Racism Portrayed in Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness

Racism Portrayed in Heart of Darkness

Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness has been considered to be one of the greatest works of fiction writing in the English language. It is prized by many, discussed and debated by scholars throughout the globe. While this novel is largely popular, it also has some unfavorable criticism attached to it. One example of this was by Chinua Achebe, a famous Nigerian writer, and he claimed that Conrad was “thoroughly racist” and that his book was highly offensive. I agree with Achebe’s reasoning for why he feels this novel is of racist nature, despite the many serious scholars who have praised and raved about this book. There are many examples of his racism that could have been easily overlooked by someone not willing to accept these claims. Marlow, the main character, represents a journey that Joseph Conrad took on a previous trip into the Congo and tells the story through his eyes. During the later part of the 19th Century, European countries participated in the Scramble for Africa (Bentley & Ziegler, 740). Within 20 years, European countries had colonized 90 percent of Africa. The Congo became a direct possession of King Leopold II. His main economic mission was to extract rubber and ivory from the country, and do that in the cheapest way possible. Europeans did this through forced labor. Missionaries attempted to record the horrors but the king had stopped it before much evidence was leaked. King Leopold credited himself with ‘civilizing’ the Congo. This thought of needing to instill order and civilizing the natives was a major problem for Africa and a main objective of the whites. Racism wasn’t a bad thing during this time and they felt that they were doing the Africans a favor. King Leopold once said, “The only way the black man can be civilized is by the whip.” This idea was partly to blame for the massive killings and mistreatments of native Africans. Joseph Conrad was the captain of a steamboat that sailed directly into the heart of the Congo on river during the height of European Imperialism. He witnessed these horrors first hand and some of which were accounted in his book Heart of Darkness. While Conrad thought he was enlightening Europeans about the negative effects of “trade” in Africa, he was actually taking a more racist viewpoint, especially in the way he spoke of the natives. The feelings portrayed by Conrad were not necessarily all his to blame. During his life, blacks had no equality among whites and racism toward Africans went largely unnoticed. Chinua Achebe is enraged with Conrad’s Heart of Darkness. I feel that his main problem with the text was its widespread popularity. Many people and even scholars felt this was one of the greatest books ever written. Achebe claims that what appears to be normal statements made my Conrad, are actually very racist. For example, throughout the text the natives are known as savages and this dehumanizes the natives. Countless times throughout the novel, white characters refer to natives as niggers. While this was a commonly phrase used phrase when the text was written, today it is extremely racial. This is another reason why Achebe has reacted so strongly. In a different account Conrad explains the attire of one white man. Despite the fact that he was in the middle of the wilderness, he still manages to dress far more superior then the rest. Marlow says, “in the great demoralization of the land he kept up his appearance” (Conrad, 21). Conrad is trying to reinforce the idea that whites were far more sophisticated than the “savages.” One of the first claims, by Conrad, that can cause the reader to feel that this novel has racist foundations, is in the way he describes the Congo. The Congo is the complete contrasting view of Europe at the time. The Europeans feel the natives are the epitome of bestiality. Right in the beginning of the text, Marlow speaks out saying, “and this has been one of the darkest places on earth” (Conrad, 6). He could simply be trying to explain the dense vegetation surrounding the area but I believe he is referencing the nature of evil here. He also states, “Here and there military camps lost in the wilderness. Like a needle in a bundle of hay” (Conrad, 7). I feel that Conrad meant that whatever small pieces of civilization there were, became lost among the primitive and brutish land. He mentions disease, exile and death. Stating that, “death was skulking in the air, water and bush.” And that, “people must have been dying like flies here.” While this does describe the brutality of the situation, he offers no sympathy. Madness of the mind resulting from time spent in the Congo is represented multiple times throughout the story. One the first occasion, Marlow is at a doctor before his voyage departs. The doctor asked if he had permission to measure his head and that he was measuring the crania of the men who were heading into the Congo. The doctor’s reasoning was that he “had a theory which those who go out there must help him prove” (Conrad, 13). He also asked Marlow a question regarding if madness had run in the family. It was believed that time spent there could make a sane white man go mad. In the middle of their expedition Marlow claims that, “Going up that river was like traveling back to the earliest beginnings of the world.” Without anything to connect to