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Emily Wheeler
English 105
Professor Timmons
October 13, 2010
Joseph Conrad, a Racist?
In the essay “An Image of Africa: Racism in Conrad’s Heart of Darkness”, written by Chinua Achebe, it discusses the issue of racism throughout the novel. Achebe chooses to pin Joseph Conrad as a racist. Achebe suggests the novella to be a purely accurate document of events written by Conrad. He lumps Marlow, the main character, and Conrad himself into one and the same. There is no distinction between the writer, Conrad and the character, Marlow. Achebe suggests that Conrad is a racist as evident from Marlow’s actions in the novella. The book is a work of fiction. It is based on events Conrad described when he visited the Congo; however, there is no official evidence as to whether the events mentioned were an absolute account or simply fiction. The quote, “The point of my observations should be quite clear by now, namely that Joseph Conrad was a thoroughgoing racist ” (Achebe 343), points precisely to the fact that Achebe says that Conrad is a racist. Conrad is most certainly not a racist; there is no solid proof of this, regardless of what Achebe may feel towards him.
Whether there is any truth to Conrad being a racist is dependent upon the reader’s interpretations of the novella’s content. It seems Achebe believed Conrad to be a racist based purely on his own interpretation of Conrad’s depiction of the characters such as Kurtz and Marlow who seemingly ‘go mad’ because of the savage nature of the natives of the Congo. The ‘madness’ seems to be a metaphor for racism. It suggests that savage
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natives drive white people crazy. However, Conrad’s description of the events does not
automatically assume he, himself, is a racist. But, given that Achebe is African by birth, one could understand his being offended by Conrad’s writing. Achebe is naturally protective of the natives of the Congo since he shares that heritage. Achebe does make accurate points in his essay, and does provide a plausible argument that Conrad is a racist. In one part of the essay Achebe provides a distinction about how Conrad writes about the two races:
A black figure strode on long black legs, waving long black arms…as though we might expect a black figure striding along on black legs to wave white arms! But so unrelenting is Conrad’s obsession. As a matter of interest Conrad gives us in A Personal Record what amounts to a companion piece to the buck nigger of Haiti. At the age of sixteen Conrad encountered his first Englishman in Europe. He calls him “my unforgettable Englishman” and describes him in the following manner: (his) calves exposed to the public gaze...dazzled the beholder by the splendor of their marble-like condition and their rich tone of young ivory…The light of headlong, exalted and triumphant eyes. In passing he cast a glance of kindly curiosity and friendly gleam of big, sound, shiny teeth…his white calves twinkled sturdily.
Though a harsh example, it is a solid argument because it is a direct quote from Heart of Darkness. The words in this quote do seem quite racially induced. Achebe does include
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words from another source, Joseph Conrad: A Psychoanalytic biography by Bernard C. Meyer, MD, p.30. By merging the two excerpts from different sources, it validates his
argument that Conrad is a racist. Achebe seems to be unable to separate his personal opinion of Conrad so that he is unable to be objective about Conrad’s work.
One of the main points that Achebe misses is that Conrad writes Marlow as understanding and curious about the cannibals of the Congo. Marlow is not intentionally racist; however he is unfamiliar with this culture. He is uneducated in the use of politically correct terminology. He is not intentionally malicious. Marlow was raised by Englishmen whose language and behaviors were not compassionate, nor understanding of cultures other than their own. Again, Conrad is not Marlow. Marlow is a character in Conrad’s novella. Conrad points out the need for Englishmen and Africans to understand one another’s similarities and differences and then learn to treat one another with respect.
When Marlow first arrives in the Congo it is unclear if indeed he is a racist or not. He mentions, upon arrival, that the reason he is there in the first place is that the other riverboat captains have lost their “minds”. The reason they have apparently lost their minds is that the Congo drove them to madness. Later in the novella when Marlow finds himself on the riverboat with the cannibals, he discovers he would be flattered if they found him tasty. This fact alone questions if Marlow is even a racist. It seems that perhaps Marlow has come to an understanding of the way of life for the cannibals.
Achebe points out in his article how racism in the novella is a “normal” way of thinking when it comes to Conrad’s writing. To Achebe this is the way Conrad must have
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felt as well. “Whatever Conrad’s problems were, you might say he is now safely dead ” (Achebe 345), this is and insult to Conrad. He is deliberately making jabs at Conrad and
justifying it by saying he is dead and it no longer matters. It is rude and uncalled for. Conrad’s views cannot be taken into consideration from the novella. Achebe is an African native, and it is most probable that he is letting his own thoughts and accusations be derived from his own experiences and blaming Conrad for them. The fact that he is dead there is no way to ask Conrad if he himself was a racist or if he deliberately wrote the novella to show racism in this particular light.
Conrad could very well have intended for his words to be taken the way Achebe did. This is still is no way to make a legitimate fuss over Conrad being a so-called “racist”. Yes, it is true his arguments are fair, but the credibility they actually have is questionable. It is quite possible that the racism innuendos of the novel and other works of Conrad were intentional. Conrad’s point of Heart of Darkness was to make the reader think and evaluate. It so happened that Achebe viewed it in a negative light.
It is true that Achebe was very strong on his feelings towards this novella. He even believes it to not be a “great work of art” (Achebe 344). He compares him to the lack of credibility he would give to a “priest who reads the mass backwards or a physician who poisons his patients” (Achebe 344-footnote #2). He does not doubt his ability as a writer, though it is clear he doesn’t respect his works.
It is possible that Conrad wrote Heart of Darkness in an effort to raise up the issue of racism between Englishmen and Africans. It is possible that Conrad writes of these fictional characters, Kurtz and Marlow, who depict actual people who are disrespectful of races other than their own. Achebe’s essay seems to not even consider the possibility that
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Conrad’s attempt is to speak to the issue of racism so that a light could be shone upon it. Possibly, Conrad is intent upon educating white people that theirs is not the only race, nor is it the superior race. Achebe sees Conrad as completely racist and without redemption because he is offended by the actual racism that existed between Englishmen and Africans. So, he assumes that because Conrad writes about this harsh reality then he must certainly be racist too.
It seems that Conrad was ahead of the times in which he lived. He set out to enlighten humanity so that the darkness and misunderstanding between races could be dissolved.
Works Cited
Achebe, Chinua. “An Image of Africa: Racism in Conrad’s Heart of Darkness”.
Armstrong 336-349.
Armstrong, Paul B. Ed. Heart of Darkness. New York: W.W. Norton and Company,
2006.
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