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A review by heathermew
Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
2.0
"Africa as setting and backdrop which eliminates the African as human factor. Africa as a metaphysical battlefield devoid of all recognizable humanity, into which the wandering European enters at his peril. Can nobody see the preposterous and perverse arrogance in thus reducing Africa to the role of props for the break-up of one petty European mind?"
Chinua Achebe, An Image of Africa: Racism in Conrad’s Heart of Darkness
An interesting and disturbing read from the perspective of a narrator (and author) who was personally complicit in the atrocities committed in the Congo during the late 1800s. Whilst I found it a somewhat atmospheric read, this almost entirely relied on the racist and dehumanising depictions of Africa and African people, which are used simply as a narrative foil to one European white man's journey into madness and back. Achebe's essay, available here, offers a much more thorough critique that I can, and I would recommend reading alongside Heart of Darkness.
Chinua Achebe, An Image of Africa: Racism in Conrad’s Heart of Darkness
An interesting and disturbing read from the perspective of a narrator (and author) who was personally complicit in the atrocities committed in the Congo during the late 1800s. Whilst I found it a somewhat atmospheric read, this almost entirely relied on the racist and dehumanising depictions of Africa and African people, which are used simply as a narrative foil to one European white man's journey into madness and back. Achebe's essay, available here, offers a much more thorough critique that I can, and I would recommend reading alongside Heart of Darkness.