Theme Of Racism In Joseph Conrads Heart Of Darkness

Jazlyn Aponte 6.13.17 Racism is misleading: Theme of TFA Racism is still a problem today, even though it has changed over time. In the past, it was more open and something that was normal. Now, there are less people who are racist, or, those who are racist have just gotten better at hiding their thoughts and changing their words so that they seem like normal comments. In Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, the main character, Marlow, journeys the Congo and describes what he sees. In a response to Heart of Darkness, Chinua Achebe wrote â€Å"‘An Image of Africa’: Racism in Conrad’s Heart of Darkness†. Here, he explains his views on what Conrad wrote and what he thinks it means. One of Achebe’s famous novels was Things Fall Apart, based in a†¦show more content†¦On the other hand, Unoka, Okonkwos father, â€Å"was lazy and improvident and was quite incapable of thinking about tomorrow. If any money came his way, and it seldom did, he immediately bought gourds of palm-wine, called round his n eighbors and made merry.† (Achebe 4). Unoka was a very irresponsible man and could not think about the long-term effects of his actions. Unoka was looked down on in his village and everybody knew that he was not successful and that he didnt make the right decisions. This shows that he is the total opposite from Okonkwo and that even though Okonkwo and Unoka are both African, they are different from each other in multiple ways, such as their character. Additionally, Achebe uses diction to counter Conrads Heart of Darkness by showing that he is racist and it is not right to characterize Africans the way that he is characterizing them. When Marlow is describing the land, he says that they â€Å"were wanderers on a prehistoric earth, on an earth that wore the aspect of an unknown planet.† (Conrad para. 1). Marlow is saying that he is on a â€Å"prehistoric earth† and that he feels like he has gone back in time. When we think of prehistoric, we think of ancient and uncivilized, which means that he is calling Africans uncivilized. Conrad’s specific choice of words prove that he was racist and had no respect for those who he saw as different from him. To summarize his view on Conrad, Achebe says that â€Å"The point of [his]Show MoreRelatedComparing Shakespeares Othello with Conrads Heart of Darkness738 Words   |  3 PagesShakespeare’s Othello with Conrad’s Heart of Darkness It is often that when we read great works of literature we come across similar themes. Authors use powerful ideas that they believe will move their readers and relate to them so they become engaged in the words written. William Shakespeare and Joseph Conrad were amazing writers of their times and even though their works were written almost 300 years apart, both, Othello and Heart of Darkness, have coinciding themes. 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