Conrad and “The Heart of Darkness”: Racism?

When I began researching Conrad’s story, “The Heart of Darkness”, to find a topic, I
encountered many postings and web sites throwing the title of racist upon Conrad. This made me
stop and think because upon my reading of his story, I viewed him as a satirical author, not a man
who slandered the African races. After reading a posting in which “Darkness”was called, “A vile
and most ungodly novel that only seeks to set the black race as a footstool of the white
race,”(Achebe) I decided to look further. I believe that there is a much deeper meaning to the
novel than just blatant racism. It is an illustration of the ignorance of the men who colonized
Africa. The novel is told as a boxed narrative so throughout the novel, we have the opportunity to hear what the narrator is feeling. Charlie Marlow tells his story of his encounters with the Congo
that are later summed up with the words, “The horror, the horror.” “Darkness” is a cleansing of
emotion...