civilization, the crewmembers of the steamboat were alone. This made their travels on the river very difficult; Marlow even explains how you could lose your way on the river as you would in the desert. Marlow’s morals slowly become destroyed as he “penetrated deeper into the heart of darkness.” As the crew got closer to Mr. Kurtz’s station deep within the wilderness Marlow began to lose faith that he was ever going to meet him. The surrounding area according to Conrad caused this sense of doom felt by Marlow. At the end of the novel Marlow finally reaches Kurtz; but his morality has been altered severely from the native culture and madness has set in. For example, the Russian speaks of the evil regarding Mr. Kurtz. He explains how the chief of a village gave him a small lot of ivory and Kurtz demanded he give it to him. When the Russian told him no, Kurtz said that he would shoot him unless he gave it up. This creates the illusion that time spent around these “savages” will cause a civilized human to lose their mind. Achebe would agree that this has dehumanized the African race. There was a common view among Europeans that the natives of the Congo were not equal beings. Natives were subjected to severe exploitation, forced labor, violence, and even death. Numerous times throughout the novel Conrad refers to natives as “savages.” While this wasn’t an extreme accusation at the time, now that the horrors of the Congo have been exposed we can see how cruel this actually was. There was a point in the novel when instead of saying that the natives simple spoke he states that they made “a violent babble of uncouth sounds” (Conrad, 38). This was the way natives had communicated for years prior to European arrival and Conrad denies them of having any language at all. As soon as the white man had arrived in the Congo they felt the need to criticize and then restore order to the Africans. Europeans created the illusion that it was because the Africans were so primitive, they were unequal and they could use great brutality upon them. Conrad appears to be racist because the only time he mentions the natives speaking is involving the cannibals. The conversation readers hear from the cannibals involve them asking the white men to “catch ‘im, give ‘im to us” and that they were going to eat a man. When the cannibals speak they are portrayed as both incomprehensible grunts and savages. While it might seem that Joseph Conrad’s purpose for writing this book is to enlighten Europeans on the tragedies that took place here in the Congo, I believe that is not the case. His focus isn’t just on Africans and their sufferings, but rather the madness that sets in after prolonged exposure. In Heart of Darkness, Marlow witnesses the brutality that takes place in the Company. He sees firsthand the horrors they bestow upon the natives. In the beginning of the book Marlow explains the inequality demonstrated between whites and blacks. For example, he says “each section, headed by a donkey carrying a white man in new clothes and tan shoes. A quarrelsome band of footsore sulky niggers trod on the heels of the donkey” (Conrad, 35). Marlow is able to explain the horrors going here but Conrad is also able to dehumanize the natives in this statement by making it clear that they weren’t equal and had to follow behind a donkey. Throughout the book we believe Marlow to be the protagonist. He is appalled by the horrors of European Imperialism. At a point in the novel one of the helmsmen is speared and killed by a native. While Marlow is supposed to be of good character, he is more concerned over his bloody shoes rather than his dead crewmember. He throws his shoes and socks into the river before attending to the dead man in his wheelhouse. The end of the novel focuses on the madness of the mind. Kurtz is the captain of the Innermost Station and Marlow is eager to meet him. Marlow hears rumors that Kurtz is a humane man of great respectability. Marlow also hears that Kurtz has managed to collect more ivory than all the other camps combined. So clearly we are dealing with a man of great innovative skills. But by the time Marlow actually reaches Kurtz his expectations have failed him, Kurtz isn’t like what Marlow has heard of him. When he arrives at the Inner Station, Kurtz has abandoned all European ideals. He has become a leader to the natives and therefore more like a savage. Kurtz speaks to Marlow about all the “immense plans” he had, all of which were abandoned. This causes the reader to think Kurtz’s abandonment of morals was due to his time spent with the natives. It seems as though the native’s bestiality has corrupted him into deserting everything he once had. At the end of the story when Kurtz is dying, he shouts out saying “The horror! The horror!” (Conrad, 81) I feel Kurtz is appalled at what he let himself become, which is that of a savage. While Chinua Achebe takes an enraged opinion with the novel Heart of Darkness, I would say that mine is much more placid. I didn’t walk away from the book with any hatred toward the author. Based on my analysis of the text, I can understand why Achebe would be so outraged. The dehumanization of Africans is represented numerous times throughout the novel. One theme a reader can take away from this book, regardless of their racial opinion, is that in the event when all illusions from society drop out it’s the darkness of the human soul that becomes obvious.

Word Count: 1895