Parallels of Achebe & Conrad on African Colonialism

3024 Words13 Pages
When considering fictional literature concerning African Colonialism, two of the most influential texts are Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart and Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness. Both make clear in a unique perspective the universal atrocities of the invading Europeans upon Africans during this time period. Achebe employs an African third-person perspective, Conrad by use of two European first-person narrators. Although both stories are generally accepted to be great works of fiction, Achebe’s is done so mainly without appeal. Conrad’s, however, is constantly under criticism on whether or not it deserves such an honor, with some holding the view that it even promotes some of the evils of colonialism rather than denouncing them. This is due to the ample racism and metaphors of inferiority present within the story. Indeed, Achebe himself is one of the most vocal advocates of such a stance, stating: “…the question is whether a novel which celebrates this dehumanization, which depersonalizes a portion of the human race, can be called a great work of art. My answer is: No, it cannot” (Achebe). Yet, upon careful examination one can see that such racist views expressed in Heart of Darkness are products of the perspectives of the narrators and speak to their own motives rather than that of the book or author. Strangely enough, Achebe uses a nearly identical method of flawed perspective to arrive at the same denouncement of colonialism, but with little to no criticism. Such a paradox induces one to conclude that the responsibility to reveal the shared motives of these works (while avoiding false deductions) is that of the reader or audience. One must recognize, understand, and then overcome the multiple layers of perspectives belonging to the characters and authors of these stories in order to fully unveil the shared motive that makes these books so great and

More about Parallels of Achebe & Conrad on African Colonialism

Open Document