Marianna C. Ford
English 105
Professor Timmons
September 29, 2010
“The Failed Account of Conrad’s Racism: Achebe Scrutinizes Heart of Darkness”
Published in 1899, Joseph Conrad’s controversial novella Heart of Darkness still stirs up mixed emotions in the hearts of those who have read his book. Some of these feelings towards Conrad’s literature are harsh and critical while others view his work as captivating and ingenious. Chinua Achebe wrote the article “An Image of Africa: Racism in Conrad’s Heart of Darkness” in the 1970s which highlights the racism and stereotypes in the novella. Considering Achebe is a professor of African literature he is well informed of the prejudices against African Americans and able to derive unfair stereotypes that still exist today from the novella. Achebe uses direct quotes to show the correlation between his argument and that which is actually found in Heart of Darkness. Although, instead of treating the novella as fictional and appreciating its literary style for which it is still read today, Achebe overlooks its respectable scholarly qualities by over analyzing the obvious racism from which the setting of the book was written. Based on the feelings and opinions of Marlow, Achebe makes a controversial statement about Conrad: “Joseph Conrad was a thoroughgoing racist” (343). While Chinua Achebe directly acknowledges the apparent racism in Heart of Darkness; he neglects the context in which the novella was written, wrongly interprets it’s impact in today’s society, bluntly interchanges Marlow’s views with Conrad’s, and fails to recognize that the literary work is fictional, not an account of Conrad’s beliefs.
Achebe’s article informs the reader of Joseph Conrad’s racism in Heart of Darkness and why it is inappropriate to read. He believes the novella demonstrates the “desire” of Western civilization more than any other literature he has read (337). This “desire” Achebe describes as: “the desire—one might indeed say the need—in Western psychology to set Africa up as a foil to Europe, 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” (337). Achebe categorizes the novella as “permanent literature” due to its notable contemporary style. While he does appreciate the modern fiction ingenuousness, Achebe believes Conrad uses his gift of literary style to hoax readers into “hypnotic stupor” while imposing the “desire” of Europe upon them (338). Achebe goes as far to say that Conrad is using a sort of deception: “When a writer [Conrad] while pretending to record scenes, incidents and their impact is in reality engaged in inducing hypnotic stupor in his readers through a bombardment of emotive words and other forms of trickery much more has to be at stake than stylist felicity” (338). Achebe’s accusation is that Conrad uses words full of emotion and passion to disguise his attempts of compelling readers to the idea that Africa is a foil to Europe (337-338). Heart of Darkness is known for its imagery and description that Conrad crafts throughout the whole novella, but Achebe proposes that Conrad uses it to mask the opinion that European society is superior to Africa’s. Achebe goes on to prove that Conrad, through the character Marlow, tells of the journey in the Congo with extreme racism towards the native Africans (342). With the aid of many quotations, Achebe references a few of Marlow’s many racist comments ranging from the description of an African resembling a working dog with human clothes on to his racial slurs when talking about the natives (340 & 344). Achebe links the racism expressed by Marlow throughout the novella with the beliefs and opinions of Conrad (342). To disconnect himself from the racism in Heart of Darkness, Achebe believes Conrad uses a “narrator behind a narrator” to veil the insert of his own racist ideas (342). Due to the racial stereotypes hidden behind Conrad’s noted literary style, Achebe argues that though the novella may be a classic it should be reevaluated as to if it should still be read and put on a pedestal as it has been (349).
Though Achebe makes valid arguments against Conrad and the racism found in Heart of Darkness, he fails to account for the context in which the novella was written. During the late 19th century when Conrad wrote the novella, the level of civilization and the predominant race in the Congo was a shock to the men from Europe whose countries had experienced an industrial revolution and was primarily Caucasian in race. Many times Marlow describes his sightings of the Africans as groups of “limbs or rolling eyes” which Achebe refutes as racism but what he does not consider is the astounding difference in European and African civilization that Marlow is experiencing and trying to describe (340). While Achebe depicts Marlow’s illustrations of Africans as dehumanizing and racist, Marlow only uses the comparison of the natives with animals because he has never seen people act in such an uncivilized way in contrast with European civilization. Achebe quotes Marlow while in conversation with a cannibal: “‘Catch ’im,’ he [cannibal] snapped with a bloodshot widening of his eyes and a flash of sharp teeth…I asked; ‘what would you do with them?’ ‘Eat ’im!’ he said curtly” (341). While Marlow’s depiction of the native, or cannibal, may be desensitized to Africans, Achebe does not note that Marlow has never encountered humans with this appearance or behavior before. Rather Achebe overlooks the context of which the Europeans have come from and deems their reactions to the Africans as racism.
