Preview

Contrasting Conflict in Things Fall Apart and Heart of Darkness

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
767 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Contrasting Conflict in Things Fall Apart and Heart of Darkness
Contrasting Conflict in Things Fall Apart and Heart of Darkness

Heart of Darkness by Josef Conrad and Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe are two novels that are written to make a statement. Both are meant to stir the emotions of the reader, whether those emotions be anger, hope, frustration, joy, despair, or enlightenment. Both novels take place in the same location and same time period and involve the same groups of people. Both novels depict European imperialism in the African Congo in the 1800s. The obvious distinction between the two is that Heart of Darkness tells a tale from the European point of view while Things Fall Apart tells one from the Native African Tribe point of view. Both authors use extremely well developed characters to manifest and exhibit controversies and bring to light critical aspects of human nature and propensity. Both authors use conflict of various types to ascertain an overall theme. Although the novels use similar settings in the expression of their ideas, the underlying themes Conrad and Achebe choose to focus on are very different. Chiefly, the ultimate conflict in Heart of Darkness is one of Man vs. Himself, while the ultimate conflict in Things Fall Apart is one of Man vs. Man.

To begin, both Conrad and Achebe wish to make statements on the negative consequences of Imperialism with their novels, but choose to emphasize completely unrelated and extremely different issues. In Heart of Darkness, the conflict has to do with the destructive consequences of the self-discovery and internal turmoil that goes with segregation from society in an untamed, ruthless, savage place such as the African Congo. Years of life in the jungle drove the brilliant Kurtz to near insanity:

"the wilderness had found him out early, and had taken on him a terrible vengeance for the fantastic invasion. I think it had whispered things to him about himself which he did not know, things of which he had no conception till he took council with this great

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    The main character of “The Outsiders” was Ponyboy Curtis, the younger brother of Darry and Sodapop Curtis. Ponyboy is very unique from all of the other characters, they are all unique. He isn’t the tuff like Dally, the pet like Johnny, the leader like Darry, the silly one like Sodapop, the wisecrack like two-bit, or even the confident and arrogant one like Steve. Ponyboy is quiet, smart, young, and kind. One of Ponyboys obstacles in the book was his brother Darry, the leader of the gang. “I could tell it was Darry though - partly because of the voice and partly because Darry’s always rough with me without meaning to be. ‘ “I didnt mean to!” Darry shouted… “Thats all i hear out of you! Cant you think of anything?” “Darry…” Sodapop began, but…

    • 385 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Even though The Heart Of Darkness has two different views about the fate of imperialism the pessimistic view and the optimistic view, both views closely relate to the views depicted in Apocalypse Now Redux. “But at first glance you could see there a singleness of intention, an honest concern for the right way of doing work which made these humble pages thought out so many years ago luminous with another than a professional light.” All throughout the book and the movie the depiction of Kurtz is realized to be frightening…

    • 411 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Joseph Conrad 's Heart of Darkness is both a dramatic tale of an arduous trek into the Belgian Congo at the turn of the twentieth century and a symbolic journey into the deepest recesses of human nature. On a literal level, through Marlow 's narration, Conrad provides a searing indictment of European colonial exploitation inflicted upon African natives. By employing several allegoric symbols this account depicts the futility of the European presence in Africa.…

    • 1032 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    After setting foot on the land and beginning his journey to the Inner Station, Marlow observes a group of slaves, from which a particular one stands out in his decimated clothing and deprived appearance. Marlow, in vain, offers the slave a biscuit immediately before they die of hunger right before his eyes (28). This simple encounter echoes the irrefutable damages caused by imperialism and the idea that no matter what anyone does to try and reverse the effects, including Europeans themselves, the damage that has been done has been set in stone for centuries to come. As noted in Edward Said’s essay critiquing Heart of Darkness, “Conrad… could clearly see… imperialism was pure dominance, [but] he could not conclude that imperialism had to end so that natives could lead lives free of European domination” (Said par. 18). This quote unequivocally supports the notion that Europe became a necessary crutch for Africa, and provides evidence for the transformation of darkness to convey the idea of the long-lasting effects of…

    • 994 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad is regarded as one of the most superlative novels of English literature written in the twentieth century. However, the ideas and notions presented by Conrad in this story has generated quite a bit of controversy among academic scholars and literature experts who believe the novel creates a sense of racial animosity towards the African continent and its people. With further analyzation it can be inferred that this novel does indeed show signs of racial enmity and presents a rather deplorable situation in which one must evaluate if Conrad himself is a racist. Some would argue that his novel was…

    • 997 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    ‘The Heart of Darkness’ is a psychological masterpiece, revealing the relationship between subconscious life and conscious motivations. In the text, Conrad through Marlow reviews the memories of his journey to the Congo: personal nightmare is mixed with his own psychological complexities. He is looking for self-understanding, and showing his own mental picture of the conflicts between savagery and civilization. Many critics have called it the best short novel written in English. The text involves the reader in dramatic and decisively difficult moral judgements, which are in parallel with the central characters: Marlow and Kurtz. It is a dramatic, layered, paradoxical and problematic novel: a mixture of autobiography, adventure story, religious drama and a symbolic text, thus making it an allegorical text.…

