The essay explains critical reception by Chinua Achebe in his book “An image of Africa” criticizing author Joseph Conrad's in the book “Heart of Darkness ." Chinua views Conrad as a racist both in the manner he portrays his content and in the nature of his works. He also applies the phrase “Kinship “in explaining Europeans and Africans as the fact of differences. Africans are viewed differently from Europeans and denied opportunities, like presenting a speech in public. The author portrays culture and politics uniquely. For example, Achebe challenges Conrad’s reputation using the phrase, “a great work of art” which seems rhetorical. His criticism receives analysis from different authors like Fleming Bruce, Thelwell Ekwueme Michael, Williams Adebayo, and Zeleza Paul Tiyambe.

Critiques revealed how writer's drafted piece had an impact on them and the whole world. In addition, critiques discussed responses from ignoring racism as race thinking dominated and was considered normal. They explained reasons for Chinua feeling so powerful against Joseph Conrad. Chinua was fighting for a powerful identity of Africans after the independence of colonies. The paper also contrasts and discusses critics summarizing that every critique was influential with historical periods and time it occurred. 

 “An Image of Africa" by Chinua Achebe explains racism as a major obstacle during his period. The writer criticizes Joseph Conrad as a racist. Conrad talked about a political revolution in his era while in a context describing black women as inferior, ugly with black skins hovering in European streets (Gagiano 12). The study explains historical revolution seen from the colonization era and struggle to end racism. 

The crafted piece by the author Chinua Achebe summarized the Heart of Darkness concerning Marlow’s adventure in the African jungle to look for ivory trader called Mr. Kutz. He wanted to introduce him to civilization. Due to Kutz objection, he decided to order men to attack the steamboat he had boarded. Africans glorified Mr. Kutz, ' and he adored it. Marlow's attempt succeeds in bringing Kutz on the steamboat. On their return to England, Mr. Kutz dies, and his last phrases were “the horror, the horror.” Marlow travels back without him and on arrival, he visits Kutz intended and presents the old letters from Mr. Kutz. She mourns for his demise as a great man and demands to be told his words where Marlow responds “Your name." 


Critics have engaged in a debate about Chinua Achebe's novel "An image of Africa" criticizing the works of Conrad "Heart of Darkness" about a cultural and political revolution in their eras. Joseph's novel was rated the best English Literature works by Chinua Achebe. In 1977, Achebe criticized Conrad as racist and viewed his initial comment as rhetorical. 

As a response to critique review, many writers emerged to support and defend him. Critical Responses, Early critics, said that the novel was “one of the events of a masterpiece and literary year (Chinua 301).” One critic said that the novella had the destructive knowledge and people should not think that Joseph's novella was against imperialism, expansion or colonization. It should be seen as an experience of adventure, where its conclusion features a woman idealizing memory acts of Kutz as a method of expressing the journey he journeyed (Michael 321). Another critic revealed Kutz intended as heroin through her villain's belief (Adebayo 45). In another book review, critics explain Conrad's shift from past classes as fictional. "Heart of Darkness" does not only focus on adventure and movement but also on the torture and harassments experienced by Africans in their land as European search for ivory. 



Tiyambe Paul Zeleza's journal called" Africa's struggles for Decolonization: From Chinua Achebe to Nelson Mandela" evaluate works of Nelson Mandela and Chinua Achebe for the struggle of revolutionary and civil rights, in a demonstration of their effect on the struggle for Africa's postcolonial identity in 20th Century. The author examines profile works of Achebe as he employs the characters mentioned in a novel “Things Fall Apart," and articles known as "An Image of Africa" to express his concerns about the literary skills of Achebe. Zeleza describes the ways which protagonists of Achebe found stuck between postcolonial independence, colonial African Community and traditional. The critic relates and compares Achebe's national reclamation agency in a way which Mandela overcame the limits of complete work and knowledge within a climate of politics in the 20th century in Africa. When comparing the two legends, Zeleza creates an argument describing Achebe and Mandela as Citizens of Africa who loves their continent and embraces contradictions of African society in the 20th century. 

Michael EkwumeThelwell's Journal known as "Chinua Achebe: The Ironies of History Dancing with Politics of Literature, " evaluates African literary works of Chinua Achebe in books like “Things Fall Apart" and articles" An Image of Africa " in the criticism he made concerning Joseph Conrad's " Heart of Darkness " and the meaning portrayed from Achebe's evaluation. The author shows how Achebe applied citations from Joseph Conrad's statements to enable writers possess words like "document and expose" referring to the wrong misconception of Africa like "a dangerous other" being famous Africa depiction in literature (Thelwell, 35). The journal further applies the periods in the lecture by Achebe as a general in writing style since he applies stories and traditions and opts to use English instead of Igbo his native language.

Adebayo Williams in his journal known as "The autumn of literary Patriarch: Chinua Achebe and the Politics of Remembering" evaluates the political literature of Chinua Achebe as a man of his kind depicting the real world of literature in politics. Adebayo views the works of Achebe and his image as a self-dissolution man without having the attachments to culture, origins, class, race, nation or family. He uses the phrase like "perhaps it is a value of his extreme pessimism, but his reasons are not insubstantial"(Adebayo 19). Adebayo reveals the true character of Chinua Achebe and his Image of the Journal "An Image of Africa." 


