Hi
readers! As some of you may or may not know, we have just finished reading Heart of Darkness by and excellent
writer named Joseph Conrad. Just to provide a little backstory about the
author, when he came from his country of origin, he barely knew English and had
to learn it over time. I just thought I would include that little tidbit
because his writing style is impeccable despite the fact that English was not
his primary language. Anyway, let's get into the nitty gritty things.
Personally,
while reading Heart of Darkness, I
did not find any part of it racist. To me, it was simply a man recounting his
journey through Africa and the Congo. Charlie Marlow, the main character telling
the story, does a very good job of providing the reader with imagery that makes
them feel like they are really there. However, I do see where Chinua Achebe is
coming from in his essay, An Image of
Africa: Racism in Conrad's 'Heart of Darkness, when he says that Joseph
Conrad might be racist.
From the
beginning, there was a section in this essay that stood out to me. It reads:
“Then
he asked me if I was a student too. I said no, I was a teacher. What did I
teach? African literature. Now that was funny, he said, because he knew a
fellow who taught the same thing, or perhaps it was African history, in a
certain Community College not far from here. It always surprised him, he went
on to say, because he never had thought of Africa as having that kind of stuff,
you know.”
Now
if you have ever read Achebe’s essay, this line would probably stick out to you
as well. One of the reason it grabbed my attention was because the man’s
response to Achebe undermined the ability and qualities of Africa. Granted, he
probably did not mean for it to sound the way it did but some people could
easily take this statement the wrong way.
To
be honest, I do think that Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness could have caused
people to have that same perspective of Africa. But, I don't think he was
racist. At least, not on purpose. The way that Joseph Conrad portrays the
Congolese people is from his own personal experience and from what he has seen.
I don't think in everyday life Joseph Conrad would flat out describe the
Congolese people as dirty savages. Again, I do understand where Achebe is
coming from. If I was reading a novel and I read what sounded like racist
things about people that are the same as me, I would suspect a little racism as
well.
To
finish off though, I still do not think that Joseph Conrad was racist and I
don't think that Heart of Darkness was written in a racist light. I just think
that many people might misinterpret what Conrad was really trying to say about
the horrid things he had seen on his journey. Hopefully, some of you out there will
go out and read Heart of Darkness by
Joseph Conrad. I also hope some of you go take a look at An Image of Africa: Racism in Conrad's 'Heart of Darkness by Chinua
Achebe and form an opinion for yourselves. Comment down below if you agree with
me or disagree with me and thanks for reading!
