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‘Heart of Darkness’ by Joseph Conrad was inspired by his journey to Belgian Congo. It is a unique novel uncovering the complicated racist attitude of Europeans towards the black people in colonies. Written in 1898-1899 and published in 1902, the book reflects the racist orientation of those days. So my idea is that in his work Joseph Conrad was trying to depict the reality of his time. Can the author be accused of racism with no apparent reasons for that? Let’s have a look. Before we start our journey along the River Congo, let my specify, that according to Merriam-Webster dictionary “racism” itself - is “a belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race”. Consequently, the term also stands for “racial prejudice or discrimination”. By many critics Conrad is treated as a racist writer. Even though I agree that the novel contains a lot of cruel, inhuman scenes, and racist (according to contemporary vision) lexicon, it is not meant to reflect Conrad’s own beliefs. So the first and simplest thing that strikes a reader is the literary form chosen by the author. Conrad, the son of his epoch, representing his culture, does constantly use humiliating and often outdated terminology to present the natives, people of color, as ‘savages’ and ‘niggers’. Also he chooses to describe their primitive culture using intentionally primitive language. By using the word ‘cannibal’ Conrad presents a savage and uncivilized race, which altogether gives us the illusion of severe wilderness, and so much contradicts the world of ‘whites’. Very common are these Conrad’s contrasting descriptions of races.
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