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It is astounding to consider the controversy a mere 53 pages were able to garner among literary critics. Not only replete with complicated syntax and complex diction, Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness is a text that consistently contradicts itself, condemning imperialism while simultaneously celebrating racist perceptions of Africa. As a result, it is difficult to make sense of Marlow’s physical expedition to the Congo and the allegorical investigation Heart of Darkness represents. Yet the novella’s susceptibility to interpretation is precisely what makes it such a valued text within the teaching canon. Heart of Darkness is a highly regarded and widely read piece of literature that must be taught to help students navigate the implicit racism and social implications of Conrad’s work.
As a result of Heart of Darkness’s anti-imperialistic attitude and seemingly progressive approach, it is difficult to detect the novel’s underlying racism outside a classroom setting. The Congo serves as a backdrop void of humanity and, as Conrad states, “a black and incomprehensible frenzy” (Conrad 19). The African characters are nameless, can barely speak, and are referred to as “savages,”(9) and “not-inhuman,” (20) and are described as “unearthly” (20) and “satanic” (37). While Conrad perpetuates a Eurocentric mentality through this perception of Africa, he also explicitly criticizes this outlook. When discussing ancient European efforts of subjugation, Marlow argues that “The conquest of the earth, which mostly means the taking it away from those who have a different complexion or slightly flatter noses than ourselves, is not a pretty thing when you look into it that much' (Conrad 4). This seemingly progressive attack on European imperialism potentially conceals the novel’s prejudiced undertones. As Chinua Achebe argues in “An Image of Africa: Racism in Conrad's ‘Heart of Darkness,’” 'Generally normal readers are well armed to detect and resist' the racism embedded in literature. Conrad, however, 'chose his subject well -- one which was guaranteed not to put him in conflict with the psychological predisposition of his readers or raise the need for him to contend with their resistance” (Achebe 2). Heart of Darkness’s seemingly progressive yet condescending attitude towards Africa affirms historically ingrained stereotypes in American culture; however, by disclosing this covert depiction of Africa and revealing the problematic elements of this portrayal that have in many ways become normalized, teaching Heart of Darkness gives students the tools necessary to both recognize and consider their misconceptions of African culture.
Further, dwelling on the racist portrayal for which Heart of Darkness has now become synonymous overlooks the reality that, whether or not deserved, this text has already achieved many of the accolades awarded to literary classics. Achebe questions whether “a novel which... depersonalizes a portion of the human race, can be called a great work of art” (Achebe 5). Perhaps a more applicable inquiry to today’s society is how to approach the problematic elements of a work that is already so revered. As Achebe makes clear, Conrad’s “heart of darkness plagues us still.” The book is “described by a serious scholar as ‘among the half dozen greatest short novels in the English language,’” and is “the most commonly prescribed novel in twentieth-century literature courses...” (Achebe 7). It is for these reasons that Conrad’s novella must be taught and acknowledged as a racist text in a classroom setting. Given its popularity, students are likely to come across the text at some point in their lives and must be given a structured framework to constructively analyze the racist undertones embedded within the text. Those who are not introduced to Conrad’s work in the classroom nevertheless exist in a culture responsible for embracing its elitist attitude and therefore are excluded from an opportunity for potential enlightenment. As English professor Lennard J. Davis asserts in “The Value of Teaching a Racist Classic,” when teaching Heart of Darkness, he “steered the work toward issues of race as well as the existential and imperialistic” and “emphasized the enslavement of the Africans, the way that the natives fulfilled the colonists' stereotypical fantasies, and the lure of the ideology of the primitive” (Davis 3). By exposing the novel’s racism, Professor Davis not only enables students to gain a deeper understanding of the text, but he also helps them appreciate the subtle inferiority attributed to Africans, a stereotype that perpetuates Westernized inclinations to remain distant from African culture.
Although Conrad’s work is powerful, it must be taught methodically and with historical context to enable students to digest Conrad’s racist perspective. Unlike Davis’s first reading of Heart of Darkness in high school in which his English teacher “taught us how to wade slowly and carefully through every image, learning how to read closely and carefully, so that we could gain the skills that would allow us to continue our journeys up the river from lower to higher education,” (Davis 2) today’s educators must also emphasize the text’s underlying racism; to do otherwise ultimately does a disservice to students. Solely teaching Conrad’s work to castigate it, however, is equally ineffective. There is little value in exposing students to Heart of Darkness’s racist elements if students aren’t provided a more accurate, enlightened frame of reference. Indeed, one of the many purposes of teaching the text is to illuminate the complexity of African culture; it is difficult to embrace the unique aspects of a culture without teaching about what specifically makes a culture complex. Perhaps the ideal approach is to teach Heart of Darkness in conjunction with another literary work that embraces an alternative perspective. This strategy would allow students to explore various viewpoints independently and appreciate the ignorance in Conrad’s depiction of African culture as distant and primitive. For instance, introducing a work that addresses the complexities of African culture and its connectedness to Western society will provide a possible alternative to Conrad’s attempts to diminish the region.
Heart of Darkness is in no capacity a moral or ethical text. Conrad’s pervasive fear of Western society’s “remote kinship with this wild and passionate uproar” (Conrad 20) perhaps provides one of the most degrading assaults on African culture of the time. As Davis argues, however, literature is not meant to “be a particular way or portray a particular reality” (Davis 4). Instead, teaching complex literary works like Heart of Darkness allows students to appreciate the concept that literature can have objectionable and often unintended societal consequences. Although it might seem easier to dismiss certain works based on moral principles, it is undoubtedly more productive to provide students with the tools necessary to interpret literature independently rather than protecting them from the darkness at the center of Conrad’s novel.
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