Heart of Darkness is a novella written by Joseph Conrad. Before its 1902 publication, it appeared as a three-part series (1899) in Blackwood's Magazine. It is widely regarded as a significant work ...
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Evans Shannon Evans
Criticism Short Paper: Heart of Darkness
“He had the power to charm or frighten rudimentary souls into an aggravated witch-dance in his honor! How Conrad"s #se of $anguage %ecomes the &ntithesis for His 'ntentions
't has (een proven time and time again throughout history that humans can lack sensitivity when there is an a(sence of commonality co mmonality (etween different individuals) and their familial groups *hen one encounters words such as savage) monstrous) grotes+ue) ugly) and uncivili,ed in a story to descri(e people with no relation to them one might gloss over these terms in lieu of seeing the (igger picture 'n this instance) ' am referencing a phenomenon pheno menon that is present when many encounter oseph Conrad.s Heart Conrad.s Heart of Darkness Darkness /hroughout the novella there is much use of racial slang) and unflattering depictions of &fricans are in a(undance 0et the irony here is shown in oseph Conrad.s rise to fame for his anti-imperialist depiction of the Europeans in the fight for &frica /o /o (e fair the short novel had many reasons for (eing regarded as a classic) (ut it seems strange to imagine that with its controversial language and conte1t of perceived &frican &frican (ehavior it is allowed to remain as praiseworthy praiseworthy Chinua &che(e) &che(e) one of Conrad.s noted critics) critics) was one of the first to de(unk Conrad.s universally accepted good intentions &(out 23 years years had passed since since Heart Heart of Darkness was pu(lished) when An when An Image of Africa slowly (ut surely started a new rise in the criticism criticism world *hy did it take a great amount of time to come to some fairly o(vious conclusions4 't is hard to give a direct answer) (ut it is plausi(le to assume that readers only see what they want to see) so for many many non &fricans dissecting Conrad.s work it is hard to put one.s self in the shoes of Chinua &che(e /herefore he (ecomes the one easily critici,ed) and Conrad is ultimately and somewhat unreasona(ly defended
Evans /his notion of unfairness is acknowledged ( y Caryl Phillips in his 5662 interview with &che(e He reali,es ' feel momentarily ashamed that ' might have (ecome caught up with this theme and su(se+uently overlooked how offensive this novel might (e to a man like Chinua &che(e and to millions of other &fricans &che(e &che(e is right7 to the &frican reader) the price of Conrad.s elo+uent denunciation of coloni,ation is the recycling of racist notions of the “dark! continent and her people 8Phillips 9;< /hus (ringing us full circle (ack to the +uestion of what makes the story so arrogant7 a rrogant7 so insulting4 /he most apparently striking is the language =ne of the words Conrad uses to descri(e the &frican natives is rudimentary) which is commonly defined as elementary) primitive) primitive) and even incompletely developed =ne of the most insulting insulting lines is when >arlow utters that the &fricans are “rudimentary souls! 't is conceiva(le that >arlow is claiming the Europeans superiority) superiority) their e1ceptional) developed) and civili,ed c ivili,ed souls in comparison to the natives 't is not only Conrad.s ad?ectives that get him into trou(le7 it is also his lack of acknowledging humanity in the &fricans &fricans /he com(ination of these is what ultimately condemns him /o understand how Conrad insults the native.s humanity) one must ela(orate on the conte1t co nte1t of his depictions of &fricans &fricans *hen descri(ing he is o(sessed with (lackness) >arlow uses the the o(scenity nigger profusely) and contrasts the darkness of the natives with pure ivory skin of the Europeans His imagery often shows the &fricans as masses not worthy of faces or individual characteristics *hen descri(ing a native >arlow says “& (lack figure stood up) strode on long (lack legs) waving long (lack arms@ 8Conrad 22< 'n addition to the theft of individuality the &fricans are also deprived of speech /here are only a few instances in the story in which w hich an
Evans &frican speaks 't is (eneficial to e1amine Conrad.s similar nature toward women in Heart in Heart of Darkness in Darkness in order to see the dehumani,ing d ehumani,ing +ualities his writing possesses *omen *omen are also only figures in the novel) without possessing names) or any intelligent characteristics) they come across as less human /he superiority of the white European male is insurmounta(le Aurt,.s &frican mistress is descri(ed as a “*ild and gorgeous appa rition of a woman! 825< She is demeaned to the point of an apparition7 a ghost of a woman Her sole purpose (eing a se1ual o(?ect Se1 is often referred to as dark) tainted) uncivili,ed /he European women are still very neglected (ut they the y are not apparitions) they are not seen as ?ust se1 o(?ects /he 'ntended does not have the courtesy of having a full persona or name) (ut she still has a title) and an una(ashed relationshipB claim to Aurt, /hese are things the &frican mistress mistress will never possess & gender critic ohanna > Smith e1plains >arlow.s >arlow.s attitude towards femininity femininity in an interesting light she says >arlow possesses the ideology that woman and men live in “separate spheres! /his separation is the catalyst catalyst for the “>asculine 'mperialism! 