racism in conrad

8/11/2019 Racism in Conrad

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An Image of Africa: Racism in Conrads Heart of Darkness

Chinua Achebe

Massachusetts Review. 18. 1977.

Rpt. in: Kimbrough, Robert (ed.). Heart of Darkness, An Authoritative Text,

Background and Sources Criticism: !1"#1. $ondon: %. % &orton and 'o.,

1988 (rd ed.).

n the *a++ o* 197 was wa+-ing one da *rom the /ng+ish 0epartment at

the niversit o* Massachusetts to a par-ing +ot. t was a *ine autumn morning

such as encouraged *riend+iness to passing strangers. 2ris- oungsters were

hurring in a++ directions, man o* them obvious+ *reshmen in their *irst *+ush

o* enthusiasm. 3n o+der man going the same wa as turned and remar-ed to

me how ver oung the came these das. agreed. 4hen he as-ed me i*

was a student too. said no, was a teacher. %hat did teach5 3*rican

+iterature. &ow that was *unn, he said, because he -new a *e++ow who taught

the same thing, or perhaps it was 3*rican histor, in a certain 'ommunit

'o++ege not *ar *rom here. t a+was surprised him, he went on to sa, because

he never had thought o* 3*rica as having that -ind o* stu**, ou -now. 2 this

time was wa+-ing much *aster. 6h we++, heard him sa *ina++, behind me:

6 guess have to ta-e our course to *ind out. 3 *ew wee-s +ater received

two ver touching +etters *rom high schoo+ chi+dren in on-ers, &ew or-, who

b+ess their teacher had ;ust read 4hings


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4he other person being *u++ m own age cou+d not be e=cused on the

grounds o* his ears. gnorance might be a more +i-e+ reason> but here again

be+ieve that something more wi++*u+ than a mere +ac- o* in*ormation was at

wor-. which shou+d re+ieve us a++ o* considerab+e

responsibi+it and perhaps ma-e us even wi++ing to +oo- at this phenomenon

dispassionate+. have neither the wish nor the competence to embar- on the

e=ercise with the too+s o* the socia+ and bio+ogica+ sciences but more simp+ in

the manner o* a nove+ist responding to one *amous boo- o* /uropean *iction:

Coseph 'onradBs Heart of Darkness, which better than an other wor- that

-now disp+as that %estern desire and need which have ;ust re*erred to. *

course there are who+e +ibraries o* boo-s devoted to the same purpose but

most o* them are so obvious and so crude that *ew peop+e worr about them

toda. 'onrad, on the other hand, is undoubted+ one o* the great st+ists o*

modern *iction and a good storte++er into the bargain. @is contribution

there*ore *a++s automatica++ into a di**erent c+ass permanent +iterature

read and taught and constant+ eva+uated b serious academics. Heart of

Darkness is indeed so secure toda that a +eading 'onrad scho+ar has

numbered it 6among the ha+*"doDen greatest short nove+s in the /ng+ish+anguage. wi++ return to this critica+ opinion in due course because it ma

serious+ modi* m ear+ier suppositions about who ma or ma not be gui+t

in some o* the matters wi++ now raise.

Heart of Darknesspro;ects the image o* 3*rica as 6the other wor+d, the

antithesis o* /urope and there*ore o* civi+iDation, a p+ace where manBs vaunted

inte++igence and re*inement are *ina++ moc-ed b triumphant bestia+it. 4he

boo- opens on the River 4hames, tranEui+, resting, peace*u++ 6at the dec+ine o*

da a*ter ages o* good service done to the race that peop+ed its ban-s. 2ut the

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actua+ stor wi++ ta-e p+ace on the River 'ongo, the ver antithesis o* the

4hames. 4he River 'ongo is Euite decided+ not a River /meritus. t has

rendered no service and en;os no o+d"age pension. %e are to+d that 6Foing up

that river was +i-e trave+ing bac- to the ear+iest beginnings o* the wor+d.

s 'onrad saing then that these two rivers are ver di**erent, one good,

the other bad5 es, but that is not the rea+ point. t is not the di**erentness

that worries 'onrad but the +ur-ing hint o* -inship, o* common ancestr. *or it raises serious Euestions o*

artistic good *aith. %hen a writer whi+e pretending to record scenes, incidents

and their impact is in rea+it engaged in inducing hpnotic stupor in his readers

through a bombardment o* emotive words and other *orms o* tric-er much

more has to be at sta-e than st+istic *e+icit. Fenera++ norma+ readers are we++

armed to detect and resist such under"hand activit. 2ut 'onrad chose his

sub;ect we++ one which was guaranteed not to put him in con*+ict with the

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pscho+ogica+ predisposition o* his readers or raise the need *or him to contend

with their resistance. @e chose the ro+e o* purveor o* com*orting mths.

