Joseph Conrad has been an interesting topic of discussion
in literature with works dating back to the 1890s. Although being a brilliant
writer, Conrad has had accusations of being a racist. Many people have
criticized Conrad for being this, but some have not done their research to
prove so. Through my conclusive research, as a result of a troubling masculine
ethos, racially insensitive imagery, and use of offensive language, Joseph
Conrad's Heart of Darkness fuels intolerance by depicting Africans as the
European's/white male's inferior. Thus,
Conrad's ways of engaging dark skin and dark bodies indicate that he is a
racist.
The Heart of Darkness is one of Conrad’s most
popular novels and a classic to most who study literature. However, this fame
may not be for the right reason. As seen throughout, Heart of Darkness, the
term “nigger†is thrown out a plethora of times. Also, the connotation of the
word can be used differently; instead of saying the term “nigger,†the
individual could be addressed as native or African. “Therefore he whacked the
old nigger mercilessly.†(Conrad, 7)
“The fool-nigger had dropped everything.†(Conrad, 21) “It appears these
niggers do bury the tusks sometimes.†(Conrad, 24) “The niggers.†(Conrad,
40) This offensive term has stirred up
tremendous amounts of commotion over the novel and successfully created the
accusation, “Is Conrad a Racist?†This shows Conrad's heavy usage of offensive
language throughout the novel. Furthermore, this is just one of the many
excessive ways that Conrad shows he’s a racist.
Mollie Cueva makes a very interesting accusation
of Joseph Conrad being a racist. Cueva relates to the Nigerian novelist Chinua
Achebe’s essay, “An Image of Africa: Racism in Conrad’s Heart of Darkness,†and
forms the argument that Joseph Conrad opinions over Africa or biased and
unfair. Conrad misjudges the nook’s cover and portrays Africa as a disgrace to
Western civilization. Conrad makes Africa a place filled with nothing but
poverty, the lack of development, etc. However, in reality, there are parts in
Africa that were as developed as Western civilizations. Conrad doesn’t show
that there are developed parts writing, therefore, making Africans seem as dumb
and inarticulate.
Furthermore, Conrad starts to depict stereotypes
about Africans. The typical stereotypes of Africans included the image of flies
flying around their face, the bodies of the Africans poorly built due to lack
of food/liquid, and other various misconceptions. This shows Joseph Conrad’s
misjudgment of Africans, leading to his stereotypical behavior and a huge piece
of why he is indeed a racist.
Conrad doesn’t just stereotype, and he also uses
the inferior European mindset. The inferior European mindset contains the
belief that white skin is powerful, and dark skin is powerless. This mindset
came from theories conducted by scientists at the time that White Anglo-Saxon
brains were bigger than black, African brains. Padmini Mongia explains this
through her essay, “The Rescue Conrad, Achebe, and the Critics.†Also, Conrad doesn’t just detail his hatred
on blacks, but he shows prejudice to women as well. Conrad’s thinking that men
are inferior to women dates back to the earliest of times where the thought was
that men had to do the work (hunting, fishing, and so forth); meanwhile, women
were intended to nurture their young.
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