Stereotypes In Things Fall Apart

The native African people and the African setting are both metaphors for darkness to enable Conrad to reveal the evil in all of humanity. Kurtz’s book stated that “we whites... ‘must necessarily appear to them [savages] in the nature of supernatural beings’” emphasizing the European viewpoint before journeying into Africa (65). Marlow also believed that these natives were savages until he too went into Africa, but upon all the chaos and uncleanliness of Africa, the Accountant maintained “an unexpected elegance” (21). The Accountant preserves his appearance among the untidiness because he clings to his ideals of civility and organization. However, the natives are mistreated and one even “had tied a bit of white worsted round his neck” (20).

A famous criticism of Conrad’s novella is called An Image of Africa, which was written by an African native named Chinua Achebe. In Achebe’s criticisms of Heart of Darkness, he points out the difference between descriptions of the European woman and the African woman, who was Kurtz’s mistress. The narrator describes the European woman as being calm and mature, and the African woman as being “savage” (341 Norton). Even though many writers claim that Marlow is kind to the Africans by bringing light to their situation, the real problem does not lie in his description of their situations, but his descriptions of the people themselves (30 Heart of darkness Interpretations).

Things Fall Apart follows the events in the life of the main character, Okonkwo. Additionally, the book follows mini-storylines of other characters, such as Obierika. A family is very large in Ibo society because a man typically has more than one wife and children with each wife. Okonkwo has many children, but his oldest son, Nwoye, was crucial in the development of ideas in the novel. Nwoye did not conform to Okonkwo’s ideals, therefore, Nwoye felt out of place in his family. The missionaries aimed to convert people who were outcasts or out of place in the village, to give them a sense of belonging. When the Christian missionaries came to the Okonkwo’s village of Umuofia, the primary people converting were outcasts. This is explicitly said when the Achebe remarks, “None of his converts was a man whose word was heeded in the assembly of the people” (Achebe 143). The detrimental effects of Christian acculturation on the Ibo people are shown in both Achebe’s novel and Adichie’s story, but however, the contrasts are that Achebe concentrates on the methods used whilst Adichie directs attention to the lasting

In "An Image of Africa: Racism in Conrad's Heart of Darkness," Chinua Achebe criticizes Joseph Conrad for his racist stereotypes towards the continent and people of Africa. He claims that Conrad propagated the "dominant image of Africa in the Western imagination" rather than portraying the continent in its true form (1793). Africans were portrayed in Conrad's novel as savages with no language other than grunts and with no "other occupations besides merging into the evil forest or materializing out of it simply to plague Marlow" (1792-3). To Conrad, the Africans were not characters in his story, but merely props. Chinua Achebe responded with a

Prior to Chinua Achebe’s novel Things Fall Apart, Africa had been viewed as a one dimensional entity, opposed to the amount of diversity it contains. Africa is the second largest continent behind Asia. This massive size, and varying terrain must encompass people as diverse as the landscape. These people can not be deduced to a stereotyped term of being “African”, because each African does not fit the preconceived image of what an african is. It is not a country it is a land mass with people, animals, and vegetation, that differ by all the many regions. This outline that has been constructed of what makes up an African is due to underrepresentation in the media. Achebe demolished this notion for his readers, by creating a world the reader can

“I found myself back in the sepulchral city resenting the sight of people hurrying through the streets to filch a little money from each other […] They trespassed upon my thoughts. They were intruders whose knowledge of life was to me an irritating pretence, because I felt so sure they could not possibly know the things I knew.” (Conrad 102). Towards the end of the novel, Marlow also begins to understand that Kurtz was not as brilliant as he had been presented. “…Kurtz really couldn’t write a bit – but heavens how a man could talk! He electrified large meetings. He had faith – don’t you see? - he had the faith. He could get himself to believe anything – anything. He wouldn’t have been a splendid leader of an extreme party. “What party?” I asked. “Any party,” answered the other.” (Conrad 104). Conrad shows us what white men are into. It was all about power, prestige and money. Consequently, Conrad’s novel criticizes white men and imperialism and Said sees is as well – “… Marlow unsettles the reader’s sense not only of the very idea of empire but of something more basic, reality itself. For if Conrad can show that all human activity depends on controlling a radically unstable reality to which words approximate only by will or convention, the same is true of empire, of venerating the idea, and so forth.

