Thesis Statement

“Is Conrad's Heart of Darkness based on Racism?”

Introduction

The Heart of Darkness reflects the life of Conrad. Heart of Darkness explains how the aims of science fiction reflect those of Post-Romantic art. Conrad exposes the horrors of imperialism in the Belgian Congo under King Leopold II. The influence of Darwin, Kelvin, and other iconoclasts of the Nineteenth Century also appears in his work.

The presence of movement through time and space, a divided humanity, and cannibalism in his text can be explained topically, and in addition to, indicating his historical roots, I analyze the artistic significance of these three aspects in Heart of Darkness.

Analysis

Conrad and the Belgian Congo

Conrad based Heart of Darkness on the six months he spent in the Congo (June 12-December 4, 1890) as an officer aboard the Roi des Belges. During this time, he likely witnessed the colonizers' deplorable treatment of the natives, which included various acts of punishment and abuse that Conrad later wished he could forget. The novel's characters are based on actual people whom Conrad knew. For instance, Belgian businessman Albert Thys (1849-1915), though not mentioned by name, is the director who wishes Marlow “Bon Voyage” before his journey. Also, Conrad based the manager of the Central Station, who fears Kurtz' influence, on Camille Delcommune. Heart of Darkness does not include names or dates, possibly because Conrad wished to avoid politicizing the text. The discussion of its topicality has usually centered on the theme of race.

Varying degrees of “race-thinking” (Arendt's term in The Origins of Totalitarianism) existed when Conrad wrote Heart of Darkness. G. W. F. Hegel provides an early example of prejudice against Africans in “The African Character,” (1831) in which he notes their lack of religious consciousness, “moral sentiments,” “self-control” and value for human life (Conrad, p.210-211). For Hegel, the practice of cannibalism, polygamy, and their primitive form of government add to the Africans' “sensuous barbarism” (Conrad, p.210). Conrad encountered the same discourses on race and on those native to Africa, which probably resulted in the two men sharing similar “racialist” beliefs.

In, “An Image of Africa: Racism in Conrad's Heart of Darkness,” Achebe accuses Conrad of dehumanizing the Africans by casting them as evil darkness against the Europeans' “daylight” and “peace” (338). Achebe describes the two rivers in Conrad's novel, the Thames and the Congo, as antitheses of each other, “one good, the other bad,” and represent Conrad's attitude toward the two races. Achebe identifies the most incriminating passage in Heart of Darkness, using it as incontrovertible evidence of Conrad's racism. Traveling alone the Congo, Marlow declares, “What thrilled you was just the thought of their humanity—like yours— … Ugly” (Conrad, p.36).

Social Darwinism held that the fitter, more advanced races would replace the savage and brutal peoples over time, which may account for Conrad's depiction of his quest up the Congo as “traveling back to the earliest beginnings of the world” (Conrad, p.33). As Hawkins notes, however, Conrad deviates from most Social Darwinists by proposing that “Europeans in colonies could slide backwards on the ...