Joseph Conrad's Critisism of The Racist Society in The "Heart of Darkness"

Introduction

The Heart of Darkness was written in the peak of European dominance over countries seen as lesser, by Joseph Conrad and is often seen as a novel that supports a discriminative view on race and gender. The story follows Charles Marlow, an english seaman, who is hired by a Belgian company to captain a river steamer in the Congo, and his journey through the Congo. The story seems to be set in the 1890s which was during the time the British Empire was especially focused on African colonisation and trade, Marlow seems to be a strong believer of this colonisation and expresses his views in a racist tone which is reflective of most of society in the novel. Heart of Darkness has since been criticised by readers for its chauvinism and discrimination towards anyone who wasn’t a white male European.

One of these readers is the African, post-colonial scholar, Chinua Achebe, who is deeply offended by Conrad's text on what he sees as an invasion, because Conrad did not give the Africans in the novel a voice. However what Achebe fails to mention in his critical review is that Conrad provides Marlow with moments of confusion, as his beliefs of the Africans are often challenged and proved wrong. Readers and scholars such as Hunt Hawkins somewhat disagree with Achebe’s contention that Conrad himself is a racist. Hawkins believes despite Conrad creating a racist and bigoted character in his own image, he doesn’t necessarily believe the views Marlow holds and intact Conrad challenges these ideas. Conrad’s depiction of his society at the time is reflective in Heart of Darkness. He uses Marlow’s inner voice and thoughts to portray the beliefs people held of Africans at the time, Marlow often speaks of the European men as dignified and civilised people in comparison to the Africans which he sees as “nothing but black shadows of disease and starvation”. It is quiet clear that Marlow as a character does not view the Africans as equals, but instead as savages who have an inability to restrain themselves. However is this how Conrad as the writer really sees them? This part is left open to interpretation, it is no secret that the structure of Heart of Darkness is based closely on Conrad’s experiences as mate and, temporarily, captain of the ‘Roi des Belges’, a Congo river steamer, in 1890. We can then draw the conclusion that Marlow is representative of Conrad, but how much so? Are the thoughts written into Marlow’s character a reflection of Conrad himself? As well as giving Marlow these harsh racist tendencies Conrad writes situations that challenge Marlow’s views and almost indirectly stands up for the Africans.

Despite never naming any of the Africans or rarely focusing on the same African character for more then a paragraph, Conrad still presents subtle alternative views that don’t paint the natives as “brutes”, he would often describe them as in harmony with nature and vanishing and appearing with no disturbance, almost peacefully. He allows the natives who have a cannibalistic nature to show restraint and intelligence which confuses Marlow as it challenges what society believed at the time. When Achebe made the statement that Conrad was a “bloody racist” he sparked a worldwide literary debate on the topic. Achebe believes that Conrad sets up Africa as 'the other world” and sees Conrad mocking both the African landscape and the African people. Achebe disapproves of the way Africa is presented to the reader as 'the antithesis of the Thames” and therefore of civilisation. Achebe acknowledges that he has heard people contend that Conrad’s beliefs are not reflected in Marlow because Marlow is just a fictional character, however Achebe makes it clear he is not fooled by the narrative gamesmanship to have the narrator of the novel Marlow simply retelling a story that was told to him by a shadowy second figure. Achebe believes that Conrad’s use of telling a story through multiple characters is not a way to distance himself from the opinions instilled in the characters, and instead Achebe is convinced that 'Conrad seems to me to approve of Marlow…”. According to Achebe, Conrad’s use of long, descriptive and hypnotic sentences are merely trickery to induce a “stupor” in his readers while he preaches his bigoted visions. In fact he is most disparaging of Conrad's vision when it comes to Conrad's treatment of African humanity, using “Africa as setting and backdrop, which eliminates the African as human factor. Africa as a metaphysical battlefield devoid of all recognisable humanity, into which the wandering European enters at his peril.” Achebe is left questioning if he is the only one who can see “the preposterous and perverse arrogance in thus reducing Africa to the role of props for the break-up of one petty European mind.” Achebe himself seems to have no problem with a novel that seeks to question the Europeans who moved towards the colonising mission and the 'system' of civilisation. What he has a huge problem with is an author who attempts to resolve these important issues by denying Africa and Africans their full and complex humanity.

Along with many other readers and critics Hunt Hawkins had an opinion on Achebe, and Hawkins seems to be quiet reasonable. Hawkins contends that although parts of Heart Darkness are racist, the book is not as racist as Achebe suggests. 'Whatever may be said of Conrad, he certainly did not share the most extreme racism of his time. He did not wish the annihilation of all non-Europeans. But Achebe seems to think so.' Hawkins agrees with Achebe on the idea that Heart of Darkness is a novella that contains some really racist comments, views and characters. Hawkins points out that Achebe’s point that in the novel, Africans were never presented with a name and were also labeled derogatorily and paired with animal imagery at parts was racist and bigoted however Hawkins argues that just because Conrad wrote from a racist standpoint does not equate to him being racist himself. Hawkins acknowledges that Conrad shows that he has limited knowledge of African culture but does not believe that Conrad truly supports the morals that he wrote into the European characters. Conrad opposed European Imperialism, 'Conrad criticized imperialism on many grounds, one being the hypocrisy of the 'civilizing mission’.

Conclusion

The racism present is necessary for Conrad to be able to accurately articulate the differences between the natives and the Europeans and how they are viewed to get his point across. The racism present in the novella allows for us to see the that Europeans are not essentially more highly-evolved or enlightened than the people whose territories they invade. The idea that Africans and Europeans have more in common than Europeans might care to admit is realised through Marlow’s scepticism about the project he is taking part in and his interactions with natives that challenged his views. Hawkins is able to see these subtle challenges that Conrad makes, whether they are intentional or whether it was an unconscious decision, while Archebe chooses to overlook any chance that Conrad is not a racist.

Although Heart of Darkness fits in to the views of the society at the time and Conrad does overtly seem to reinforce these opinions, his novella also challenges the society and the racism presented at the time. From creating internal conflicts for Marlow when the natives don’t act how he would expect, to giving the natives power over some of the Europeans. Heart of Darkness, whether racist or not is a great literary piece that documents some of the darkest times in history and also highlights the horrors and sinister sides of humanity.