Heart Of Darkness: Heart Of Controversy

Part I of Essay
Chinua Achebe believes that Joseph Conrad's Heart Of Darkness is racist based on Conrad's descriptions of Africa and it's people. Achebe, author of Things Fall Apart, stresses Conrad's depiction of Africa as the antithesis of Europe and civilization, and the animal imager ....

Part II of Essay
.... is more serious, but turn-of-the-century England was sure to expect far harsher. Educated people reading Conrad's novel should understand the differences between the past and the present, and be forgiving of his language. The deeper the expedition progressed into the center of the continent, the more isolation was felt by the crew. In a sense, Central Africa IS the antithesis of Western Europe -- it lacks not only the hectic urban structures but also the Social Darwinist attitudes of the time. It is in this remote environment that man ....