Heart Of Darkness
A detailed Summary of Heart Of Darkness
Joseph Conrad develops themes of personal power, individual responsibility, and
social justice in his book Heart of Darkness. His book has all the trappings of the
conventional adventure tale - mystery, exotic setting, escape, suspense, and unexpected attack.
China Achebe concluded, "Conrad, on the other hand, is undoubtedly one of the great
stylists of modern fiction and a good story-teller into the bargain" (Achebe 252). Yet,
despite Conrad's great story telling, he has also been viewed as a racist by some of his
critics. Achebe, Singh, and Sarvan, although their criticisms differ, are a few to name.
Normal readers usually are good at detecting racism in a book. Achebe
acknowledges Conrad camouflaged racism remarks, saying, "But Conrad chose his subject
well - one which was guaranteed not to put him in conflict with psychological pre-
disposition..." (Achebe, 253). Having gone back and rereading Heart of Darkness, but
this time reading between the lines, I have discovered some racism Conrad felt toward the
natives that I had not discovered the first time I read the book. Racism is portrayed in
Conrad's book, but one must acknowledge that back in the eighteen hundreds socie

"granting the natives human status" leads him to social categorization. C. P. Sarvan wrote
Overall, the natives appeared better humans than the Europeans in Heart of Darkness.
welcoming us - who could tell?" (Conrad 37). The end result of Conrad's ignorance of not
into Marlow's shoes, "To tell you the truth, I was morbidity anxious to change my shoes
natives. "Moreover I respected the fellow. Yes. I respected his collars, his vast cuffs, his
the African people. Conrad wrote, "Black figures strolled out listlessly... the beaten nigger
the image of Africa as 'the other world,'... a place where man's vaunted intelligence and
Darkness. By Joseph Conrad 3rd ed. Ed. Robert Kimbrough. New York: Norton
toward the natives, yet when he met the station's book keeper he changed his views of the
can enter the story and tell it through his own philosophical mind. Conrad used "double
would often mix ignorance with racism when he described the natives. "They howled and
African natives, victims of Belgian exploitation, are described as 'shapes,' 'shadows,' and
Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1020
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)
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