Certain races, cultures, and people for the most part are either seen differently or judged based on stereotypes that have been set out for them. Sometimes it does not have to be a race, culture, or people it could be based on your gender that are seen differently from others. We see it all throughout Things Fall Apart by Achebe. Women are not seen as equal they get seen as less. Throughout the whole book we see how okonkwo either mistreats one of his wives. Not only are women seen as unimportant, but as we also see those whom are lazy and are not like okwako are also mistreated due to them not being like the leader which is not good they are also seen as people who do not belong who should be vanished from the tribe. As we have experience

Achebe argues that the racist observed in the Heart of Darkness is expressed due to the western psychology or as Achebe states “desire,” this being to show Africa as an antithesis to Europe. He first states Conrad as “one of the great stylists of modern fiction.” [pg.1] He praises Conrad’s talents in writing but believes Conrad’s obvious racism has not been addressed. He later describes in more detail that

Marlow says that, "They were conquerors, and for that you want only brute force-- nothing to boast of."(p.58 Heart of Darkness) . Marlow compares his subsequent tale of colonialism with that of the Roman colonization of Northern Europe and the fascination associated with such a voyage. However, Marlow challenges this viewpoint by illustrating a picture of the horrors of colonialist ventures as we delve deeper into the novel. White Europeans are used as symbols of self-deception, and we find that Marlow sees colonization as "robbery with violence, aggravated murder on a great scale, and men going at it blind - as it is very proper for those who tackle darkness."(p.58 Heart of Darkness) This shows how Conrad feels about colonialism through Marlow, because Marlow feels strongly adverse to the actions of the whites in the Congo.

In the opening of his tale, Conrad, through Marlow, establishes his thoughts on colonialism. He says that conquerors only use brute force, "nothing to boast of" because it arises, by accident, from another's weakness. Marlow sees colonization as;

  Conrad has been accused of racism because of the way he portrays the natives in his novel, Heart of Darkness. It has been argued that the natives cannot be an essential part of Heart of Darkness due to the manner in which they are depicted.  However, a careful reading reveals that the story would be incomplete without the natives. Marlow develops a relationship with one of the natives - perhaps the first time in his life that Marlow creates a bond with someone outside of his own race.

Heart of Darkness and Things Fall Apart illustrate the different ways of presenting Africa in literature. In Heart of Darkness, Joseph Conrad shows Africa through the perspective of the colonizing Europeans, who tend to depict all the natives as savages. In response to Conrad 's stereotypical depiction of Africans, Chinua Achebe wrote Things Fall Apart through the point of view of the natives to show Africans, not as primitives, but as members of a thriving society. Things Fall Apart follows Okonkwo 's life as he strives for prestige in his community. When European missionaries come to Umuofia, Okonkwo 's clan, Okonkwo tries to protect the culture that the missionaries would destroy in the name of "civilizing" the natives. However his rigid mentality and violent behavior has the opposite of its intended effect, perpetuating the stereotype of the wild African in the eyes of the European readers.

While on the boat, Marlow says “the savagery, the utter savagery, had closed round him - all that mysterious life of the wilderness that stirs in the forest, in the jungles, in the hearts of wild men” (page 6). Marlow’ description of the deep jungle of Africa as the heart of darkness both for its untamed and hostile wilderness and for its supposed "savages" who hang out there practicing certain non-European customs such as cannibalism. Marlow’s trek through the Congo has made him cynical about what humans are capable of. This is seen when he landed in Africa “Black shapes crouched, lay, sat between the trees leaning against the trunks...in all the attitudes of pain, abandonment, and despair...The work was going on. The work! “ (page 16). The description of the natives and their way of appearing in the novel bring the terrific effect in the mind of the reader. Conrad delivers horrible scenes through the use of poetry as a way to deal with the

One example of this is when the slaves are marched by Marlow to the Central Station. Treated as pack animals, it is interesting how Conrad spends more time talking about abandoned villages than he does the slaves who are treated inhumanely and as if they were property. Additionally, Conrad spends only a sentence explaining that on Marlow’s journey many of the slaves died in the path from the burden and he spends more time discussing the white man they found on the trail than the dead native found three miles later (Conrad 39). A slightly previous example says as follows, “In the steady buzz of flies the homeward-bound agent was lying flushed and insensible; the other, bent over his books, was making entries of perfectly correct translations; and fifty feet below the doorstep, I could see the still treetops of the grove of death.” (Conrad 38)

    In the opening of his novel, Heart of Darkness, Conrad, through Marlow, establishes his thoughts on colonialism. He says that conquerors only use brute force, "nothing to boast of" because it arises, by accident, from another's weakness. Marlow compares his subsequent tale of colonialism with that of the Roman colonization of Northern Europe and the fascination associated with such an endeavor. However, Marlow challenges this viewpoint by painting a heinous picture of the horrors of colonialist ventures as we delve deeper into the recesses of the novel. Here we find that Marlow sees colonization as "robbery with violence, aggravated murder on a great scale, and men going at