Heart of Darkness and Things

Heart of Darkness and Things Fall Apart

Title and Author - Heart of Darkness, a novel and short story, by Joseph Conrad

Brussels, at the Belgian Company and the Congo between 1876 and 1892

Major Characters - Marlow as the story teller. He is independent-minded, philosophical and skeptical of white imperialism. He draws his story from the experiences of the author in his own journey to the Congo River. Kutz is the scheming and utterly artistic villain, the dark image of European colonialism, who used the ignorance of the natives to entrench himself as their god in search for ivory. The others are the general manager who runs the Belgian Central Station, the Pilgrims, the cannibals and the Russian trader.

Plot -- Marlow is the captain of a riverboat that engages in trade with a Belgian Company in this are in Central Africa. He is in search of Kurtz, whose work he has to investigate. Marlow witnesses the brutal treatment of the Belgian Company at its Central Station. He is later led to the Inner Station where he finds the ailing Kutz, who has held mystical sway over the natives and in raiding surrounding territory in the pursuit of ivory. Kutz had Marlow's boat set on fire and tries to escape, but Marlow finds him and takes him to the ship. There, the dying Kutz entrusts him with a pamphlet on how to civilize savages. Marlow brings his remains to Europe where praises await Kurtz as a virtuous achiever.

5. Problems and Solutions Marlow and Kurtz represent the opposite images of civilized Europeans who must confront the tendency to ignore morality, or the issue of good and evil, completely outside the European context. Then Marlow witnesses the revolting and inhumane treatment of the native employees at the Central Station. He also hears about rumors of Kurtz' being a remarkable and humane man and discovers Europeans' physical and mental breakdown in the environment of Africa. Marlow finally discovers that Kurtz has completely abandoned European morals and norms of behavior.

Marlow accepts the responsibility for the legacy and consequences of his fellow European's actions.

6, Themes -- the hypocrisy of imperialism, madness as a result of imperialism, the absurdity of evil, the unknown that was the Dark Continent, the darkness of barbarism, the resulting obscurity and the spiritual darkness of some characters and the darkness within London itself when it was part of the dark of the world in Roman times

7. Reflection -- This book reveals the two faces of Western imperialism that the rest of the world, especially exploited or colonized countries, must read in order to understand the workings of imperialism.

Book Report II

1. Title and Author -- Things Fall Apart, a novel, by Chinua Achebe

2. Setting -- Nigerian villages in the Gulf of Guinea in West Africa, specifically Iguendo and Mbanta in the 1890s. The novel was published in 1959 in Negeria by Heinemann Educational Books.

3. Major Characters -- Okonkwo is an influential leader in the Umuofia clan. Nwoye is his young son whom he thinks is weak and unworthy. Ikemefuna is his adopted and beloved son from another village. Unoka is his father who disappoints him and Obierika is his close friend. Enoch is the fanatic convert to Christianity. Ogbuefi Eizeudu is the oldest villager.

4. Plot -- Okonkwo wants to prove that he is stronger, more effective and wealthier than his father Unoka and, for this reason, resents that his son Nwoye is like his lazy, worthless and poor father. He adopts Ikemefuna whom he secretly loves but is predicted to be ill-fated and must be killed, but Okonkwo cannot participate because Ikemefuna calls him father. But in trying to prove his masculinity, Okonkwo kills the boy himself. The oldest villager dies and during the funeral, Okonkwo's gun accidentally kills the dead man's son. Avoiding punishment, Okonkwo and his family go into exile in another village. While there, white missionaries penetrate the village. At first, they are led by the tolerant Mr. Brown, later replaced by the strict and intolerant Reverend James Smith. During a festival, however, a zealous Christian convert, Enoch, unmasks an egwugwu, a gross violation equivalent to killing an ancestral spirit. For this, the natives burn the church. The district commissioner tricks their leaders into a meeting and jails them instead. When released, the natives meet but court messengers stop their meeting. Okonkwo resists and kills their leader but the villagers do not side with him. Instead, they allow the other messengers to escape. For his failure and guilt, Okonkwo commits suicide, a grave sin, and native custom prohibits anyone from touching his body. The white government uses his tragic rebellion and death as basis for a book on Africa and how to pacify the primitive tribes in the lower Niger.

5. Problems and Solutions -- the conflicts are external and internal. Externally, the Western customs imposed by the white colonizers and those of the traditional society of the Umuofia clash. Internally, Okonkwo struggles to deviate from his perception of his father, whom he thinks is weak, lazy, poor and worthless by developing the opposite traits. Meantime, Enoch violates a native tradition during a feast, leading to the burning of the church and the arrest of Umuofian leaders by the district commissioner, which lead to a lot of tension between the villagers and the colonizers. Okonkwo murders a court messenger and commits suicide when his fellow villagers side with the European government and, to his mind, prove their weakness. Having sinned grievously, Okonkwo's body may not be touched. The white government uses his rebellion and death as basis for a book on Africa, entitled, "The Pacification of the Primitive Tribes of the Lower Niger."

6. themes -- struggle between tradition and change, interpretations of masculinity, and language as a sign of cultural difference. Symbols used are locusts, fire and drums. Locusts represent the white colonists coming upon the African natives to bring good and evil. And fire represents Okonkwp's ferocity and destructiveness. The drums provide the physical connection within the Umuofia clan and their united heartbeat. The novel uses chi and animal imagery as motifs.

7. Reflections

Achebe also describes Ikemefuna as an ill-fated boy and his eventual murder by Okonkwo's; the arrival of the locusts, alluding to the eventual coming of the white colonizers; and Okonkwo's suicide, as suggested by his close friend.

