In heart of darkness, Conrad expresses his ideas of the place of women in today’s society, generally he expresses a tone that looks down on women and shows prejudice to them. ‘It’s queers how out of touch women are. They live in a world of their own [which is] too beautiful altogether, and if they were to set it up it would go to pieces before the first sunset.’(18) This quote is showing that Conrad finds the fact that women are extremely out of touch and it’s funny to him. Rob Worrall sees the fact that Lurie naming the women as ‘the intended’ (69), ‘the aunt’ and ‘the native mistress’ makes him ‘a misogynist, if not indeed, Conrad himself? Or is it an honest reflection of masculine attitudes at the turn of the 19th/20th century.’ Moreover, Marlow states women to being ‘barbarous and superb woman.’ (97) This is an oxymoronic description of women that heightens the uncertainty, and how they are not a key part otherwise their description would be longer and more detailed. Chinua Achebe says ‘she fulfils a structural requirement in the story’, this is again reiterating the fact that women in general don’t have a real place in the novel and they aren’t that important. These quotes are showing just a small cutting of the prejudice which women receive throughout the novel purely down to the fact that they are women.
As in heart of darkness where Conrad expresses prejudice towards women, in Disgrace, Coetzee does the same. ‘You don’t understand….because you can’t.’ (157) in Disgrace the epistemological distance between the genders, apparent throughout the text, is here exemplified. ‘Maybe, for men, hating the women makes sex more exciting…’(158) Lurie has a very misogynistic approach towards women and here is an example of Lucy attacking it. ‘Women are adaptable.’(210) This IS showing that Lurie has not always treated women as such. Van Der Vlies says that ‘the novel is concerned with gendered identity, sexual behaviour and exploitation from the very first page.’ This shows that throughout the novel, women in general receive prejudice from men and are clearly not treated as equals and they are to be used purely by men for sexual favours; ‘a women’s beauty.. She has a duty to share it’.(16) Lucy Graham-says that ‘Disgrace points to a text where women are regarded as property, and are liable for protection only insofar as they belong to men, as a lesbian, Lucy would be regarded as ‘unowned’ and therefore ‘huntable’…’
In heart of darkness the female characters are presented in a demoralising way and there is a huge disparity in sex making the women seem as to being weak. ‘it would have been to dark for a women to cope.’ (111) This clearly shows the nature of which novel regards upon women. ‘It is queer how out of touch with truth women are.’(18) This quote explains with evidence of the negative manner which the men in heart of darkness and particularly the author sees women as being. Moreover, the general and non specific names that the women in heart of darkness are given shows the treatment of women being poor and men clearly believing that they are more superior to women. ‘The intended’. ‘The aunt’, ‘native mistress’. Ashley Charter also says ‘the presentation of the two main women characters reinforces the hierarchical dichotomies of man/women.’
Similarly, as in heart of darkness, JM Coetzee’s Disgrace seems to present the women as in a objectified from and they are treated badly and comodified throughout. Firstly, the two Soraya’s, Melanie, Bev and Lucy are all treated as objects and used purely for the sex, they are also shown to be used as ‘this function.’ Even when describing rape, Lurie manages to discriminate women and objectify them; ‘How they showed her what a women was for.’(115) Throughout the novel whenever a women is introduced their sexual appeal and looks also comes with their description and their personality is usually ignored and seen as unimportant; ; ‘after a certain age one is simply no longer appealing’ (67), ‘ a lot of exotics to choose from.’ (8) Lucy Graham says that ‘many white men in colonial south Africa exploited ‘coloured concubines’ without offering the women long term security, or caring whether or not they became pregnant.’ She also says ‘Disgrace points to a text where women are regarded as property, and are liable for protection only insofar as they belong to men. As a lesbian, Lucy would be regarded as ‘unowned’ and therefore ‘huntable.’
Generally, within heart of darkness, their seems to be an atmosphere of grand colonialism, this can be seen from a few key quotes; ‘and this also.. [London] has been one of the dark places on earth.’ (7) This shows Conrad stating that South Africa is a dark place to go. ‘The conquest of the earth, which mostly means taking it away from those who have a different complexion or slightly flatter noses than us.’ Conrad is critical of imperialism and he is foregrounding this at the start of the novel but there is one idea that they are trying to make the world a better place. Those who are doing the civilizing actually need civilizing, for example; the ‘faithless pilgrims’ (33) are greedily plundering the ivory and other material resources whilst mistreating the natives. Furthermore, Chinua Achebe declared Conrad as being a ‘bloody racist’ this shows the other argument of the view, that rather than having a deeper meaning it is just simply racist. In the novel, there is clearly a great opposition between the whites and the non-whites. Marlow states ‘they still belonged to the beginning of time’. This quote is saying that the non-white community is underdeveloped and in need of civilizing i.e. saying that the non-whites are below the whites in social hierarchy. Helene Cixous says ‘thought has always worked through opposition…through dual hierarchal positions.’
