests on the claims that Conrad depicts Africa as “a place of negations at once remote and vaguely familiar in comparison with which Europe 's own state of spiritual grace will be manifest” (783), that Africans in Heart of Darkness are dehumanized through both the characterization of individual Africans and the Congo as a setting, and finally that Marlow is no more than a mouthpiece for Conrad’s personal views on race and imperialism. However, Achebe makes critical oversights and contradictions in the development of each of these argumentative pillars, which prove fatal to the validity of his overarching contention. This should not be construed, though, as a yes-or-no assessment of whether Conrad was a racist outside of what his written work suggests—Achebe himself has “neither the desire nor, indeed, the competence to do so with the tools of the social and biological sciences” (783)—but as an assessment of claims specific to Heart of Darkness and their implications for Conrad’s views and attitudes.