Next main argument relies on the people in the novella. We will first look at a selection from the text of "Heart of Darkness" near the middle of the story:
"We were wanderers on a prehistoric earth, on an earth that wore the aspect of an unknown planet. We could have fancied ourselves the first of men taking possession of an accursed inheritance, to be subdued at the cost of profound anguish and of excessive toil. But suddenly, as we struggled round a bend, there would be a glimpse of rush walls, of peaked grass-roofs, a burst of yells, a whirl of black limbs, a mass of hands clap- ping, of feet stamping, of bodies swaying, of eyes rolling, under the droop of heavy and motionless foliage. The steamer toiled along slowly on the edge of a black and incomprehensible frenzy. The prehistoric man was cursing us, praying to us, welcoming us -- who could tell? We were cut off from the comprehension of our surroundings; we glided past like phantoms, wondering and secretly appalled, as sane men would be before an enthusiastic outbreak in a madhouse. We could not understand because we were too far and could not remember because we were traveling in the night of first ages, of those ages that are gone, leaving hardly a sign -- and no memories.
"The earth seemed unearthly. We are accustomed to look upon the shackled form of a conquered monster, but there -- there you could look at a thing monstrous and free. It was unearthly, and the men were -- No, they were not inhuman. Well, you know, that was the worst of it -- this suspicion of their not being inhuman. It would come slowly to one. They howled and leaped, and spun, and made horrid faces; but what thrilled you was just the thought of their humanity -- like yours -- the thought of your remote kinship with this wild and passionate uproar. Ugly. Yes, it was ugly enough; but if you were man enough you would admit to yourself that there was in you just the faintest trace of a response to the terrible frankness of that noise, a dim suspicion of there being a meaning in it which you -- you so remote from the night of first ages -- could comprehend."
This passage is important because it holds many keys to understanding the meaning of the novella. Achebe believes that the meaning is in the fascination it holds over Western minds: "What thrilled you was just the thought of their humanity -- like yours...Ugly." He says Conrad insisted on order and the Congo had not the order, but would instill chaos into the poor, innocent Europeans who happened to make their way into the Congo. Instead, the meaning lies in the idea of a kinship which goes way back, but which is closer than the Europeans like to admit. Marlow is not passing judgment on the people, but rather admits to his lack of understanding and his refusal to pass judgment. "The prehistoric man was cursing us, praying to us, welcoming us -- who could tell?" The question at the end of the sentence indicates he is unsure what to think, so he won't make a specific claim.
Achebe later talks about Kurtz's mistress as another person of significance in the racism of this novella.
Toward the end of the story, Kurtz's mistress is seen along the shore and Marlow goes into some length describing her appearance.
"She was savage and superb, wild-eyed and magnificent. . . . She stood looking at us without a stir and like the wilderness itself, with an air of brooding over an inscrutable purpose."
Achebe argues that Conrad describes her in such detail because she is in her place and she is an important savage counterpart to the refined, European wife of Kurtz that we hear from only at the end of the story. Of her we are told this by Achebe...
"She came forward all in black with a pale head, floating toward me in the dusk. She was in mourning . . . .She took both my hands in hers and murmered, 'I had heard you were coming.' . . . She had a mature capacity for fidelity, for belief, for suffering."
After this brief "example", he goes on to talk about the language of the Africans without furthering on this idea. What Achebe neglects to mention is the rest of the descriptions of the two women.
"She came forward, all in black, with a pale head, floating towards me in the dusk. . . .I noticed she was not very young -- I mean not girlish. . . . The room seemed to have grown darker, as if all the sad light of the cloudy evening had taken refuge on her forehead. This fair hair, this pale visage, this pure brow, seemed surrounded by an ashy halo from which the dark eyes looked out at me."
Here we see a different picture of the European woman where she is not so beautiful and magnificent, but rather pale and anemic. It is very important that it was getting dark as he talked to her. Sarvan writes, "The darkness which is often mentioned refers not only to the darkness within man, to the mysterious and the unpredictable, but also to ignorance and illusions: it is significant that as Marlow talks with Kurtz's Intended, the 'darkness deepened.'" The African mistress, on the other hand, is described as "gorgeous, proud, superb, magnificent, tragic, fierce, and filled with sorrow. She is an impressive figure and, importantly, her human feelings are not denied." She faces the truth of the situation and the pain shows because she is able to endure it, while the illusions of Kurtz's wife is an illusion of the European society.
The attitudes and opinions of Marlow, which can sometimes be quite harsh and racist, are also the opinions of Conrad even though one could contend that Conrad, rather than endorsing Marlow's attitude, might be holding it up to irony and criticism. He recognizes the many layers between Marlow and Conrad in the "story within a story" motif, but suggests that if he really wanted to separate himself from his character, he would have hinted at "an alternative frame of reference by which we may judge the actions and opinions of his characters." Also, he believes that Conrad is Marlow because of the similarity between their careers. Achebe throws that out and expects us to accept it as fact without any substantiation. I believe that Marlow is drawn with a sort of mocking irony which, though quiet, distinguishes Conrad from his character. An example of the humor put into the character is in the description of Marlow as resembling an idol that sits like a European Buddha.
"Mind," he began again, lifting one arm from the elbow, the palm of the hand outwards, so that, with his legs folded before him, he had the pose of a Buddha preaching in European clothes and without a lotus-flower..."
Marlow also claims to be very against telling lies, and yet he does so himself in at least two situations. Sarvan writes, "He condemns the Roman conquest and contrasts it with the "superior" European colonialism:"
"What saves us is efficiency -- the devotion to efficiency. But these chaps were not much account really. They were no colonists, their administration was merely a squeeze. . . . They were conquerors, and for that you only want brute force -- nothing to boast of, when you have it, since your strength is just an accident arising from the weakness of others. They grabbed what they could. . . . It was just robbery with violence, aggravated murder on a great scale. . . . 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. What redeems it is the idea only. An idea at the back of it, not a sentimental pretence but an idea; and an unselfish belief in the idea. . . ."
This quotation shows the obvious separation between the author and the character because the rest of the story shows that the conquest of the Europeans was actually worse than the conquest of the Romans, which goes against Marlow's claim above. The Forest of Suffering is an example of the treacherousness of the European conquest, and the bloodthirsty remorselessness that the Europeans show towards the Africans
However the fact still remains that Conrad’s main message here appears to be ‘who are we to judge’. This can be seen with his reference to the Romans. It can also be seen in the change in Kurtz. He goes from an idealist to an exterminator, because he has the power to kill from afar, rather then get closer and colonize them in a more peaceful way. This is the typical view of Conrad. I believe that he did not intend this novel to be a racist one. I believe that it was written to show how the naivety of the Europeans has led them to take extreme measures against the blacks. The whites are constantly appearing overwhelmed by the events that unfurl in the Congo, and this leads to their extreme actions rather then racism.
