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There have been many critics, predominantly Chinua Achebe, that have cast a cloak of racism upon the back of Joseph Conrad. Those authors base these allegations upon the novel Heart of Darkness, calling it a vile and most ungodly novel that only seeks to set the black race as a footstool of the white race. However, one must realize that there is a much deeper meaning to the novel than that of blatant racism. It is, in fact, a connection with the past that shows both the mindset, as well as the ignorance, of those who colonized Africa in the late nineteenth century. The entire novel is a boxed narrative, thus we can see into what the storyteller truly feels about his own experience rather than an third person analysis of what the protagonist does. In this case, Charlie Marlow retells his story of how he encountered a force that could only be described as “The horror, the horror.” It is, indeed, a catharsis of sorts, but not only from Marlow, but for Conrad as well.
Approximate Word count = 547
Approximate Pages = 2.2
(250 words per page double spaced)
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