From a modern context, Conrad's depiction of Africans in Heart of Darkness is often read as racist. This essay is an evaluation of such portrayals in Heart of Darkness. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Joseph Conrad's narrative framework of Charles Marlow's journey along the Congo River in Central Africa has been labeled by literary scholars as one of the most seminal tales ever—in fact, the Modern Library has classified Heart of Darkness as one of the hundred greatest novels of the twentieth century. Despite this immense literary reputation, Conrad's novella has been the subject of intense debate – of particular controversy have been the accusations of racism made by postcolonial scholars within Heart of Darkness. Chief among these accusations were those made by the respected African literary scholar Chinua Achebe in a lecture given in 1975 (later published as "An Image of Africa") in which he delivered a scathing report on the book - referring at one point to the novella by Conrad. as "an offensive and totally deplorable book that dehumanized Africans". For the purposes of this essay, I will focus primarily on the charges of racism made by Achebe in 1975 – and how Achebe misinterpreted Heart of Darkness and misrepresented Conrad's views on indigenous Africans. Although Achebe was the most famous proponent of racism in Heart of Darkness, in this essay I will also address the more contemporary debate regarding Conrad's alleged racism and his depiction of Africans in his famous novella. Finally, I will define racism here so as to allow us to more precisely evaluate the claims made by Conrad's critics; Oxford defines racism as “the belief or practice that discriminates against someone of a different race based on the belief that one's own race is superior.” Upon first impression, one must recognize that Conrad portrays the native Africans in Heart of Darkness as very different from the cultured Europeans with whom Charles Marlow, the protagonist of Heart of Darkness, travels. Conrad often describes them based solely on their appearance, describing them as "howling, leaping and spinning, making horrible faces", and because of these descriptions the Africans certainly appear as an alien group, something Achebe is quick to point out. However, the fundamental mistake Achebe makes is that he does not take into account Conrad's context as a 19th and 20th century man. This context is crucial to understanding Conrad's depiction of native Africans in his novella; by modern standards of political correctness, perhaps Conrad could be labeled a racist. However, Conrad wrote Heart of Darkness during one of the most politically and socially racist eras of all time: the late 19th century gave rise to political and social movements such as "ethnic" nationalism, "pan-Germanism", "pan -Zionism". and other racially motivated discourse. Given this context, Conrad's depiction of Africans must be seen in a substantially different light; when Conrad writes sentences like "but what moved you was the thought of their humanity - like yours, ugly", Conrad displays feelings in complete opposition to popular social views - the simple recognition of their similar "humanity" shows a recognition not commonly seen in Conrad's period. Interestingly, Chinua Achebe considers this line of Conrad's to be one of the most racist in the entire book, referring to this line as "the meaning" of Heart of Darkness. Ironically, here Achebe hascompletely right, although his explanation of this meaning is open to interpretation. Achebe draws attention to the use of the word 'ugly' and attributes this to a portrayal of the whole of Africa as ugly and with 'glamour' of the 'Western mind'. However, in my opinion, the use of the word ugly by Conrad is linked to his previous words – explicitly referring to Western civilization when he writes 'like yours'. The inclusion of "like yours" is crucial as it demonstrates Conrad's comparison between African civilization and Western civilization: yes, Conrad. he may consider them ugly, but, more importantly, he considers them both ugly; Conrad is drawing similarities between the two humanities instead of alienating the African one. A few pages later, Conrad offers a description of the African boiler crew member who works on the steamboat that Marlow heads along the Congo. Rad here writes that "he should have clapped his hands and stamped his feet on the shore, instead of working hard, a slave to strange sorceries, full of improved knowledge." Not surprisingly, Achebe is highly critical of this. phrase, declaring that Conrad is "a romantic, and, though he may not exactly admire clapping, stomping savages, (Conrad is satisfied) that at least they have the merit of being in their place, unlike this dog ” (the African member of the boiler crew.) However, once again Achebe seems to have missed the key phrases that Conrad (allegedly) deliberately adds – in this case, “slave of strange sorcery.” Other critics who recognize this phrase simply attribute it to Conrad making fun of the natives' lack of education, however, this is also up for debate. Perhaps, rather than simply mocking the natives, Conrad is implying that the African crewman is "slave." ' to the Western way – hence the use of the term 'slave' – and therefore criticizes the 'imperialist' Western way – a theme which underlies the entire novella. Again, this becomes more