4he most interesting and revea+ing passages in Heart of Darkness are,

however, about peop+e. must crave the indu+gence o* m reader to Euote

a+most a who+e page *rom about the midd+e o* the stopGwhen representatives

o* /urope in a steamer going down the 'ongo encounter the deniDens o* 3*rica.

6%e were wanderers on a prehistoric earth, on an earth that wore the aspecto* an un-nown p+anet. %e cou+d have *ancied ourse+ves the *irst o* menta-ing possession o* an accursed inheritance, to be subdued at the cost o*pro*ound anguish and o* e=cessive toi+. 2ut sudden+ as we strugg+ed rounda bend there wou+d be a g+impse o* rush wa++s, o* pea-ed grass"roo*s, aburst o* e++s, a whir+ o* b+ac- +imbs, a mass o* hands c+apping, o* *eet

stamping, o* bodies swaing, o* ees ro++ing under the droop o* heav andmotion+ess *o+iage. 4he steamer toi+ed a+ong s+ow+ on the edge o* a b+ac-and incomprehensib+e *renD. 4he prehistoric man was cursing us, praing tous, we+coming us who cou+d te++5 %e were cut o** *rom the comprehensiono* our surroundings> we g+ided past +i-e phantoms, wondering and secret+appa++ed, as sane men wou+d be be*ore an enthusiastic outbrea- in amadhouse. %e cou+d not understand because we were too *ar and cou+d notremember, because we were trave+ing in the night o* *irst ages, o* thoseages that are gone, +eaving hard+ a sign and no memories.

4he earth seemed unearth+. %e are accustomed to +oo- upon the shac-+ed*orm o* a conEuered monster, but there there ou cou+d +oo- at a thingmonstrous and *ree. t was unearth+ and the men wereH &o the were notinhuman. %e++, ou -now that was the worst o* it this suspicion o* theirnot being inhuman. t wou+d come s+ow+ to one. 4he how+ed and +eapedand spun and made horrid *aces, but what thri++ed ou, was ;ust the thoughto* their humanit +i-e ours the thought o* our remote -inship withthis wi+d and passionate uproar. g+. es, it was ug+ enough, but i* ouwere man enough ou wou+d admit to ourse+* that there was in ou ;ust the*aintest trace o* a response to the terrib+e *ran-ness o* that noise, a dim

suspicion o* there being a meaning in it which ou ou so remote *rom thenight o* *irst ages cou+d comprehend.B

@erein +ies the meaning o* Heart of Darknessand the *ascination it ho+ds

over the %estern mind: 6%hat thri++ed ou was ;ust the thought o* their

humanit +i-e oursH g+.

@aving shown us 3*rica in the mass, 'onrad then Deros in, ha+* a page

+ater, on a speci*ic e=amp+e, giving us one o* his rare descriptions o* an 3*rican

who is not ;ust +imbs or ro++ing ees:

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63nd between whi+es had to +oo- a*ter the savage who was *ireman. @ewas an improved specimen> he cou+d *ire up a vertica+ boi+er. @e was therebe+ow me and, upon m word, to +oo- at him was as edi*ing as seeing adog in a parod o* breeches and a *eather hat wa+-ing on his hind +egs. 3*ew months o* training had done *or that rea++ *ine chap. @e sEuinted at thesteam"gauge and at the water"gauge with an evident e**ort o* intrepidit

and he had *i+ed his teeth too, the poor devi+, and the woo+ o* his pateshaved into Eueer patterns, and three ornamenta+ scars on each o* hischee-s. @e ought to have been c+apping his hands and stamping his *eet onthe ban-, instead o* which he was hard at wor-, a thra++ to strangewitchcra*t, *u++ o* improving -now+edge.

3s everbod -nows, 'onrad is a romantic on the side. @e might not

e=act+ admire savages c+apping their hands and stamping their *eet but the

have at +east the merit o* being in their p+ace, un+i-e this dog in a parod o*

breeches. their bodies streamed withperspiration> the had *aces +i-e grotesEue mas-s these chaps> but thehad bone, musc+e, a wi+d vita+it, an intense energ o* movement that wasas natura+ and hue as the sur* a+ong their coast. 4he wanted no e=cuse *orbeing there. 4he were a great com*ort to +oo- at.

