S Heart Of Darkness And Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart

In Chinua Achebe's novel Things Fall Apart, the Ibo society has a strict system of behavioral customs that are assigned by gender. These customs restrict the freedom of Ibo woman and help to reinforce generation after generation the notion that Ibo men are superior to women. In Achebe's essay An Image of Africa: Racism in Conrad's Heart of Darkness, he claims that Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness, despite it's insights, ought to be eradicated from literature as an appropriate piece of work on the argument that it is racist. Achebe focuses on gender roles and avoiding stereotypes to dismiss the racist attitude towards Africans in his novel by bringing the reader down to the level of his unbiased narration of a historical fiction novel.

Another similarity in both of these novels is how the African natives are viewed by the white colonists. In the Heart of Darkness, Conrad portrays how the colonists viewed the African tribesmen early on the novel. Conrad does this by showing the interaction between Marlow and his aunt when she relates to him her wishes in him assisting in, “weaning those ignorant millions of their horrid ways” (Conrad). She makes this statement even though she has never traveled to Africa, but only has prejudiced impression of the African people as illiterate brutes. This mindset seems to be prevalent in Europeans in this time period and this because of myths and stories shared by those who have never been to the country.

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.

Joseph Conrad 's Heart of Darkness is both a dramatic tale of an arduous trek into the Belgian Congo at the turn of the twentieth century and a symbolic journey into the deepest recesses of human nature. On a literal level, through Marlow 's narration, Conrad provides a searing indictment of European colonial exploitation inflicted upon African natives. By employing several allegoric symbols this account depicts the futility of the European presence in Africa.

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.

Joseph Conrad was quite the rebel in his day. The celebrated author not only wrote a novella, Heart of Darkness, which offered a condemnation of the imperial tendencies of European nations toward Africa; but he also dared to challenge the established symbolism norms of his predecessors, including Mary Shelley and Nathaniel Hawthorne. Conrad’s novella, set in Africa of the early twentieth

Achebe reads Joseph Conrad’s novel, Heart of Darkness, and realizes that it’s extremely racist and stereotypical. In parts of Conrad’s book he calls the African people “Savage”, “Prehistoric” and “Wild”. Achebe finds Conrad’s work unfair in the way it is told. It gives the idea that Africans really are savage and wild. Achebe writes an essay that clearly points out many of the racist and rude comments towards Africans.

Conrad’s depictions of the African natives and the operations being carried out in the stations of the Congo seem to vary throughout the entirety of The Heart of Darkness. At times there are condemnatory statements made about the so called savages, while at other times, Marlow develops a friendship of sorts with his African helmsman. Ultimately though, Conrad’s portrayal of the ivory trade and overall imperialistic policies employed by European countries upon Africa is one of denouncement. This novella is written with an unmistakable denigration for the so called civilization mission and for the ill treatment of the natives. Far more superior technology paired with the sense of duty to spread civilization resulted in the abuse of the people

While there are many novels written about white colonization in Africa, Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart illustrates the views of not only the Nigerian people in Igbo but also the white imperialist side of the story. Achebe wrote the novel as a response to other books about the colonization of Africa, which were typically written by white men. Joseph Conrad, among many other authors wrote African characters as less intelligent and primitive humans who were better off after the colonization of Africa. Achebe shows the reader that the people of Igbo had a fully functioning civilization with a developed religion, language, and political system. They were not just a helpless, uneducated civilization waiting for someone to come and reconstruct

Literature has for centuries used to bring out an artist perception of the happenings in the community and also counter certain perceptions that some people may have in regards to a certain community. For a long time, the continent of Africa and Africans have been stereotyped as being uncivilized. Chinua Achebe who is one of the most renowned African writers in his book Things Fall apart counters the stereotyping of Africans by narrating the story of an African community that boasts of development and intellectuals. It is significant to note that the primary reason as to why Chinua Achebe wrote the novel Things fall apart was to counter the stereo types such as Joseph Conrad towards the continent of Africa. According to Conrad Africans were savages who did not have a specific language to communicate but used grants.

In Things Fall Apart, Okonkwo’s “whole life was dominated by his fear, the fear of failure and of weakness” (page 13). Achebe showed Okonkwo’s struggle with fear and strength throughout the novel. He was a great wrestler and warrior, and a great farmer of yams in Umofia. He was a hardworking and motivated man, unlike his father, who Okonkwo thought was lazy. Although the tribe viewed him as a strong and powerful leader, he struggled with inner fear. His life was dominated by fear. He lived in fear of being considered weak, being a failure, and being like his father. Although Okonkwo struggles with inner fear, he is also portrayed as a character with strength because he makes a living, supports his family, and is successful in his job. Chinua Achebe is proposing that strength is being superior to others without having to be violent, having titles, and not allowing fear to stop you from what you want to do.

In his famous critical essay, “An Image of Africa” (1975), Chinua Achebe takes a strong stance against Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness. He asserts that Conrad was a racist and his novella is a product of his racism. A following quote that is good to show Achebe opinion for Conrad is:

The late Chinua Achebe is considered to be one of the most important voices in African literature. Born in colonial Nigeria in the 1930’s, Achebe joined the first wave of African writers who were determined to represent their country in a way that would truthfully depict the past and present. Before the arrival of the first wave writers, the history of pre-colonial Africa was portrayed as a place of barbarous activity. European novelists such as Joseph Conrad only added to this impression in his dehumanizing book, The Heart of Darkness. Conrad depicted Africa as the antithesis of civilization. In 1958, Achebe published Things Fall Apart as a response to the negative

Chinua Achebe writes Things Fall Apart in rebuttal against Joseph Conrad’s novel, Heart of Darkness. Achebe's novel Things Fall Apart is the search for values in a world that is constantly beset by change. It depicts three cycles. In the first cycle Achebe depicts Ibo tribal life before the coming of the British near the end of the nineteenth century. This makes way for the beginning of the twentieth century and the Europeanisation of Africa with all of its implied consequences for the issues, challenges, and future of a post-colonial Africa.

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).