Heart of Darkness: Reading #3

            Chinua Achebe wrote a very opinionated article about Conrad’s Heart of Darkness. In the article, he outlines every aspect of the book that points to Conrad’s overt racism. A large contributing factor to that racism originates from Conrad’s dehumanization of Africa as a land. Achebe states, “Aftrica as setting and backdrop which eliminates the African as human factor. Africa as a metaphysical battlefield devoid of all recognizable humanity, into which the wandering European enters at his peril.” According to Achebe, Africa is portrayed as a prop for the European mind. He believes that Conrad’s lack of acknowledgment towards Africa’s beautiful land demonstrates his racism. In Heart of Darkness, Marlow describes the African land: “The earth seemed unearthly. We are accustomed to look upon the shackled form of a conquered monster, but there—there you could look at a thing monstrous and free” (105). Although attempting to disguise his own opinions through the views of Marlow, Conrad cannot hide. He clearly admits to seeing the land as “a conquered monster.” Africa is as beautiful a continent as Europe, but because the people living there have different color skin than the Europeans, Conrad does not believe the land is as beautiful. Land is land and its beauty has no relation to the people living on it, but Conrad does not see it like that. The dehumanization of the African land is the gateway to full fledged dehumanization of the African people. This is the origination of Conrad’s racism.