- Joseph Conrad (1857-1924) was a Polish born writer whom, upon being orphaned at the age of 11, spent much of his life travelling and succeeded in becoming Master Mariner in the British Navy. The book showcases his experience of being at sea and also the horrific personal experiences he faced in the Congo.
- Chinua Achebe's "Things Fall Apart" may be described as a direct response to the presentation of black people in Conrad's "Heart of Darkness". Indeed in an essay written by Achebe, An Image of Africa: Racism in Conrad's "Heart of Darkness", he stated
"...Conrad had a problem with niggers. His inordinate love of that word itself should be of interest to psychoanalysts. Sometimes his fixation on blackness is equally interesting..."Whilst not disputing the artistic talents of Conrad he feels that the presentation of the Congo aided the prefrabricated judgement many expressed freely throughout the 20th century. "Things Fall Apart" highlights the destruction of the Ibo tribe upon invasion of the white people from an omniscient perspective of the Ibo culture rather than the perspective of a white conqueror.
Undoubtedly many of the descriptions of black people are indeed questionable, "prehistoric" and "a conquered monster" for example (pg 50 - 52). However, I believe that there are 4 main points that should be considered when evaluating Conrad's work - though they may not act as justification:
1. "Heart of Darkness" was published in 1902 and was written in the latter stages of the 19th century. It therefore seems easy to label Conrad as a racist in the hindsight of the 21st century as the novel displays views typical of the British Empire's colonial ideology. However, even today there is maintained racism and so to expect literature to be free of any prefabricated prejudice or "racist" terms eg. "nigger" over a century ago seems somewhat naiive. Yes, such language is unjustifiable however when surrounded by such views, subconcious racism even seems inevitable.
2. Achebe seems defiant in labelling Conrad personally as a racist. However, literature does not necessarily showcase the views of the writer - indeed there is a definitive distance between the writer and his work, in which characters and a story take control. In this way it seems perfectly viable that Conrad was merely using such description to add a sense of context to the novel, whilst not harbouring such views himself.
3. The character MARLOW is the central narrative of the novel and whilst still using words such as "nigger" also describes a connection he feels between blacks and whites, portraying that they are not so different,
"What thrilled you was the thought of their humanity - like yours - the thought of your remote kinship with this wild and passionate uproar."Though some may interpret this as possibly a patronisation or an animalistic view, personally I felt Marlow shows an appreciation of their passion and indeed how alive they are in comparison to the white conquerors,
"A whirl of black limbs, a mass of hands clapping, of feet stamping"Such description feels an awareness of their human features and the freedom in which they move. Indeed he speaks of his own race as materialistic,
"Acquisitions, clothes, pretty rags - rags that would fly off at the first good shake."
4. Finally, from the beauty of personal interpretation, I would conclude that the "Darkness" Conrad speaks of is not in juxtaposition with the darkness of the black people's skin - in fact I would argue the opposite. Mr Krutz seems a personification of how greed, isolation and the desire for success can lead you into the depths of a mental consumption. I see the description of the jungles of the Congo as a journey into the depths of conscience. Conrad seems to portray the darkness of a colonial ideology and furthermore the darkness of lack of truth. Indeed the story concludes with the description of a darkness shadowing Marlow as he lies about Mr Krutz's last words "The horror! The horror!"
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