4owards the end o* the stor 'onrad +avishes a who+e page Euiteune=pected+ on an 3*rican woman who has obvious+ been some -ind o*

mistress to Mr. KurtD and now presides (i* ma be permitted a +itt+e +ibert)

+i-e a *ormidab+e mster over the ine=orab+e imminence o* his departure:

6Ihe was savage and superb, wi+d"eed and magni*icentH Ihe stood +oo-ingat us without a stir and +i-e the wi+derness itse+*, with an air o* brooding overan inscrutab+e purpose.

4his 3maDon is drawn in considerab+e detai+, a+beit o* a predictab+e nature,

*or two reasons.


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that waward chi+d o* civi+iDation who wi++*u++ had given his sou+ to the powers

o* dar-ness and 6ta-en a high seat amongst the devi+s o* the +and than the

proc+amation o* his phsica+ death b the *orces he had ;oined5

t might be contended, o* course, that the attitude to the 3*rican in Heart

of Darknessis not 'onradBs but that o* his *ictiona+ narrator, Mar+ow, and that

*ar *rom endorsing it 'onrad might indeed be ho+ding it up to iron and

criticism. 'ertain+ 'onrad appears to go to considerab+e pains to set up +aers

o* insu+ation between himse+* and the mora+ universe o* his histor. @e has, *or

e=amp+e, a narrator behind a narrator. 4he primar narrator is Mar+ow but his

account is given to us through the *i+ter o* a second, shadow person. 2ut i*

'onradBs intention is to draw a cordon sanitaire between himse+* and the mora+

and pscho+ogica+ ma+aise o* his narrator his care seems to me tota++ wasted

because he neg+ects to hint however subt+ or tentative+ at an a+ternative

*rame o* re*erence b which we ma ;udge the actions and opinions o* his

characters. t wou+d not have been beond 'onradBs power to ma-e that

provision i* he had thought it necessar. Mar+ow seems to me to en;o 'onradBs

comp+ete con*idence a *ee+ing rein*orced b the c+ose simi+arities between

their two careers.

Mar+ow comes through to us not on+ as a witness o* truth, but one

ho+ding those advanced and humane views appropriate to the /ng+ish +ibera+

tradition which reEuired a++ /ng+ishmen o* decenc to be deep+ shoc-ed b

atrocities in 2u+garia or the 'ongo o* King $eopo+d o* the 2e+gians or wherever.

4hus Mar+ow is ab+e to toss out such b+eeding"heart sentiments as these:

64he were ding s+ow+ it was ver c+ear. 4he were not enemies, the

were not crimina+s, the were nothing earth+ now, nothing but b+ac-shadows o* disease and starvation +ing con*used+ in the greenish g+oom.2rought *rom a++ the recesses o* the coast in a++ the +ega+it o* timecontracts, +ost in uncongenia+ surroundings, *ed on un*ami+iar *ood, thesic-ened, became ine**icient, and were then a++owed to craw+ awa and rest.

4he -ind o* +ibera+ism espoused here b Mar+owG'onrad touched a++ the

best minds o* the age in /ng+and, /urope and 3merica. t too- di**erent *orms

in the minds o* di**erent peop+e but a+most a+was managed to sidestep the

u+timate Euestion o* eEua+it between white peop+e and b+ac- peop+e. 4hat

e=traordinar missionar, 3+bert IchweitDer, who sacri*iced bri++iant careers in

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music and theo+og in /urope *or a +i*e o* service to 3*ricans in much the same

area as 'onrad writes about, epitomiDes the ambiva+ence. n a comment which

has o*ten been Euoted IchweitDer sas: 64he 3*rican is indeed m brother but

m ;unior brother. 3nd so he proceeded to bui+d a hospita+ appropriate to the

needs o* ;unior brothers with standards o* hgiene reminiscent o* medica+

practice in the das be*ore the germ theor o* disease came into being.

&atura++ he became a sensation in /urope and 3merica. ?i+grims *+oc-ed, and

be+ieve sti++ *+oc- even a*ter he has passed on, to witness the prodigious

mirac+e in $amberene, on the edge o* the primeva+ *orest.

'onradBs +ibera+ism wou+d not ta-e him Euite as *ar as IchweitDerBs,

though. @e wou+d not use the word brother however Eua+i*ied> the *arthest he

wou+d go was -inship. %hen Mar+owBs 3*rican he+msman *a++s down with a

spear in his heart he gives his white master one *ina+ disEuieting +oo-.

