This critique will be based on three essays tiled as follows: “Reestablishing “Race” in Anthropological Discourse,” “An Image of Africa: Racism in Conrad’s Heart of Darkness” and “Fenced In & Forced to Give Up.” The central focus of each essay is the concept of race. Race, as defined by Oxford Dictionaries is “a group of people sharing the same culture, history, language etc.” I will follow this order: “Reestablishing “Race” in Anthropological Discourse,” “An Image of Africa: Racism in Conrad’s Heart of Darkness” and “Fenced In & Forced to Give Up.”
Re-establishing Race by Carol C. Mukhopadhahy and Yolanda T. Moses writes to their audience, an essay for raising awareness that the concept of race had disappeared from anthropology, and that …show more content…
He also mentions that the portrayal of Africa in Heart of Darkness comes from “Western imagination” not Conrad himself, and that Conrad brought Western views of Africa and its people to the stage. After stating all these, Achebe mentions that Conrad is a racist because of the novel’s content. What I do not connect is that, what is the connection between these two, the novel’s content and how Conrad is as a person? There are two parts to my question—Joseph Conrad as a person and the novel’s content. I do comprehend that the time during which individuals live has impact on the individual in many ways unknown to humans, but what is incomprehensible is: how does the person that brings to the stage another person’s or group’s view become a racist? I do acquiesce that there is offensive language in the novel but we must keep in mind that most of the language mentioned is the language of the narrator, Marlow. Overall what Joseph Conrad has done in the novel is that he has simply projected one nation’s view from the perspective of a nation that utilizes derogatory terms. In my opinion and based on my evaluation of Achebe’s essay, it is incorrect to call Joseph Conrad a
Re-establishing Race by Carol C. Mukhopadhahy and Yolanda T. Moses writes to their audience, an essay for raising awareness that the concept of race had disappeared from anthropology, and that …show more content…
He also mentions that the portrayal of Africa in Heart of Darkness comes from “Western imagination” not Conrad himself, and that Conrad brought Western views of Africa and its people to the stage. After stating all these, Achebe mentions that Conrad is a racist because of the novel’s content. What I do not connect is that, what is the connection between these two, the novel’s content and how Conrad is as a person? There are two parts to my question—Joseph Conrad as a person and the novel’s content. I do comprehend that the time during which individuals live has impact on the individual in many ways unknown to humans, but what is incomprehensible is: how does the person that brings to the stage another person’s or group’s view become a racist? I do acquiesce that there is offensive language in the novel but we must keep in mind that most of the language mentioned is the language of the narrator, Marlow. Overall what Joseph Conrad has done in the novel is that he has simply projected one nation’s view from the perspective of a nation that utilizes derogatory terms. In my opinion and based on my evaluation of Achebe’s essay, it is incorrect to call Joseph Conrad a