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

Approximate Word count = 1020
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Miscellaneous

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