Read the excerpt from "An Image of Africa Racism in
Conrad's Heart of Darkness"
In my original conception of this essay I had thought
to conclude it nicely on an appropriately positive note
in which I would suggest from my privileged position in
African and Western cultures some advantages the
West might derive from Africa once it rid its mind of old
prejudices and began to look at Africa not through a
haze of distortions and cheap mystifications but quite
simply as a continent of people-not angels, but not
rudimentary souls either-just people, often highly
gifted people and often strikingly successful in their
enterprise with life and society
Read the excerpt from Heart of Darkness.
And between whiles I had to look after the savage
who was fireman. He was an improved specimen he
could fire up a vertical boiler He was there below me.
Mark this and return
How are the writers riews different in these excerpts?
Conrad presents all Africans as mechanically
gifted, while Achebe does not
Achebe presents Africans as prejudiced, while
Conrad presents them as unbiased
Conrad values those who excel, while Achebe
values only everyday people.
Achebe understands Africans as complex people,
while Conrad presents them as caricatures.
Save and Exit
SUDIOR