The Distorted Images in Heart of Darkness - 4513 Words

The distorted images in Heart of Darkness Abstract In Heart of Darkness, Joseph Conrad exposes the evil of the imperialism and pays sympathy to the oppressed Africans. But affected by imperialist ideology, he serves as a racist and a defender of the imperialism when he attempts to condemn the colonizers. This paper will be analyzing the distorted images in Heart of darkness from the perspective of post-colonialism and Orientalism theory. The present paper is divided into five parts: Part 1 is a brief introduction of the author as well as the main idea of the novella. It also makes a clear the writing purpose of the thesis. Namely, to reveal and study Conrad’s imperialist thought in light of the analysis of the distorted images in the†¦show more content†¦Achebe says that â€Å"Heart of Darkness portrays the image of Africa as ‘the other world,’ the antithesis of Europe and therefore of civilization, a place where man’s vaunted intelligence and refinement are finally mocked by triumphant bestiality†. (15) Savagery and primitiveness which are the distorted images of Africans are evidently represented in the novella. 2.1 The distorted African men. 2.1.1 The word â€Å"nigger† Conrad’s attitude toward the black natives can easily be found from his vocabulary usage. When he describes the natives, he seldom uses the common word â€Å"blacks† to show his respect toward them. For him, they are no more than â€Å"niggers†. According to Dorothy Hammond and Alta Jablow the word â€Å"nigger† had fallen into disrepute by the 1880’s, so there is little doubt that Conrad would have been aware in 1898 that the word â€Å"nigger† was insulting (53). But, he still uses it in his novel. Conrad expresses deep sympathy for the native blacks, but he appears to accept the inequality between white people and black people. Conrad would not use the word â€Å"brother†, and the farthest he would go was â€Å"kinship† in Heart of Darkness (Achebe 11). Recognizing this fundamental flaw in Conrad, Achebe thus labels the white European author a â€Å"thoroughgoing racist† (11). The na rrator in Hear of Darkness is Marlow not the author Conrad. But actually, Marlow is the speaker of Conrad, whose narration shows the attitude of the author. Achebe says that â€Å"Marlow seems to me to enjoyShow MoreRelatedAnalysis Of The Book Heart Of Darkness By Chinua Achebe1364 Words   |  6 Pages In Chinua Achebe’s essay, â€Å"An Image of Africa: Racism in Conrad s Heart of Darkness,† Achebe purports that Joseph Conrad’s short story, Heart of Darkness, should not be taught due to it’s racist caricature of Africa and African culture. In Conrad’s book, Marlow, a sea captain, is tasked with venturing into the center of the Congo, otherwise known as the Heart of Darkness, to retrieve a mentally unstable ivory trader named Kurtz. Marlow narrates his adventures with a tinge of apathy for the enslavedRead MoreThe Heart Of Darkness By Joseph Conrad973 Words   |  4 Pagesgroups, but the image of Africa that is portrayed in modern media via the news, television and movies is completely different. Most media sources depict Africa as being a single country filled with villages of starving children that always have flies on their faces. 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