How Conrad and Achebe Battled over Africa

“Heart of Darkness” and “Things Fall Apart” give readers two very different perspectives of the continent.

I’m reading criticism of Joseph Conrad’s 1899 novella “Heart of Darkness.” It’s one of my favorite stories. It’s a tale about the evils and insanity of the Europeans who exploited Africa and its people for ivory in the 19th century. Conrad comes down very hard on Colonialism. He has no tolerance for Europeans being in Africa, trying to “civilise” the “savages.” He seems progressive for the 19th century.

And yet, Nigerian novelist Chinua Achebe hated “Heart of Darkness.” He said that despite its condemnation of brutality in Africa, all the African people in the story serve as props, savages and backdrops to the moral suffering of the white European protagonist. That is, the heart of the story is the European guy suffering morally, not the Africans suffering, period.

The novel seems to say “Africans are dying, but look at the white guy suffering morally. Cry for him. Boo-hoo.”

I think it continues to say a lot about how we talk about race in America today. Some, like Conrad, feel that condemnation of physical racism — slavery, fire hoses, lynchings and torches — is what “not being racist” is about. Many people feel they’ve done a good job and can rest well if they’ve condemned these things.

Others, like Achebe, ask people to go a few steps further down the road, and see those without power three-dimensionally — not just as background actors and props against which the actions, suffering and drama of Europeans take place.

I fall in the middle of this literary argument. I agree with Achebe without condemning Conrad. Conrad’s book IS about the moral suffering of a European, against a backdrop of Africans. Achebe left behind a treasury of literature of his own. “Things Fall Apart” is about colonialism from the perspective of Africans. I think there’s room on the shelf for both. The fight is ultimately for the reader’s sympathies.

“Things Fall Apart” is more honest. “Heart of Darkness” remains my favorite tale.