63nd the intimate pro*undit o* that +oo- he gave me when he received hishurt remains to this da in m memor +i-e a c+aim o* distant -inshipa**irmed in a supreme moment.

t is important to note that 'onrad, care*u+ as ever with his words, is

concerned not so much about distant -inship as about someone +aing a c+aim

on it. 4he b+ac- man +as a c+aim on the white man which is we++"nigh

into+erab+e. t is the +aing o* this c+aim which *rightens and at the same time

*ascinates 'onrad, 6H the thought o* their humanit +i-e oursH g+.

4he point o* m observations shou+d be Euite c+ear b now, name+ that

Coseph 'onrad was a thoroughgoing racist. 4hat this simp+e truth is g+ossed

over in criticisms o* his wor- is due to the *act that white racism against 3*rica

is such a norma+ wa o* thin-ing that its mani*estations go comp+ete+

unremar-ed. Itudents o* Heart of Darknesswi++ o*ten te++ ou that 'onrad is

concerned not so much with 3*rica as with the deterioration o* one /uropean

mind caused b so+itude and sic-ness. 4he wi++ point out to ou that 'onrad

is, i* anthing, +ess charitab+e to the /uropeans in the stor than he is to the

natives, that the point o* the stor is to ridicu+e /uropeBs civi+iDing mission in

3*rica. 3 'onrad student in*ormed me in Icot+and that 3*rica is mere+ a

setting *or the disintegration o* the mind o* Mr. KurtD.

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%hich is part+ the point. 3*rica as setting and bac-drop which e+iminates

the 3*rican as human *actor. 3*rica as a metaphsica+ batt+e*ie+d devoid o* a++

recogniDab+e humanit, into which the wandering /uropean enters at his peri+.

'an nobod see the preposterous and perverse arrogance in thus reducing

3*rica to the ro+e o* props *or the brea-"up o* one pett /uropean mind5 2ut

that is not even the point. 4he rea+ Euestion is the dehumaniDation o* 3*rica

and 3*ricans which this age"+ong attitude has *ostered and continues to *oster

in the wor+d. 3nd the Euestion is whether a nove+ which ce+ebrates this

dehumaniDation, which depersona+iDes a portion o* the human race, can be

ca++ed a great wor- o* art. M answer is: &o, it cannot. do not doubt 'onradBs

great ta+ents. /ven Heart of Darknesshas its memorab+ good passages and

moments:

64he reaches opened be*ore us and c+osed behind, as i* the *orest hadstepped +eisure+ across ti+e water to bar the wa *or our return.

ts e=p+oration o* the minds o* the /uropean characters is o*ten

penetrating and *u++ o* insight. 2ut a++ that has been more than *u++ discussed

in the +ast *i*t ears. @is obvious racism has, however, not been addressed.

3nd it is high time it was

'onrad was born in 18!7, the ver ear in which the *irst 3ng+ican

missionaries were arriving among m own peop+e in &igeria. t was certain+

not his *au+t that he +ived his +i*e at a time when the reputation o* the b+ac-

man was at a particu+ar+ +ow +eve+. 2ut even a*ter due a++owances have been

made *or a++ the in*+uences o* contemporar pre;udice on his sensibi+it there

remains sti++ in 'onradBs attitude a residue o* antipath to b+ac- peop+e which

his pecu+iar pscho+og a+one can e=p+ain. @is own account o* his *irst

encounter with a b+ac- man is ver revea+ing:

63 certain enormous buc- nigger encountered in @aiti *i=ed m conception o*b+ind, *urious, unreasoning rage, as mani*ested in the human anima+ to theend o* m das. * the nigger used to dream *or ears a*terwards.

'ertain+ 'onrad had a prob+em with niggers. @is inordinate +ove o* that

word itse+* shou+d be o* interest to pschoana+sts. Iometimes his *i=ation on

b+ac-ness is eEua++ interesting as when he gives us this brie* description:

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63 b+ac- *igure stood up, strode on +ong b+ac- +egs, waving +ong b+ac-armsH

as though we might e=pect a b+ac- *igure striding a+ong on b+ac- +egs to wave

white arms 2ut so unre+enting is 'onradBs obsession. 3s a matter o* interest'onrad gives us inA Personal Recordwhat amounts to a companion piece to

the buc- nigger o* @aiti. 3t the age o* si=teen 'onrad encountered his *irst

/ng+ishman in /urope. @e ca++s him 6m un*orgettab+e /ng+ishman and

describes him in the *o++owing manner:

6(his) ca+ves e=posed to the pub+ic gaDeH daDD+ed the beho+der b thesp+endor o* their marb+e"+i-e condition and their rich tone o* oung ivorH

4he +ight o* a head+ong, e=a+ted satis*action with the wor+d o* menHi++umined his *aceH and triumphant ees. n passing he cast a g+ance o*-ind+ curiosit and a *riend+ g+eam o* big, sound, shin teethH his whiteca+ves twin-+ed sturdi+.

rrationa+ +ove and irrationa+ hate ;ost+ing together in the heart o* that

ta+ented, tormented man. 2ut whereas irrationa+ +ove ma at worst engender

*oo+ish acts o* indiscretion, irrationa+ hate can endanger the +i*e o* the

communit. &atura++ 'onrad is a dream *or pschoana+tic critics. ?erhaps the

most detai+ed stud o* him in this direction is b 2ernard '. Meer, M.0. n his

+ength boo- 0r. Meer *o++ows ever conceivab+e +ead (and sometimes

inconceivab+e ones) to e=p+ain 'onrad. 3s an e=amp+e he gives us +ong

disEuisitions on the signi*icance o* hair and hair"cutting in 'onrad. 3nd et not

even one word is spared *or his attitude to b+ac- peop+e. &ot even the

discussion o* 'onradBs anti"Iemitism was enough to spar- o** in 0r. MeerBs

mind those other dar- and e=p+osive thoughts. %hich on+ +eads one tosurmise that %estern pschoana+sts must regard the -ind o* racism disp+aed

b 'onrad abso+ute+ norma+ despite the pro*ound+ important wor- done b


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it is toda the most common+ prescribed nove+ in twentieth"centur +iterature

courses in /ng+ish 0epartments o* 3merican universities.

4here are two probab+e grounds on which what have aid so *ar ma be

contested. 4he *irst is that it is no concern o* *iction to p+ease peop+e about

whom it is written. wi++ go a+ong with that. 2ut am not ta+-ing about

p+easing peop+e. am ta+-ing about a boo- which parades in the most vu+gar

*ashion pre;udices and insu+ts *rom which a section o* man-ind has su**ered

unto+d agonies and atrocities in the past and continues to do so in man was

and man p+aces toda. am ta+-ing about a stor in which the ver humanit

o* b+ac- peop+e is ca++ed in Euestion.

Iecond+, ma be cha++enged on the grounds o* actua+it. 'onrad, a*ter

a++, did sai+ down the 'ongo in 189L when m own *ather was sti++ a babe in

arms. @ow cou+d stand up more than *i*t ears a*ter his death and purport

to contradict him5 M answer is that as a sensib+e man wi++ not accept ;ust

an trave+erBs ta+es so+e+ on the grounds that have not made the ;ourne

mse+*. wi++ not trust the evidence even o** manBs ver ees when suspect

them to be as ;aundiced as 'onradBs. 3nd we a+so happen to -now that 'onrad

was, in the words o* his biographer, 2ernard '. Meer, 6notorious+ inaccurate

in the rendering o* his own histor.

2ut more important b *ar is the abundant testimon about 'onradBs

savages which we cou+d gather i* we were so inc+ined *rom other sources and

which might +ead us to thin- that these peop+e must have had other

occupations besides merging into the evi+ *orest or materia+iDing out o* it

simp+ to p+ague Mar+ow and his dispirited band.


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borrowed it and had it cast in bronDeH 4he revo+ution o* twentieth centurart was under wa

4he mas- in Euestion was made b other savages +iving ;ust north o*

'onradBs River 'ongo. 4he have a name too: the but the Freat %a++ o* 'hina is the on+

structure bui+t b man which is visib+e *rom the moon ndeed trave+ers can be

b+ind.

3s said ear+ier 'onrad did not originate the image o* 3*rica which we *ind

in his boo-. t was and is the dominant image o* 3*rica in the %estern

imagination and 'onrad mere+ brought the pecu+iar gi*ts o* his own mind to

bear on it.