Similarities and Differences

Both novels focus on Western imperialism and in the African continent. Both were written and published in the later part of the 19th century. Both make allusions to benevolence in European colonizers, as Marlow in Conrad's novel and Mr. Brown in Achebe's, as well as to their inhumanness and madness, as Kurtz in Conrad's novel and their intolerance and strictness, as Reverend James Smith in Achebe's work.

"Heart of Darkness" is told from the point-of-view of a European colonizer in general and a European voyager or captain of a ship in particular. "Things Fall Apart," on the other hand, is the response of an African native to the "Heart of Darkness," written by a European on African natives. Conrad's novel presents the confrontation and blending of what is sheer evil in the European colonization of inferior communities and what is benevolence in it through the characters of Marlow and Kurtz. In Achebe's work, this evil is presented in the imposition of Christianity among the natives by Reverend James Smith and the perverse notions and actions of Okonkwo.

Concepts of Good and Evil

The central figure of contention on what is good and what is evil is Kurtz, whose greed in obtaining ivory and inherent talents have led him to exploit the minds of the natives as to his divinity. He has put himself above reproach. He is preoccupied in taming or exterminating the primitive tribes to suit his purposes. Marlow sees this evil that "dies" in his presence but accepts Kurtz's document and legacy to him as the other side of the truth about European colonization. He cannot judge the acts of his fellow European.

"Things Fall Apart" deals with the issue of good and evil within the Umuofia clan, against the white missionaries and with the individual, mainly Okonkwo. In relation to his clan, Okonkwo breached tribal laws and norms of behavior by killing his own adopted son, Ikemefuna, and by being responsible in the accidental death of the son of the oldest villager during the latter's funeral. In relation to the white missionaries, the good-and-evil factor is demonstrated by Okonkwo's resistance to the court messengers, particularly his murder of their leader, and his eventual act of suicide, a serious sin, according to native tradition and belief. And in relation to himself, evil consists in his father's unworthiness, penury, weakness and effeminate character; his son's apparent duplication of his father's liabilities; his clan's disapproval of his masculinity; and his own fear of his weaknesses and failures. These perceptions delve in the difference between what is good and what is evil more than the disloyalty of his fellow clansmen or the treachery of the district commissioner.

Similarities among the Characters

The Russian trader in the "Heart of Darkness" approximates Enoch in "Things Fall Apart" in providing the spark the leads to the explosion of the narratives. The Russian trader tells Marlow about Kurtz's secret, which leads Marlow to confront Kurtz. Enoch violates sacred rites that result in the burning of the church, the imprisonment of tribal leaders, Okonkwo's rebellion and suicide. The general manager in Conrad's novel approximates the district commissioner in Achebe's novel. The pilgrims and cannibals in Conrad's work are also a parallel of Achebe's court messengers, who decide to obey white colonizers. Marlow can be compared with Mr. Brown in their kindness and tolerance of the natives, despite their superiority to these natives. And Kurtz's African mistress in Conrad's work is comparable to Okonkwo's favorite daughter, Ezinma, in Achebe's novel and as the only female characters of significance to the works.

Comparison Between the Authors and Their Societies

Joseph Conrad was a sailor who became a British subject. His boyhood dream of traveling to the Congo was fulfilled when he took command of a steam ship in a Belgian Congo in 1890. His experiences in the Congo became the outline for this novel. His stay there caused him poor health, as reflected by the poor health of his main character, Marlow. Both Conrad and his character returned to Europe to recover.

The novel is an attempt at bridging Victorian values and ideals of modernism. Like earlier Victorian novels, it relies heavily on traditional ideals of heroism. Home and civilization are mere and hypocritical ideals without meaning to men for whom survival is a constant concern and subject of doubt. This is why there are hardly female characters in the fiction. Like much of the literature in the early decades of the 20th century, the "Heart of Darkness" revolves around alienation, confusion and overwhelming doubt about imperialism. By the 1890s, most of the world's "dark" places were at least nominally under the control of Europe. Major European powers were trying to govern and protect far-flung territories. The system showed strong signs of collapsing. The novel suggests that this is a natural result of operating outside a social system of checks and balances and that power over other human beings inevitably corrupts.

Although among the first literary texts to offer a critical view of European imperial activities, critics did not find it controversial. They admire it as a condemnation of a particular kind of adventurer who takes easy advantage of imperialism and opportunism.

Kurtz's unwitting, affectionate and sentimental fiancee was praised by reviewers for her maturity and sentimental appeal. Because the setting is a Belgian colony and the lead character works for a Belgian trader, British readers find a reason not to identify with what the novel implies. Nonetheless, it emphasizes the central themes of hypocrisy and absurdity. Through his novel, Conrad wants to know if it is possible to call a person insane or wrong when he is part of a system, which is completely corrupted and corrupting. The "Heart of Darkness," at its most abstract level, explores that difficulty to understand the world outside of the self and the ability of one man to judge another.

Albert Chinualumogu Achebe is a native of Ogidi, the largest village in Nigeria, born on November 16, 1930. He had a multicultural upbringing within the traditional culture of the Ibo. He studied history and theology in college and took special interest in indigenous Nigerian cultures. He later rejected his Christian name, Albert, and assumed his traditional name, Chinua.

He was a founder of a Nigerian literary movement, which used traditional oral culture of indigenous peoples. He wrote "Things Fall Apart" in 1950 in response to Joseph Conrad's novel, which views Africa as a primitive and culture-less foil for Europe. This novel seeks to convey a fuller understanding of African culture and offer a voice to this under-represented and exploited colonial subject. It is his reaction to white men's account of Africa as primordial, socially backward and language-less.