Category Archives: 4. Is Heart of Darkness a racist text or is it a text that depicts racism?

In response to the debate between Melissa and Katherine on whether or not Heart of Darkness is a racist text or a text about racism, I feel that it is a text about racism. While there are numerous derogatory statements made about black people, it seems that the language used in fact, is due to societal norms of that time.

“[T]hey were not human..[W]hat thrilled you was just the thought of their humanity-like yours-the thought of your remote kinship with this wild and passionate uproar. Ugly” (A, 85). When reading this citation, it brings a feeling of disgust to me. It is disheartening to hear someone speak of another human being in this manner however, when reading other citations that allude to the thought that colonization is really not such a good idea, it shows that the writer is not necessarily racist. “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 too much” (A, 64).

If one writes a text based on universal views of a particular race or subject of that time, it makes me re-consider the perspective of the writer. While Heart of Darkness certainly had offensive statements about the African race, I feel it could be based solely on ignorant views of the writer of not truly understanding or accepting the race. Sometimes, when people or even society does not understand others, they shun them and consider them stupid. This could be compared to disabilities in children before modern science discovered various treatable disabilities-such as ADHD or dyslexia.