8Smith 8Smith 9< >arlow.s treatment of women and &fricans contradicts his a nti-imperialist views (ecause he has imperialistB patriarchal influence in his actions towards these two groups 't would (e nave to (elieve one has read these past few paragraphs without finding multiple arguments in defense of Conrad.s work 'n fairness) Conrad deserves some cred it for critici,ing imperialismB Europeans at all 'n order to strengthen ones reali,ation of his flaws one must acknowledge his strengths and successes /here are a few parts in Heart in Heart of Darkness where >arlow does come off as sympathetic) and understanding =ne of the most enlightening passages happens early in the novella >arlow states /hey gra((ed what they could get for the sake of what was to (e got 't was ?ust ro((ery with violence) aggravated murder on a great scale) and men going at it (lind - as is very
Evans proper for those who tackle darkness /he con+uest of the earth) which mostly means the taking it away from those who have a different comple1ion or slightly flatter noses than ourselves) is not a pretty thing when you look into it too much! 8Conrad < >arlow again shows depth when he compares the &frican drums to the church (ells for European Christians /hese e1cerpts are important to note (ecause the y shows the comple1ity of >arlow and his a(ility to see (eyond his shallow shallow comprehension /here are a few lines in the story where one can see how ho w >arlow contradicts himself *hen >arlow reflects “/hey were dying slowlyFit was very clear /hey were not enemies) they were not criminals) they were nothing earthly nowFnothing (ut (lack shadows of disease and starvation) lying confusedly in the greenish gloom! 856< 't is easier to see the challenge of Conrad.s contradicting language 'n this +uote >arlow seems to have good intentions (y declaring the natives innocence) (ut then goes on to call them (lack shadows >arlow never has a pro(lem pro(lem with ?udging the Europeans (ut that does not mean he wholeheartedly sympathi,es with the &fricans &fricans Since Heart Since Heart of Darkness is a work of fiction it is easy to dispute that Conrad was not a racist (y stating that Conrad is not >arlow =f course writers have characters that reflect different opinions from their own) and it could (e true that >arlow.s views are solely his character (ut &che(e is not going to (lindly accept this argument &che(e states that the use of narrative within a narrative could act as safeguard for Conrad Phillips P hillips e1plains &che(e.s &che(e.s logic further (y saying “/he comple1 polyphony of the storytelling is Conrad.s way of trying to deli(erately distance himself from the views of his characters! /his is harder to prove than whether the novel itself comes off as racist Since Conrad is dea d we will never (e a(le to analy,e him more as a person) so one finds his work the only onl y way to ?udge him ust as it takes a
Evans personal interpretation to decipher your (eliefs on Heart on Heart of Darkness) Darkness) it takes that same individual interpretation to decide ones overall opinion of Conrad /o &lienate Conrad in the way wa y &che(e wishes society would seems unrealistic /here will always (e an ongoing de(ate on each side) the real +uestion is if one can acknowledge and understand &che(e.s struggle with Conrad.s (ook Even if one does not (elieve Conrad was a racist) there is no reason not to find middle g round and reali,e how the story can (e offensive to &fricans & critic) critic) Patrick %ratlinger) offers interesting incite when he says “ Heart of Darkness offers a powerful criti+ue of at least some manifestations of imperialism and racism) as it simultaneously presents that criti+ue in ways that can (e charac teri,ed only as imperialist and racistG the novel itselfGcancels its its own (est intentions! 8a(inowit, 95< /o deny that the novella is either anti- imperialist or racist would (e e+ually invalid) it is easily (oth /he fight mainly consists of which is it more 't is important to consider the distinctions (etween >arlow and Conrad) the use of contradictory language) and the treatment of women and &fricans to come to a conclusion of what one (elieves (elieves aising these +uestions is an important part in taking a side intelligently and learning to de(ate sympathetically in this o ngoing discussion
Evans
*orks Cited &che(e) Chinua @&n 'mage of &frica@ &frica@ The Massachuesetts Review 9I; Review 9I; 8922<: 2I5-; JSTOR JSTOR Conrad) oseph) and oss C >urfin Heart >urfin Heart of Darkness: a Case Stud in Contem!orar Criticism Criticism Jew 0ork: St >artin"s) 9I >urfin) oss C) and Aayla *alker *alker Edin @& Critical History of Heart of Darkness@ 92 Phillips) Caryl @*as @*as oseph Conrad eally a acist4@ 85662<: &n 'nterview with Ch inua &che(e@ 95-; a(inowit,) Peter @eader esponse) eader esponsi(ility: Heart of Darkness and the Politics of Displacement@ 89<: 99