and more convincing when one examines the context and history of Conrad: Conrad himself was once the captain of a merchant ship (after the captain fell ill), and during his time as captain, according to what He reportedly became disillusioned with Western imperialism after witnessing acts of cruelty and – perhaps even more relevant: acts of slavery. One African in particular in Heart of Darkness provides powerful insight into Conrad's overall portrayal of Africans: Chinua Achebe devotes entire pages in his An Image of Africa to the analysis of the "savage and proud" African woman. who emerges as Kurtz's lover. Conrad's characterization of this native is undeniably close to awe: Conrad speaks of her being "wild and magnificent" and "standing, looking at us without any agitation, like the wilderness itself." Despite this, Achebe suggests that this woman's role is to “satisfy a structural requirement; a wild counterpart to the refined European woman who will come forward at the end of the story.' The intended comparison between these two characters is undeniable; the "expected" bride and the African mistress are, barring a brief mention of the "aunt" in the story's exposition, the only two female characters discussed by Conrad. However, what a reader should think of this comparison between the two is controversial – according to Achebe the role of the native is, as mentioned, to contrast with the cultured and 'refined' woman who emerges at the conclusion of the novella. However, this view seems difficult to defend – indeed, when examining the two female characters closely it seems that, if anything, Conrad presents a more positive view of the African, not the European. Forconsider this notion, it is worth comparing Conrad's descriptions of these women in particular scenes. Of the African, Conrad writes, "she was wild and haughty with an air of inscrutable purpose." This description contrasts sharply with Conrad's description of the Destined in the final scene of the tale; “He stretched out his arms as if following a fleeing figure, stretching them black and with pale hands clasped through the faded and narrow splendor of the window.” Conrad's portrayal of the Expected here isn't particularly bad; It should be noted, however, that compared to the African the Predestined appears weaker and considerably unstable - it is well known among Conrad's literary critics that his portrayal of the African lover is one of strength and elegance. Conrad compares the defined and "magnificent" character to one who struggles to control his grief more than a year after his partner's death. Conrad's emphasis on these characters is perhaps excessive, however it is clear that if Conrad intended the characterization of the African lover to reflect racist thoughts on his behalf, then he would have been ineffective in doing so (of course, I would argue that this was never his intention.) The comparison that the reader makes between the two women is inextricably linked to Conrad's choice to confer human expression within the story – Achebe correctly highlights the fact that, unlike the Expected, the African lover is incapable to communicate with crew members. Achebe declares this characterization to be extremely racist – according to Achebe, “it is clearly no part of Conrad's aim to confer a language on the 'rudimentary' souls of Africa.” However, from my understanding of the plot of Heart of Darkness, it seems that the African mistress (and, as Achebe duly notes, the entire native population) was only expected to lack the ability to communicate with the crew; after all, the Company's crew are the ones who entered the homes and lands of the natives. If anything, one would expect the crew to have attempted to learn to communicate with the natives – again, it seems conceivable that here Conrad is once again highlighting the arrogance of the imperialist way. The setting that Conrad chooses to construct within his tale is also an element of Conrad's work that provokes much literary debate. Central to this debate is how important the setting of Heart of Darkness is: some argue that Conrad chose Africa as the physical setting in an attempt to paint Africa (and, more importantly, native Africans) as a parallel to "l 'inner darkness'. which is explored in the story. A critic of Conrad once pointed out that “Africa itself is not the theme of Heart of Darkness, but is used as a local symbol for the very core of a 'cursed heritage.' Indeed, Chinua Achebe reflects this view, writing that "It is not the difference that concerns Conrad but the hidden sign of kinship and common ancestry between the two lands... should the Thames visit its primordial relative, the Congo , would run the terrible risk of hearing grotesque and suggestive echoes... of death.' After reviewing Heart of Darkness, it's difficult to even take Achebe's view of the setting here seriously: even at the mouth of the Congo, Conrad clearly points out that Western imperialism has begun to destroy the land in and around the Congo River . Marlow looks at the mouth of the Congo, comments on the natives enslaved by the trading companies: 'Black shapes crouched, lay, sat in the trees and were dying slowly – it was very clear. They were not enemies, nor were they criminals the recesses of the coast with all the legality of fixed-term contracts, lost in uncongenial environments and companies, nourished with - 2008