Racism with Context to Heart of Darkness

Running head: POST COLONIALISM
RACISM WITH CONTEXT TO HEART OF DARKNESS
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Author Note

2RACISM WITH CONTEXT TO HEART OF DARKNESS
Introduction:
The Heart of Darkness is one of the most popular novels that have covered the
African lives and their miseries was authored by Polish-British writer Joseph Conrad which is
a fiction based on his travels throughout the African continent along the river Congo into the
heart of the African continent. The book explores the voyage of the author Joseph Conrad and
portrays a fiction from his experiences of his voyage. The novel revolves around the voyage
of Marlow, who is the protagonist of the novel and revolves around his journey through the
river to meet the antagonist Kurtz, an ivory trader with an ill famed reputation. Conrad has
referred the African natives in his novel as savages and the central theme that he wanted to
portray in his novel in that there are very little differences between the savage African natives
and the cultured English. This has however developed a controversy among other African
authors such as Chinua Achebe who have criticised the portrayal of the African in a way that
is racist in nature and therefore brings about a great debate on the context of colonial
subjugation, colonialism and racism. This paper will argue these contexts with Heart of
Darkness as the basis of the paper and would describe how racism has been reflected in the
novel. The novel offers a unique position in describing Joseph Conrad’s stand and
implementation and use of the racist ideologies as contrasting shade of the character of
Marlow.
Discussion:
The most relevant aspect of the novel revolves around how Marlow, the central
character of the story moves from various phases interacting with the natives through the
course of his journey in meeting Kurtz, the antagonist who has been portrayed as an
antagonist opposite to that of the protagonist Marlow. The author has characterised Marlow
in his own shades and reflects his own journey. In this course of the novel the author has tried

3RACISM WITH CONTEXT TO HEART OF DARKNESS
to depict the racist ideologies through the portrayal of the antagonist and have tried to depict
an anti-racist character through the portrayal of the central character Marlow.
In order to understand the context of racism, colonial subjugation and European
imperialism in the novel Heart of Darkness we have to look through the unfolding of the
story through its various incidents as narrated by the author. Along with, it is also necessary
to understand the context and the background of the novel. The novel is based on the
backdrop of industrial revolution and imperialist expansion of the European nations across
Africa and Asia. It was during these times that colonial expansion was taking place to
establish the superiority and to use up resources by exploiting these continents of their
resources. The most important aspect of the novel would include the necessary elements to
discover the how these aspects determine the aspects of European colonialism, about
misogyny and racism (Achebe 14-27). The novel is regarded as one of the major works of the
early twentieth century. The novel is one of the most eloquently narrated work challenging
the prejudices of the time.
The title of the novel itself is a representation of the fact that though the novel contradicts and
criticises the European Imperialism, depicting Africa as the heart of the darkness brings in the
context of racist ideologies and expression of imperialism through Euro centricity. The
Europeans have depicted the Africans in manner that have attributed them with the ideas of
the savagery, of inferiority and of continuing conflicts. The author has described Africa as the
“Dark continent”, thereby delivering a comparative sense with Europe being the greatest of
the all. The Heart of Darkness is ostensibly Eurocentric in nature through the portrayal of its
characters, the representation of the natives and referring them as savages reflect that though
Joseph Conrad has criticised the European imperialism, yet have still bounded the central
characters to European origin. The natives have still been depicted as inferior or subordinates
in the story and finds subjugation at the hands of the antagonist Kurtz reflects the Euro