On the other hand, Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe tells the tale of an African tribe of Umuofia from the inside detailing the before and after effects of the appearance of the white men. All in all, Heart of Darkness can be perceived that Western civilization is as barbarous as African society may seems to colonist. In addition, Heart of Darkness points out the devastating critique of white progress, white idealism, white materialism, and white exploitation happening during Conrad’s era (Robertson). They fail to see their depiction of exploration into Africa damaging to native communities in Things Fall Apart. According to Conrad, it is the Europeans and White civilization that are deemed hollow, repressive, and deathly. Although Conrad offers many positive comments on Africans, Achebe chooses to ignore them. From these descriptions, blacks manifest life qualities. Blacks are associated with energy, vitality, and natural dignity resulting in the cannibals appearing as 'dignified,' the helmsman 'athletic,' the African woman as 'savage' as well as 'superb,' 'magnificent,' and 'gorgeous' (Robertson). Also, Conrad grants speech to the blacks only for them to be condemned as cannibals saying “Catch ’im … Eat ’im!” However, if Conrad were to be deemed a racist, it would be more for his treatment of whites than blacks. Going through the river, Marlow “sees a dog in a parody of breeches and a feather hat walking on his hind legs” suggesting that these savages are animals merely acting civilized (Conrad). Conrad is accused of dehumanizes the natives that Marlow encounters in Africa to “savages,” “shapes,” “creatures,” and “shadows.” Using powerful descriptions and imagery, Conrad continues to degrade natives and compare them to animals. Achebe adds: “the image which Conrad projects of African life could hardly be called flattering” from the descriptions of Africans by Conrad (Mongia).

Clearly, Heart of Darkness presents European prejudice and the issue of race that Achebe declared Conrad as a “bloody racist” (Watts).

Chinua achebe heart of darkness