    • 697 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    There are various motives for Imperialism attributed to the different characters in Joseph Conrad’s novel, The Heart of Darkness. Each and every character has their own opinions on the concept of imperialism. While some of them agree with one another, others disagree with one another. Just like Richard Meinertzhagen, Karl Pearson, Joseph Chamberlain, and Cecil Rhodes, they all had their own beliefs in Imperialism that may have contradicted another. In the novel the characters don’t all just complement each other there’s a bit of conflict in their view and opinions on motives for Imperialism.…

    • 947 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Heart of Darkness

    • 260 Words
    • 2 Pages

    In Joseph Conrad’s novel Heart of Darkness, the geographical surrounding shape the psychological and moral traits in Kurtz, one of the characters of the novel. Especially because it shows the savagery, and lawless environment of the uncivilized lands, which allows Kurtz to almost forget all the European ways, and it also illuminates the work as a whole by bringing the question of what would happen to us if we were to be taken from a civilized world to an uncivilized world.…

    • 260 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    fate in Heart of darkness

    • 2108 Words
    • 9 Pages

    Heart of darkness is not only an attack on colonialism, but also a criticism of the dark greed that the human heart retains. Moreover, most of the content of the novel is pervaded by symbolic meanings among which destiny and foreshadowing play a leading role, and such is their relevance that both of them are consistently present explicitly and metaphorically throughout the novel. Therefore, the apparently innocent journey to the Congo to meet Kurtz masks a deeper meaning, a symbolic journey to the bottom of the human heart, a heart thirsty for power and wealth ―the heart of darkness ― which is represented by Kurtz and the colonialist lifestyle that surrounds him. “Kurtz 's methods had ruined the district… They only showed that Mr. Kurtz lacked restraint in the gratification of his various lusts, that there was something wanting in him -- some small matter which, when the pressing need arose, could not be found under his magnificent eloquence”.…

    • 2108 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The thesis of Renaissance lives is to show the reader a little bit of the Renaissance period. Rabb talks about 15 different people from the Renaissance period. He talks about astrologers to mothers and artists.…

    • 540 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    In this excerpt from the novel, Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad, the author effectively portrays the Congo River as an inhospitable location unfit for human existence. Through Conrad’s diction, syntax and detail of the environment, the author reveals a great deal of psychological stress, due to the hostile environment, which leads to physical anguish.…

    • 543 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    People buy into the idea of their country’s involvement, in that it is bringing a better life to the people in the land; disillusionment and betrayal of the promised ideal motivate both versions of a genocidal Kurtz. Kurtz of Heart of Darkness begins his expedition into the Congo believing that “‘by the simple exercise of [...] will we can exert a power for good practically unbounded” (Conrad 61). This idealistic man turns into a merciless killer making his own declaration “exterminate all the brutes!” (62). Milius and Coppola’s…

    • 930 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Conrad's novel, Heart of Darkness, was written around 1890 in a time where imperialism was common practice. The subjugation of other countries and nations was common for countries to do and was accepted as a normal process by the people of the dominant countries. From this society Conrad’s main protagonist emerges, Charles Marlow. Marlow is in essence a normal man from England, but as the story progresses he becomes anything but normal. Throughout the book the reader can see Marlow's "change," as caused by his exposure to the harsh and primal world that is the Congo. This change is minimally on a physical level and mostly on physiological and intellectual levels. Conrad emerges from the jungle a changed man, with new…

    • 4207 Words
    • 17 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    It is human nature to search for the differences within each other rather than embrace our similarities. This can be seen through many common themes today such as sexism, classism, and especially racism. Individuals have excluded others with these differences, sometimes going as far as to say they were less than human. This detrimental belief leaves little room for understanding and acceptance between cultures. Joseph Conrad’s novel, Heart of Darkness, tells the story of African imperialism while portraying the natives as primitive beings. Critic Paul B. Armstrong writes, “Heart of Darkness is a calculated failure to depict achieved cross-cultural understanding”. By purposely dehumanizing others, Conrad works to justify hash imperialist methods.…

    • 1402 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Perspective

    • 477 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Both heart of darkness and things fall apart tell stories of and critique the nature of European colonization in Africa in the 1800s. Story tellers of each are significantly different although having some similarities between each story. As both story tellers are created differently, a different narrative view also can be seen and thus a separate perspective of European colonization is presented by each text. Heart of darkness presents a story within a story from an unnamed witness to Marlow, telling his experiences in Africa, therefore the narrator is essentially Marlow, this creates a believable story with biases which are unique to the character Marlow, whereas Things fall apart is a third person narrative focused but not limited to the main character Okonkwo as the views and perspectives of other characters are touched upon, revealing the perspective of the umuofia as a tribe contrary to the single perspective seen in Heart of darkness.…

    • 477 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays