Is Conrad Racist?

Heart of Darkness is a novella written by Joseph Conrad about a voyage up the Congo River. Conrad uses the main character of Marlow in order to recount his trip. In Heart Of Darkness, Conrad talks about the British imperialism where he describes the way the natives were treated in their land, as well as how the colonial expansion in Africa led to the spread of racism. Many readers believe that Conrad is a realist because his novel showed the real aims of imperialism which claim that colonialism came to civilize Africans. However, others classify Conrad as a racist because of his ugly description of the black Africans and his support to colonial policies against the natives in Africa. So, the question here is whether Conrad was racist in his novella or not.

In the article, “An Image of Africa: Racism in Conrad’s Heart of Darkness,” Chinua Achebe describes the novella, Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad, as being racist. Heart of Darkness projects the image of Africa another world that is the antithesis of Europe and therefore of civilization. According to Achebe, it is not the differences that worries Conrad but the lurking hint of kinship or of common ancestry to the native Africans.

Achebe accounts for Conrad's racism against black Africans because of his personal history. For instance, his text states that "there remains still in Conrad's attitude a residue of antipathy to black people which his peculiar psychology alone can explain. His own account of his first encounter with a black man is very revealing: A certain enormous buck nigger encountered in Haiti fixed my [Conrad's] conception of blind, furious, unreasoning rage, as manifested in the human animal to the end of my days. Of the nigger I used to dream for years afterwards." Conrad's own experiences and perceptions with black people could therefore have seeped into the way in which he conveys this race within his own writing. For this reason, Achebe sees Heart of Darkness as a racist text, one "which parades in the most vulgar fashion prejudices and insults from which a section of mankind has suffered untold agonies and atrocities in the past and continues to do so in many ways and many places today. [He is] talking about a story in which the very humanity of black people is called into question." However, Achebe partly does save the reputation of Conrad when he concedes that "Conrad did not originate the image of Africa which we find in his book. It was and is the dominant image of Africa in the Western imagination...Conrad saw and condemned the evil of imperial exploitation but was strangely unaware of the racism on which it sharpened its iron tooth." This is because his novella novel continues to perpetuate the damaging stereotypes of black people.

Although Achebe makes many valid points, I do not believe that Joseph Conrad intended to make Heart of Darkness a racist work. I think that the racism found in the novella is based on the reader's own interpretation of civilization, savagery, and morality. Contrary to promoting racism, the novella promotes the essence of humanity, in that all human beings contain their very own heart of darkness. Conrad was attempting to exemplify the cruelty of the European imperialists by using Marlow’s perception of his African surroundings. Nonetheless, since Heart of Darkness remains Conrad's key piece of literary work, this debate is ongoing. Since the story of Marlow corresponds so neatly with Conrad’s own biography, it is easy to assume among others that Marlow reflects Conrad’ own perspective and prejudice beliefs.

Response to Brontë's Wuthering Heights

Wuthering Heights, written by Emily Brontë takes the idea of the moors to a whole new symbolic level. The novel itself takes place on Yorkshire moors, which ultimately establishes a country setting. Like Brontë herself, the characters of her one and only novel—yes, sadly it’s true---grow up in an isolate environment. This degree of isolation in turn spurred the encounter of two differing households both externally and internally—Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange. This novel made me realize just how impactful a novel’s setting can be. Brontë cleverly utilizes this setting not only as a plot device, but also as a way to convey to people that we are products of our own environments.

The wild and desolate moors are set against the drama unfolding in the two houses that are stark contrasts from one another not only in appearance but also by their inhabitants. Lockwood explains at the novel's opening, "Wuthering" is "a significant provincial adjective, descriptive of the atmospheric tumult to which its station is exposed in stormy weather.” It is said to be haunted by ghosts, and exudes an ominous mood. Mystery and mysticism govern the lives of those who live there, ultimately making it 'A perfect misanthropist's heaven.” This is never more evident than Heathcliff himself. Scarred by the loss of Catherine, he lives his life emersing himself within plots of revenge. Thrushcross Grange is a very classy, civilized estate and living in a place like this would bring a lot of status with it. Unlike Wuthering Heights it is located in a pleasant location that is not subject to severe storms.  It is quite a sheltered place down in the valley and this is something that is common with its children - they tend to be sheltered and spoilt. For this reason, Edgar Linton is regarded as a poised and proper man. Although both estates are wealthy, there is a definite difference in class between them and this bears on the ability of the characters from both estates to socialize with each other.  By growing up in the manner they did, they viewed each other’s family with concern. For example, when Catherine was forced to stay at Thrushcross Grange after being bitten by a dog, Heathcliff was upset when she returned bearing the traits of the Lintons—the same people who look down upon him for his dirty clothes. There’s no wonder why Heathcliff would feel this way, when he was raised in a whole different manner.

Heathcliff clearly grew up in the novel as a double outsider. Not only was he adopted into the Earnshaw family, but his appearance falls short of the others (i.e., he is described as a “dark skinned gypsy”). Growing up in a household where he was constantly mistreated by Hindley, Heathcliff was able to find comfort in Catherine. However, both her marriage to Edgar and her death left him alone in the world. In addition, the isolation of this household meant that there weren’t various other households and civilians nearby, meaning that he was left to endure it on his own. In a way, Catherine was Heathcliff’s safe haven. The lost of her presence left him with nothing positive to focus on. Consequently, he emerged into a man of revenge—one who rebelled against his tormentor and opponents (Hindley and Edgar). Wuthering Heights is a constant reminder of just impacted we are by our surroundings and upbringing. It's messages carry on into the 21st century where it is deservingly deemed as a work of literary merit.