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1Chris NyeSherryll Mleynek ENG 300March 15, 2009Conrad the Victim“It is the reader’s own criticism that constitutes the reality of the book. Thenovel…is not to be viewed as the mere reflection of a social reality, for its true form willonly be revealed when the world it present has, like all images, been refracted andconverted by the mind of the reader” (Wolfgang Iser,

The Implied Reader,

113).In the quote above, Wolfgang Iser presents the novel as an image, as if the work of fiction is simply a picture of whatever the author writes. In the same breath, Iser saysthat the reality of the book (or image) is based upon the reaction of the reader. In other words, the author is not enough.Joseph Conrad’s classic novella “Heart of Darkness” is one of the most widelycriticized books; its reality does not need to be justified. While plenty have read the book,it seems to me as though nearly everyone has constructed an opinion concerning the book itself, its characters and setting. In my own reading of Conrad’s classic, I feel as though Ihave a very unique reaction to it and wish to respond to some of the scholarly notes.Chinua Achebe offers perhaps the most famous response to “Heart of Darkness,” callingthe author a “thoroughgoing racist” (Conrad, 343). Taking a slightly lesser stance on thenovel is J. Hillis Miller in “Should We Read ‘Heart of Darkness?’” Miller suggests weread it as “a powerful exemplary revelation of the ideology of capitalist imperialism,including its racism…” (Conrad, 474). It is my claim in response to these critics andothers, that Conrad must not be blamed or criticized for his racism but must be set intothe context in which he wrote. In understanding this context, Conrad’s novella should bewidely read and discussed in classrooms all over the world.It is first of great importance to discuss Conrad’s “racism,” which seemingly

2 permeates his story and his critics papers. Achebe presents very challenging points in hisessay, and in fact sets up cogent remarks, however, I believe he is missing a large piece tothe puzzle that is Conrad and “Heart of Darkness.” Conrad was a racist, but it is myargument that we should not be surprised nor should we as critics ascribe blame toConrad because he was enslaved to an unenlightened worldview.Chinua Achebe’s essay opens with a very valid point: there lies, in this currentage, a problem with the Western mind’s understanding of African history, traditions, andvalues. Far too often do we treat Africa as wildly unique and somewhat “native,” when inall actuality our culture holds traditions, histories, and values as strong as Africa.However, as Achebe digs deeper into “Heart of Darkness,” he begins to open a psychoanalytic reading of not just the novella, but all that Conrad writes. Achebe paintsConrad as not just a racist, but an “unrelenting,” obsessed, and “tormented man” (Conrad345). It is at this point in the essay where I feel Achebe has forgotten the reality and power of worldview.Conrad was born in the middle 1800s and was orphaned by the age of eleven. Hewas raised in a somewhat cautious, Polish upbringing that made him wait out some of hischildhood dreams. Achebe capitalizes on Conrad’s childhood, pulling a quote from hisearly years “of his first encounter with a black man…” (Conrad, 344). Admittedly,Conrad’s language is very awful and by our standards today, unarguably racist: “A certainenormous buck nigger encountered in Haiti fixed my conception of blind, furious,unreasoning rage, as manifested in the human animal to the end of my days” (Conrad344). However, I do not see a place for blame solely on Conrad for this. I see Conrad as ayoung man enslaved to his worldview. Every human being has a worldview that has been

3constructed by his or her own personal upbringing and Conrad is no exception. Gene M.Moore writes, “…works can be read as products or signs of the various influences thatcontributed to the shaping of…life and literary career…influence can be negative or positive” (Cambridge, 224). It is unfair for the reader or the critic to attribute identities tothe author that never existed in his worldview. Conrad constructed his literarymasterpiece under the influence of 19

Century Polish culture, which was not as progressively enlightened as Achebe’s 20

century Western worldview.Since his teenage years, it was Conrad’s passion to travel to Africa and be a manof the sea. In his famous trip of 1889 where he captained a steamboat to the Congo FreeState, he collected most of his material for “Heart of Darkness.” This would be the firsttime Conrad would see any native culture. He had no access to the Internet or photographs as one does now. The simple concept of a man painting his face andscreaming in a new dialect would be alien to the young Conrad – he was shocked. Thetales of his journey are simply reports from his worldview, not judgments.The reader, above anything else, must understand the worldview in which Conradhad whilst he sat on that boat. More importantly than the political situations of the time, itneeds to be noted that things such as “civil rights” as they exist today, were at the most inthe infantile stages of the Western human thought development. The phrases attributed toMarlow are horrifically racist by our current standards, but it is unfair and outlandish toascribe our worldview on Conrad’s somewhat unenlightened worldview.It is clear that much of Conrad’s words are somewhat prophetic, and because of this often critics believe that he should be ahead of his worldview in other areas of thought as well. It is true that Conrad’s commentary of Western imperialism is surprising