While Achebe neglects to recognize the context in which the novella was written, he also fails to note the positive aspects of Marlow’s quotes within the full context. Achebe refutes a quote said by Marlow as his African helmsman dies: “And the intimate profundity of that look he gave me when he received his hurt remains to this day in my memory—like claim of a distant kinship affirmed in a supreme moment” (343). Achebe takes this quote out of context to prove his point that Conrad is a racist by reiterating that the phrase “distant kinship” was used as an insult to link Marlow and the helmsman’s relatedness, which essentially causes Achebe to miss the positive aspects that Marlow has experienced (343). Firstly, Marlow viewed the native African’s as uncivilized and as animals compared to his European civilization; he had never seen a human act this way before. For Marlow to realize that though there may be differences in behavior and appearance that they were still related was a huge step at this point for Marlow in the novella that Achebe seems to overlook. Secondly, it is illogical for Achebe to use this quote to support the claim that Conrad is a racist because Conrad did not say this quote; the fictional character Marlow said this. Achebe makes direct assertions of Conrad based on a fictional novella he tends to quote out of context.
As I have already briefly reviewed, Achebe erroneously swaps the feelings and opinions of Marlow in Heart of Darkness as the feelings and opinions of Conrad. This is an invalid accusation to make because the novella is fictional. Throughout Achebe’s article he quotes Marlow but associates his attitudes and ideas with those of Conrad. Achebe bluntly displays how he interchanges the views of Conrad and Marlow in the article when he said, “The kind of liberalism espoused here by Marlow/Conrad” (342). The quote which Achebe is referring to in this line was said by Marlow. Achebe does not have the grounds to accuse Conrad of having the same convictions of a fictional character. Later Achebe makes a brash statement about Conrad followed by an inadequate supporting quote from Marlow: “Certainly Conrad had a problem with niggers…‘A black figure stood up, strode on long black legs, waving long black arms” (345). The major problem with Achebe’s argument here should be obvious: the quote is by Marlow not by Conrad. Why then is Conrad being accused of having the same feelings and opinions of Marlow? Achebe’s claims that Conrad is a racist are not sufficiently supported due to his interchanging of Marlow’s ideas and attitudes with Conrad’s.
Written over a hundred years ago, Heart of Darkness still plays a role in classroom education across the United States for Conrad’s literary style. It has been considered a “great work of art” and has become commonly read but debates have been ongoing since it was published as to whether or not it should be read. Achebe is forward in his opinion that the novella is not appropriate to be read in schools or be categorized as a “great work of art” (344-346). Due to the “dehumanization” of the Africans Achebe believes this book is not worthy of the commendable treatment society gives the novella (344). Achebe proposes what he finds to be an important question: “The question is whether a novel which celebrates this dehumanization, which depersonalizes a portion of the human race, can be called a great work of art. My answer is: No, it cannot” (344). Achebe fails to recognize that this “dehumanization” was the context and reality of this time period. Should a teacher not teach the parts of history they don’t agree with or like? My answer is no. Heart of Darkness should be read in school and society for its literary style and Conrad’s gift of writing.
Achebe derives his accusations of Conrad through the racism found in Heart of Darkness but he neglects to account for the context in which the novella was written; he applies a contemporary perspective to a book written in the late nineteenth century, a much different time period. Achebe also fails to acknowledge that Marlow is a fictional character whose ideas and opinions are not interchangeable with that of Conrad. Though Conrad did write the book, it is fictional and not an actual report of his views or feelings. Achebe believes that due to the racism and insensitive treatment towards native Africans, the novella should not be placed upon a pedestal where society has put it. However Achebe is again not viewing the book within its context or noting its literary style for which it is read. I believe it is good to be aware of the racism in the novella but not cast it out of society as Achebe would suggest. Although written in a time of harsh realities in Africa, Heart of Darkness is a literary masterpiece that still inspires readers today.
Works Cited
Achebe, Chinua. "An Image of Africa: Racism in Conrad’s Heart of Darkness." Armstrong. 336-348.
Armstrong, Paul B., ed. Heart of Darkness. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2006.
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