Jessica Honea

History 305
March 29,2024

The Desensitization of 19th Century Europeans in Regards to Racism

When examining the works of Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, readers today

may be shocked by both the symbolic and vocal nature in which racism and derogatory

stereotypes are so easily discussed. For 19th century Europeans, however, racism was

a common theme communicated through the works of many great intellects. G.W.F.

Hegel, Charles Darwin, Alfred Russel Wallace and Roger Casement all contributed

works which described Africans in derogatory manners and projected an air of

superiority for Europeans. Europeans read these accounts, heard glorified stories told

from missionaries or those able to travel, and were easily convinced of Africa’s

darkness. 19th century intellects desensitized Europeans in regards to the tragedy of

colonization by normalizing African racism and validating the negative outcomes of New

Imperialism.

Hegel’s work, “The African Character”, is evidence of European intellects

providing derogatory tales and exaggerated stereotypes. Hegel’s focus, when

describing Africans, is to elaborate on sorcery, cannibalism, slavery and a perceived

lack of self-control. When Hegel paints a picture of the African race, he does so in a

way that most would tell a scary ghost story such as, “...the devouring of human flesh is

altogether consonant with the general principles of the African race; to the sensual

Negro, human flesh is but an object of sense- mere flesh”.1 The idea of savages or

1
G.W.F Hegel, "The African Character," in Heart of Darkness, Fifth Norton Critical Edition, ed.
Paul B. Armstrong (New York: Norton, 2017), page 194.
savagery is a very common theme in the Heart of Darkness. Conrad reinforces this

idea that all Africans, not specific tribes or regions, participate in cannibalism. As the

main character, Marlow, reflects on getting the steamboat down the river he explains,

“more than once she had to wade for a bit, with twenty cannibals splashing around and

pushing. We had enlisted some of these chaps on the way for a crew. Fine fellows-

cannibals- in their place…I am grateful to them. And after all, they did not eat each

other before my face”.2 Racism and stereotyping is so ingrained in European

perceptions that Conrad is able to say that Africans are useful- but only in their place as

slave labor- while saying that they are savage and eat humans.

Charles Darwin is another European intellect that published works stating the

superiority of Europeans over the uncivilized Africans. In “On the Races of Man”,

Darwin states, “the intellectual and social faculties of man could hardly have been

inferior in any extreme degree to those possessed at present by the lowest savages;

otherwise primeval man could not have been so eminently successful in the struggle for

life, as proved by his early and wide diffusion.”3 This summarizes the idea that

Europeans evolved to become a more civilized and cultured society while Africans

remain the lowest of savages. Darwin’s line of thinking supports the civilizing mission in

that the inhumane savages need to be saved by the highly civilized Europeans. Heart

of Darkness touches more on the civilizing mission, and while the reader can briefly

acknowledge Conrad’s statement of the horrors surrounding New Imperialsim, there is a

reminder that these tragedies had to occur because the jungle is a place of darkness.

2
Joseph Conrad, Heart of Darkness, Fifth Norton Critical Edition, ed. Paul B. Armstrong (New
York: Norton, 2017), page 35.
3
Charles Darwin, "On the Races of Man," in Heart of Darkness, Fifth Norton Critical Edition, ed.
Paul B. Armstrong (New York: Norton, 2017), page 200.
Marlow reflects on the civilizing mission saying, “they were conquerors, and for that you

want only brute force- nothing to boast of, when you have it, since your strength is just

an accident arising from the weakness of others. It was just robbery with violence,

aggravated murder on a great scale, and men going at it blind-as is very proper for

those who tackle a darkness.”4 Conrad stays true to the idea that Africans are lesser,

weaker, and therefore the Europeans had to come in and take what they wanted with

force as they were on a righteous mission to rid the darkness.

