Conrad: Blatant Racist Or Political Satirist? Essay, Research Paper

There have been many critics, predominantly Chinua Achebe, that have cast a cloak of racism upon the back of Joseph Conrad. Those authors base these allegations upon the novel Heart of Darkness, calling it a vile and most ungodly novel that only seeks to set the black race as a footstool of the white race. However, one must realize that there is a much deeper meaning to the novel than that of blatant racism. It is, in fact, a connection with the past that shows both the mindset, as well as the ignorance, of those who colonized Africa in the late nineteenth century.

The entire novel is a boxed narrative, thus we can see into what the storyteller truly feels about his own experience rather than an third person analysis of what the protagonist does. In this case, Charlie Marlow retells his story of how he encountered a force that could only be described as ?The horror, the horror.? It is, indeed, a catharsis of sorts, but not only from Marlow, but for Conrad as well. After all, Conrad did partake in such an adventure as this before he became an author, therefore the reader must comprehend that these words are not only of the protagonist, if Marlow can be truly called that, but also of Conrad.

The first example of Marlow?s opinion towards colonial Africa occurs when his ship passes a French man of war. The man of war is shelling the coast because the men claim there were ?enemies? in the bushes. The ideals of the Company were geared more towards the pacification of the tribes as well as good commerce with them, yet in the midst of this goodwill, a war ship has come to ?pacify? the natives. Conrad indicates a type of doublespeak within the doctrine of the Company for which Marlow works. The actions of imperialism that existed in the nineteenth century are more in tune what Marlow sees, rather than the doctrine of civilizing the tribes that he has heard. In this act, Conrad does display his satirical capabilities by showing the hypocritical mindset of Europe that existed through the span of more than 400 years.

Perhaps the most recognized point of imperialism in the book is when Marlow reaches the Outer Station. He is surrounded by the natives who have been enlisted as slave labor. Around him are great holes, filled with broken machinery. This appears as ?some inferno? to him, yet he soon comes face to face of what colonial imperialism is truly made of: many bodies; bodies of black men and children. All are starving and they appear to have the form of ?some picture of massacre or a pestilence.? Marlow spots a young boy with a white piece of cotton around his neck, possibly representing innocence. Marlow offers him a biscuit, which the boy accepts but doesn?t eat. It is in this act that the Conrad truly captures the feelings of the natives whom the Europeans suppress. The natives may welcome the Europeans, but they do not openly accept their outward appearance of hospitality and peace. Perhaps they do know that the white man is merely using them, but they do not show any resistance now, though they may feel it in their hearts. Marlow feels pity towards the natives for their condition.

To belie the feeling of pity, Marlow respects the accountant who keeps an impressive appearance in contrast to the ?great demoralization of the land.? However, Marlow does previously state that he would eventually meet a pale, weak-eyed demon, that being the accountant. Again, the feelings of Conrad do come out through Marlow. Marlow knows that the European appearance can be deceiving, an issue which will later resurface when he encounters the oil painting at the Second Station.

The painting portrays the Company, symbolized by the blind woman, as a ?bringer of light? to the dark lands of Africa. However, the Company does not know what evil is in the men they hire, so they turn a blind eye towards the actions of their employees. The blindfold is a symbol of this fact and perhaps the darkness is the situation that they have brought themselves into. If only the woman had removed the blindfold and looked about her, she would have seen that she was lost. Conrad plays double-duty by associating all of Europe to both the Company and the woman. The blindness of Europe during the times of imperialism brought many cultures to an end and Conrad lashes out at the countries of Europe that have done this.

One instance which critics have called a racist tone appears when Marlow and his crew are going down the river and they come into contact with many natives along the way. Marlow states, ?They howled and leaped and spun and made horrid faces, but what thrilled you was just the thought of their humanity – like yours – the thought of your remote kinship with this wild and passionate uproar.? Most critics would proclaim that Conrad insinuates that he believes that the white race is above the natives of the African jungle. However, one must remember that Kurtz becomes an example of such behavior later in the novel. He is the personification of imperialism, thus he represents all aspects of what could become of that institution.

Kurtz is the most recognized symbol of European imperialism in the novel. He is a top agent, skilled collector, master of rhetoric, and, finally, god to anyone he meets, Marlow, the Russian, and the natives included. He is the ideals and corruption of Europe combined with the freedom and evil nature of total unrestraint that has been characterized with Africa. His greed for ivory is a symbol for all the lust that Europe had for the whole earth, and eventually, it is because of his greed that he becomes the animal that Marlow encounters. ?The horror? of his own situation leaves Marlow to dwell on the ideals that he has been taught, as well as what Kurtz could have been thinking in his last moments. Conrad wrote the book so that Kurtz would be a lost man. He is lost for the reason of conveying the eventual destruction of European imperialism.

Conrad shares the beliefs of fellow author, William Golding, in that all men, if left without proper restraints, will eventually become corrupt and give themselves over to the whims of their desires. In essence, Malrow states that all men share a common bond of savagery, only the white man?s world has been bound by the Locke?s Social Contract whereas the natives still operate under the Law of Nature. Under such circumstances Conrad would state that the natives had a free mind to do what they wish, while the Company held all of their men in their hand. If this theory is true, then Marlow could have secretly longed to be a part of this world, this jungle, yet the bonds of imperialism and the promise of fortune have a yoke about his neck.

Conrad was a master of prose as many critics admitted, even those who proclaimed him a racist. The writing of Heart of Darkness was not only to show the potential of what man could become, but what he already was. Marlow is the everyday man, longing to become something that he cannot even fathom. Kurtz was the ideal man that Marlow, or any man for that matter, longed to become. Kurtz was tormented in his last days because he saw the evil that was in European trade and imperialism. In this, he finds a reassuring simplicity in the ways of the natives. Conrad conveys this theme to those who search for a quality that resides in all men, rather than seeking the errors of one group or person, which is what Achebe accused Conrad of doing as he portrayed the natives as ?niggers? and ?common savages.? The evils of society set in motion for what Conrad sought to banish from human thought. All men have the capacity to be evil or good, yet the one ideal that determines this state of being is the realization of what good and evil truly are.