Appearance vs. Reality

Introduction

One of the most basic questions in philosophy is the one of appearance vs. reality. We find ourselves asking the question of what is indisputably "real?" and what is viewed just as just an "appearance?" and not real? It becomes hard when we take for granted that there is a difference in the two to decide which is which. In general? what we label as "real" is regarded as external and eternal. What we belive to be just an appearance is regarded as brief and internal. Many early as well as modern day authors use the theme of appearance vs. reality to portray a character in a certain way. The theme of appearance vs. reality can be seen in the works of many early American writers to portray the characters of which they write about. This them help make the outline of the story come to life. In this report we compare and contrast of Heart Of Darkness and Hamlet.

Heart of Darkness and Hamlet

Joseph Conrad's "Heart of Darkness" is considered by many as a classic? but over the years has presented many problems of interpretation. One of the most famous misinterpretations is Chinua Achebe's misunderstanding of Conrad as a racist. We should not make insane assumptions about Conrad's character simply because he was honest about how the Africans were treated back then. Suppose If Conrad wrote the story any differently? that is? not putting the Africa and Africans down? then it would not precisely reveal the history. It is impossible to consider Conrad a racist because he is a product of his times? which had that kind of racism built into its very language. He only uses some racist remarks to show the people how Africans were treated and considered back then? (Conrad? 21) and Achebe lacks sufficient proof to claim that Conrad was a racist in real life.

In "Heart of Darkness" Conrad painted a very negative picture of colonialism. By today's values his novel concerning Africans is most definitely crude; however? this is only a reflective of the state of affairs at the time. Racism is slightly portrayed in his book? but one must acknowledge the fact that back in Conrad's days? society actually conformed to racism. But that doesn't tell us that Conrad himself was a racist. Conrad constantly referred to the Africans? in his book? as savages and niggers to show the readers how the society and people at that time were ignorant towards African people. One cannot claim from the following lines "Black figures strolled out listlessly... the beaten nigger groaned somewhere" (Heart of Darkness) that Conrad is a racist. (Conrad? 21) This has nothing to do with the reality of Conrad being a racist. If anything? Conrad criticizes the European colonization of Africa in Heart of Darkness over and over again and has a sympathetic view towards Africans? not racist.

In order to label Conrad a racist one would have to possess real proof. But unfortunately Achebe lacks sufficient amount of information/facts to ...