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%est seems to su**er deep an=ieties about the precariousness o* its civi+iDation

and to have a need *or constant reassurance b comparison with 3*rica. *

/urope, advancing in civi+iDation, cou+d cast a bac-ward g+ance periodica++ at

3*rica trapped in primordia+ barbarit it cou+d sa with *aith and *ee+ing: 4here

go but *or the grace o* Fod. 3*rica is to /urope as the picture is to 0orian

Fra a carrier onto whom the master un+oads his phsica+ and mora+

de*ormities so that he ma go *orward, erect and immacu+ate. 'onseEuent+

3*rica is something to be avoided ;ust as the picture has to be hidden awa to

sa*eguard the manBs ;eopardous integrit. Keep awa *rom 3*rica, or e+se Mr.

KurtD o* Heart of Darknessshou+d have heeded that warning and the prow+ing

horror in his heart wou+d have -ept its p+ace, chained to its +air. 2ut he *oo+ish+

e=posed himse+* to the wi+d irresistib+e a++ure o* the ;ung+e and +o the dar-ness

*ound him out.

n m origina+ conception o* this essa had thought to conc+ude it nice+

on an appropriate+ positive note in which wou+d suggest *rom m privi+eged

position in 3*rican and %estern cu+tures some advantages the %est might

derive *rom 3*rica once it rid its mind o* o+d pre;udices and began to +oo- at

3*rica not through a haDe o* distortions and cheap msti*ications but Euite

simp+ as a continent o* peop+e not ange+s, but not rudimentar sou+s either

;ust peop+e, o*ten high+ gi*ted peop+e and o*ten stri-ing+ success*u+ in their

enterprise with +i*e and societ. 2ut as thought more about the stereotpe

image, about its grip and pervasiveness, about the wi++*u+ tenacit with which

the %est ho+ds it to its heart> when thought o* the %estBs te+evision and

cinema and newspapers, about boo-s read in its schoo+s and out o* schoo+, o*

churches preaching to empt pews about the need to send he+p to the heathenin 3*rica, rea+iDed that no eas optimism was possib+e. 3nd there was, in an

case, something tota++ wrong in o**ering bribes to the %est in return *or its

good opinion o* 3*rica. +timate+ the abandonment o* unwho+esome thoughts

must be its own and on+ reward. 3+though have used the word wi++*u+ a *ew

times here to characteriDe the %estBs view o* 3*rica, it ma we++ be that what is

happening at this stage is more a-in to re*+e= action than ca+cu+ated ma+ice.

%hich does not ma-e the situation more but +ess hope*u+.

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4he 'hristian Icience Monitor, a paper more en+ightened than most, once

carried an interesting artic+e written b its /ducation /ditor on the serious

pscho+ogica+ and +earning prob+ems *aced b +itt+e chi+dren who spea- one

+anguage at home and then go to schoo+ where something e+se is spo-en. t

was a wide"ranging artic+e ta-ing in Ipanish"spea-ing chi+dren in 3merica, the

chi+dren o* migrant ta+ian wor-ers in Ferman, the Euadri+ingua+ phenomenon

in Ma+asia, and so on. 3nd a++ this whi+e the artic+e spea-s uneEuivoca++ about

+anguage. 2ut then out o* the b+ue s- comes this:

6n $ondon there is an enormous immigration o* chi+dren who spea- ndianor &igerian dia+ects, or some other native +anguage.

be+ieve that the introduction o* dia+ects which is technica++ erroneous in

the conte=t is a+most a re*+e= action caused b an instinctive desire o* the

writer to downgrade the discussion to the +eve+ o* 3*rica and ndia. 3nd this is

Euite comparab+e to 'onradBs withho+ding o* +anguage *rom his rudimentar

sou+s. $anguage is too grand *or these chaps> +etBs give them dia+ects

n a++ this business a +ot o* vio+ence is inevitab+ done not on+ to the

image o* despised peop+es but even to words, the ver too+s o* possib+e

redress. $oo- at the phrase native +anguage in the Icience Monitor e=cerpt.

Iure+ the on+ native +anguage possib+e in $ondon is 'oc-ne /ng+ish. 2ut our

writer means something e+se something appropriate to the sounds ndians

and 3*ricans ma-e

3+though the wor- o* redressing which needs to be done ma appear too

daunting, be+ieve it is not one da too soon to begin. 'onrad saw and

condemned the evi+ o* imperia+ e=p+oitation but was strange+ unaware o* the

racism on which it sharpened its iron tooth. 2ut the victims o* racist s+ander

who *or centuries have had to +ive with the inhumanit it ma-es them heir to

have a+was -nown better than an casua+ visitor even when he comes +oaded

with the gi*ts o* a 'onrad.

14

racism in conrad

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