The intensity to which Europeans were influenced by the century’s intellects can

be demonstrated by the works of Alfred Russel Wallace and his piece titled, “Are

Humans One Race or Many?”. Wallace taught the idea that positive moral qualities

were needed for tribes to survive and that without strong moral qualities, as held by

Europeans, tribes would cease to exist. This provides a justification for the brutality

brought on Africa by New Imperialism. Wallace argues that Africans would survive if

only they were more like Europeans declaring, for example, “the better and higher

specimens of our race would therefore increase and spread, the lower and more brutal

would give way and successively die out, and that rapid advancement of mental

organization would occur, which has raised the very lowest races of man so far above

the brutes (although differing so little from some of them in physical structure), and, in

conjunction with scarcely perceptible modifications fo form, has developed the

wonderful intellect of the European races.”5 Wallace repeatedly describes Africans as

having no intelligence, being savage and lacking the moral integrity held by Europeans.

Additionally, Roger Casement provided a report titled, “The Congo Report” which

followed an anti-imperialist perspective to match that of Heart of Darkness but

4
Joseph Conrad, Heart of Darkness, Fifth Norton Critical Edition, ed. Paul B. Armstrong (New York:
Norton, 2017), page 7.
5
Alfred Russel Wallace, "Are Humans One Race or Many," in Heart of Darkness, Fifth Norton Critical
Edition, ed. Paul B. Armstrong (New York: Norton, 2017), page 206.
maintained the strong lines of racism and stereotyping. While Casement’s report brings

the most light to the negative effects of colonization, specifically in the Congo, he still

manages to question the intelligence of the Congolese for allowing the negative to

occur. Casement interviewed many Congolese and heard tales of terror such as that of

a young boy whose hand had been cut off by a sentry, but in telling this story,

Casement also questions why the tribe did not report the offense or seek justice.

Casement shares, “they thought the white men only wished for rubber, and that no good

could come of pleading with them.”6 This moments shares some humanity and insight

into the abuse and absolute devastation faced by the Congolese but also peaks racism

by questioning the intelligence of a people that would accept such a terrible fate. Heart

of Darkness elaborates on this idea that the Congolese were not smart enough to

question the Europeans and had no choice but to be saved. Conrad shares Mr.Kurtz

beliefs on the colonization of the Congo sharing, “we whites, from the point of

development we had arrived at, must necessarily appear to them [savages] in the

nature of supernatural beings- we approach them with the might as of a deity.” 7 There is

a continued message that Europeans are needed to save the savages and that the

savages lack the basic intelligence to take care of themselves. Marlow further describes

the travels down the river stating, “the prehistoric man was cursing us, praying to us,

welcoming us- who could tell.”8 This represents the strong assumption that Africans are

savage or prehistoric and they desperately need the Europeans.

6
Roger Casement, "The Congo Report," in Heart of Darkness, Fifth Norton Critical Edition, ed.
Paul B. Armstrong (New York: Norton, 2017), page 152.
7
Joseph Conrad, Heart of Darkness, Fifth Norton Critical Edition, ed. Paul B. Armstrong (New
York: Norton, 2017), page 50.
8
Joseph Conrad, Heart of Darkness, Fifth Norton Critical Edition, ed. Paul B. Armstrong (New
York: Norton, 2017), pages 35-36.
 Through all the reports from European intellects the information that Africans are

unintelligent, savage, and cannibals is commonly spread. Europeans in the 19th century

are so accustomed to hearing such negative stereotypes that questioning the civilizing

mission seems out of place. Europeans have been conditioned to believe that

colonization needs to happen and that Africans need saving. 19th century intellects

desensitized Europeans in regards to the tragedy of colonization by normalizing African

racism and validating the negative outcomes of New Imperialism.

 References

Casement, Roger. "The Congo Report," in Heart of Darkness, Fifth Norton Critical Edition, ed.
Paul B. Armstrong. 138-145. New York: Norton, 2017.

Conrad, Joseph. Heart of Darkness, Fifth Norton Critical Edition, ed. Paul B. Armstrong. 3-93.
New York: Norton, 2017.

Darwin, Charles. "On the Races of Man," in Heart of Darkness, Fifth Norton Critical Edition, ed.
Paul B. Armstrong. 197-203. New York: Norton, 2017.

Hegel, G.W.F. "The African Character," in Heart of Darkness, Fifth Norton Critical Edition, ed.
Paul B. Armstrong. 193-197. New York: Norton, 2017.

Wallace, Alfred Russel. "Are Humans One Race or Many," in Heart of Darkness, Fifth Norton
Critical Edition, ed. Paul B. Armstrong. 203-209. New York: Norton, 2017.