Heart of Darkness, starting in 1970s has been criticized by many people as racist do to it's dehumanization of the Africans' and the gratuitous use of the word "nigger". this was put forth by Chinua Achebe to a academic world that was far less than receptive. But upon hearing his arguments my response was "ya, so what?" Of course it's racist, it was written by a Victorian colonialist in 1899. If it wasn't horribly racist by 1970s standards Joseph Conrad would be remembered for his omniscience. The thing is Heart of Darkness is based on Conrad's own work on a steamboat in the Congo so his novel truly captures the atmosphere and attitude of working in the Congo for a the Dutch trading comany. If Nazi Germany had won the war and a concentration camp guard wrote a memoir ( this is the only other situation of comparable mass genocide and slavery I can think of) on his work I wouldn't expect it to be half as damning and critical.
The thing is despite the fact that Joseph Conrad was racist (it was the 1890s everyone was) Joseph perfectly captures the attitudes of the people who worked at these trading outposts. This book reminds me of Downfall (if you have not seen this movie watch it) which is about the last days of Nazi Germany's leadership, in that they both allow you to understand the people that are destined to become the villians of history.
"There is no such thing as a moral or immoral book. Books are either well written or badly written. That is all." - Oscar Wilde
And Heart of Darkness is very well written on all levels.
Hmmm interesting points.
ReplyDeleteI love the Oscar Wilde quote at the end by the way.