Heart of Darkness 3

Unlike Achebe's argument, Conrad's Heart of Darkness is not a "thoroughgoing racist" piece, as shown through the ambiguous nature of the descriptions Conrad uses.  Achebe first argues that the piece is racist by claiming that Africa is an antithesis of civilized Europe, Conrad is implying that Africans are savages.  However, Conrad also refers to Africa as an undiscovered Europe.  If viewed as an earlier version of Europe as opposed to a contrasting point of European culture, Conrad is simply implying that Africa will soon become developed like his homeland and that Europe had only been developed by the mere chance of someone landing on European soil instead of African soil.  Achebe also argues that Conrad's referring to African people as "a mass of hands clapping, of feet stamping, of bodies swaying, of eyes rolling" is blatantly racist since the people are being identified as parts of their body and no more (Achebe 3).  However, one could argue that these are features that emphasize the humanity in the African people by pinpointing the similarities that they share with Europeans by referring to their various body parts.  Lastly, one could argue that Conrad's continuously referring to "the white of their eyeballs" is explicitly showing the contrast between black and white as seen on the faces of African people (Achebe 4).  However, by showing that black people essentially have the same starkly white eyes as white people, Conrad is emphasizing the similarities between the two groups, especially with eyes, which are known as the windows to the soul.  Most of Conrad's seemingly racist statements could truly be his subtle way of emphasizing the humanity of the African people.