As well as in heart of darkness, there are a lot of colonial references within disgrace. A transition between apartheid and post apartheid he is at the forefront of events in Disgrace, on the one hand David Lurie encompasses the white male views of the apartheid system. Hence he is termed an ‘outsider’ (141) and an ‘alien’ (191) in contrast his daughter Lucy is deemed to be ‘forward looking’ (136, 208, 210) as she symbolises the new multi-racial society of post-apartheid South Africa. The violent struggle between the old society and the new is suggested in the following descriptions; ‘booty; war reparations’ (191) and ‘imposter’ (194). Lurie also refers to his kind as being ‘we westerners’ (202). Van Der Vlies highlights the discrepancy between the old and the new South Africa when he argues that; ‘Lurie regards western-specifically European- models of culture and behaviour as preeminent markers of civility: his familiarity with ‘western’ literature, philosophy, music, art, dance and drama attests overwhelmingly to this.’ As such it is fair to argue that Lurie has ‘become a refuge for old thoughts’ (72) and for he is a ‘moral dinosaur’ (89), whereas the other characters symbolize the future as epitomized by references such as ‘new Petrus’ (152).
In heart of darkness, many characters which are non-white are presented and treated in a different way to those characters that are of a white origin. Firstly, an example of this is they way in which he refers to a women as a ‘native mistress’ (87+97) shows the lack of respect which Marlow shows to a non-white character. He also refers to the natives as ‘savages.’ (31) This is clearly a derogatory which shows Marlow’s prejudice towards the non-white characters. Furthermore, Mike Peters says that ‘the colonisers are represented as inhuman and strange, some of Conrad’s description of natives can be racist and offensive yet complex and interesting.’ This shows that although Conrad says many racist comments they have a deeper meaning and rather than just being intended for a racist purpose they actually show some truth which is interesting for the readers. Moreover, another example of extreme prejudicial views being expressed is ‘they were called criminals’ (22) the American president said that it makes him ‘understand just what it is that makes white people so afraid….it helps [him] understand how people can learn to hate.’
Along as within heart of darkness, the non-whites are clearly treated as well as the white characters; purely down to the fact that they aren’t white. An example of one of the victims of racial prejudice in disgrace is Petrus; ‘Petrus is not an old style kaffir.’ (156) Luria also racially stereotypes Petrus; ‘what appeals to him in Petrus is his face, and his hands if there is such thing as honest toil’ (117) and also ‘Petrus has a vision of the future in which people like Lucy have no place’. (118) this is stereotyping him as being the same as the black men who raped Lucy because he has the same skin colour as them. Lucy Valerie Graham says; ‘it is important to acknowledge that the novel dissolves clear boundaries of identity between Lurie and the men who rape Lucy, Lurie is also a rapist and (albeit in a different way) a dog killer.’
Bibliography
Coetzee, JM. Disgrace. (UK: Vintage, 2000)
First published in 1999.
Conrad, J. Heart of Darkness. (UK: Penguin, 1994)
First published 1902.
Attwell, D. JM Coetzee: South Africa and the Politics of Writing (California: California UP, 1993)
Attwell, D. ‘Coetzee and post-apartheid South Africa.’ (Journal of Southern African Studies, Vol. 27, No. 4, December 2001)
Bradshaw, D. ‘Charlie Marlow’s Dark Heart.’ (English Review, September 1993)
Chantler, A. Heart of Darkness. (UK: Continuum, 2008)
Childs, P. Modernism. (Abingdon, UK: Routledge, 2008)
Graham, LV. ‘Reading the Unspeakable: Rape in JM Coetzee’s Disgrace’. (Journal of Southern African Studies, Vol. 29, No.24, June 2003)
Kochin, MS. Postmetaphysical Literature: Reflections on Coetzee’s Disgrace. (Perspectives in Political Science Vol. 33 no1 Winter 2004)
Peters, M. ‘Fiction and Politics: Representing the ‘other’ in Conrad’s Heart of Darkness.’ (Emagazine, April 2009)
Robshaw, C. ‘Conrad’s Use of Setting in Heart of Darkness.’ (English Review, November 2011)
Van der Vlies, A. JM Coetzee’s Disgrace. (UK: Continuum, 2010)
Worral, R. ‘Making their Absence Felt: Women in Conrad’s Heart of Darkness.’ (Emagazine, April 2008)
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