Heart of Darkness and Things Fall Apart: The Treatment of Subalterns

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Heart of Darkness and Things Fall Apart: The Treatment of Subalterns

Joseph Conrads Heart of Darkness and Chinua Achebes Things Fall Apart are both about colonial life and society in early Africa. However Achebes book is more so a response to Conrad than it is just a book talking about Africa. In both books, the subalterns are treated rather badly. The major similarities between these two is the colonization thats portrayed throughout the books, whether spoken of or made into a part of the book, as well as their language and Igbo culture.

In Heart of Darkness, the subalterns are the African natives that were already around the island when Marlow and Kurtz arrive on the island. The natives then get put to work on the boat. However, Kurtz mistreats (colonizes) the subalterns just because of the color of their skin and because he believes that he has all the power and can control the natives (hegemony). One of the many ways colonization was portrayed in Heart of Darkness was through a man in uniform who was set and ready to shoot another man dead he had seen until he could identify the mans race and see that he was the same race as him. This in itself could cause the natives to see the division (apartheid) being demonstrated between the races as soon as Kurtz and his crew showed up on this island.

Another example demonstrating the poor treatment of the subalterns in Heart of Darkness was Marlowe seeing a group of black men lying against some trees with a white string tied around their necks, sickly and diseased. Kurtz hadnt fed them or given them any water to demonstrate their uselessness (or so as he seemed to think of them). He did this to show he believed he was above them/better than them. The white string was there to signify his power over them and let others know that as well. He mistreated the natives quite poorly because for some reason I think he believed his skin color and job title had greater significance over their lives.

The last example to demonstrate the colonial discourse in Heart of Darkness was the narrator talking about a shed he had seen light on fire. However, not too far from the fire, a black man was beaten up for somehow causing the fire. He also described that black man as being the only one screaming for his life, insinuating he was afraid and hurt, possibly petrified of what had just happened to him. Without there being any proof or witness to speak for that man setting the fire, people (most likely Kurtz as his name was mentioned) just assumed it was him because, in the back of their minds, they see the color of his skin and assume he started the trouble. But Kurtz wants them all to see how much power he has and what hes capable of, making these men fear him.

Things Fall Apart is mostly known as a response to Heart of Darkness. Once again the subalterns in Achebes book are the Nigerian natives, otherwise known as the Igbo people. However, its the men in that culture that treated the local women (most specifically with Okonkwo, it was his wives) as subalterns. The women are perceived as lesser and weaker sex than the men, as if they cant do what the men can do and that theyre meant to just stay at home and take abuse from their husbands/partners. Okonkwo was the offender in the case of all his wives, as he was violent with all three of his wives, instilling fear in all of them. He treated his wives, and women in general as if they were below him and he was the ruler. The women were inferior to the men, although they shouldnt have been but thats how they were portrayed and thats what they became due to the way society worked back then, or that could have just been how the Igbo culture was at that point in time.

I believe that Achebes anti-colonial stance is fair to Conrad because Achebes book talks about how brutal the culture was at that point in time. He wanted and still wants people to know how things were back then for the natives and his culture. He talked about how the natives were colonized and how they struggled with colonial discourse. Achebe seemed to have a strong opinion that Conrad was racist. Conrads entire book was about the natives being mistreated by the higher up people who so happened to be white. Everything that went wrong in the book defaulted as the result of something one of the natives did. Some examples that depict this are Conrads story talking about a shed fire and a black person nearby being blamed for it and beaten up for supposedly causing it without there being any proof or witnesses. A group of men were laid dying against some trees with white rope around their necks signifying the whites power, as I mentioned earlier. Conrad was a very inhumane person and his book depicted just that. Therefore I believe that Achebes anti-colonial stance is fair because he was only trying to point out to his readers or readers of Heart of Darkness, just how hateful Conrads book was and wanted people to see the truth of the mistreatment his culture had faced.

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