Chinua Achebe in his well-known critique, "An Image of Africa," Chinua upholds strong position against Heart of Darkness by Conrad's. He asserts that Conrad was depicted as a racist and a novella depersonalizing part of the human race not measured as great task of art. The quote from Chinua clearly demonstrates his opinion: (Achebe176) "The point of my observations should be quite clear by now, namely that Joseph Conrad was a thoroughgoing racist. That this simple truth is grossed over in criticisms of his work due to fact that white racism against Africa is such a normal way of thinking that its manifestations go completely remarked" In regard to Chinua, Conrad was obsessed with color of skin: he describes a person as being black with long black arms and long black legs. 

Both critics show negative portraits of Joseph's book "Heart of Darkness" and praises Chinua Achebe as ever existed Africa who struggled for revolution during independence period through political literature. Chinua states a picture in the novella that after Kurtz' death the manager's boy is portrayed as placing his "insolent black head in the doorway" (Conrad 69). He also rejects the thought that Conrad was not racist since he is just describing what Marlow sees and thinks; this thought is ridiculous since there was no other alternative reference and the readers believed what character’s state as truth because no one was there to dispute them. Achebe's central point in censure is that Joseph Conrad thinks that all things must be in their stated position and how tragedy occurs when Europeans in good health tours the heart of darkness. Cannibals are good people when in their place. Africans are termed as savages of feral eyes using crude language comprising of grunts and phrases like a violent babble. 

Africa is viewed as other world through bestiality contrasting the refinement and intelligence of Europe. Africans are on some occasions regarded as specimens, Marlow on an African as an enhanced specimen since he is able to fire up a boiler (Achebe 172). This point is further discussed in the meaning of the two streams in the heart of darkness. Africa is described as being a prehistoric universe consisting of prehistoric people behaving in a "black and incomprehensible frenzy” (Tiyambe 35). The Africans are leaping and howling and viewed as not inhumane. At this point, Marlow recognizes the humane fact of the tribesmen, even though he still regards them as being savages. He states how they possess faces like grotesque mask energy, a wild vitality and strong muscles. 


According to Chinua, Conrad is describing things in their position. To explain why Chinua feels against Joseph one should look at events in African period. In the 1960s some former European colonies of Africa attained their independence, which also signified the end of European era. The negritude movement emerged from the 1960s to 70s. The main focus of association was "unite peoples’ living in different nations through their shared ancestry and common ancestry with common origins" (Michael 77). 

This was criticized mainly focusing on blackness, skin color and binary separatist oppositions, and it did not question negative associations for 'blackness.' Although it seemed too significant, it created an identity of African. Chinua was one of the Pan- Africanism associations whose aim was to unite native Africans for colonialism to end.

 Achebe feels western psychology needs change "set Africa up as a foil to Europe"(Achebe 170). Achebe feels creating an African identity is significant to him and an important role a writer must emulate (Szeman15). In several occasions, he encountered this question “are you from Africa” and he noted that Africa looks to mean something to individuals. Chinua poses a question “when you see an African, what does it mean to a white man?" (Tiyambe 71) The European gawk made African identity. This may be why Chinua thought identity was something we should proceed to reshape. 

Achebe claimed that: I am an Igbo writer because this is my basic culture; Nigerian, Africa, and writer. Nothing more, black first, then a writer. 

The aspect of contemporary African culture was influenced with colonialism. Chinua needs to go beyond this circumstance and create an African identity. Achebe fails to understand the fact of loving Conrad’s work since it was influenced by social norms, political influences and cultural beliefs of his time.

Conrad wanted to present to readers a sense of perplexity on what seemed to be secure turning out insecure. He realized "darkness” might be illuminated or colonized. Conrad's limitation was depicted despite his knowledge on colonialism in a particular way as simply land- grabbing and dominance (Okechukwu 12). He did not comprehend that imperialism would end and natives could live free lives from European control. 

In his period Conrad, could not give natives freedom of their lives despite his critique of imperialism which enslaved them. 


Chinua Achebe claims that even though Conrad needed to add an alternative allusion, he could have included. Chinua forces readers to believe what the characters speak in the novella as truth. A book could be short- sighted and narrow in its portrayal, but readers have some objective not to capture all that they hear as truth. 

Marlow's state of knowledge when he comes to Africa was limited and thus he might provide a simplified picture. In Chinua's criticism, he states a novella which depersonalizes part of the human race not regarded as good work of art. This was wrong even if the heart of darkness completely depicts racist, but it can still be artwork. One must, therefore, disregard early critics that happened to praise the novella's prose and writing. 

Conrad may be considered a racist as per today's standards; unlike his time of writing, book was not a racist at all. Conrad could not have imagined novella as of being racist. It is difficult to determine what was said in novella written as of dramatic effect; Marlow seems to be created to portray racist slightly. According to Chinua, this affects the importance of novella. This is possibly due to feelings that racism and Africa are closer to Achebe's heart. 

It is also possible to perceive Conrad of having a positive perception of Africa as he implies the origin of man to be in Africa. Marlow constantly travels through Africa and views Africa just like London “one of the dark place on the earth"(Conrad 5). He sees a connection between birth to man and concludes that we all have a common ancestry. 

In summary, the previous response only focused on artistic features of Heart of Darkness. They discussed on how beautiful and atmospheric the language can be. The aspect of the race is ignored. It is not surprising to see racism picked with no attention and race thinking being assumed as natural and blindfolding. 

In 1977 Chinua criticized Conrad and referred him as a racist. He further claimed that a novella depersonalized part of the human race as not accounted for in artwork. In the 1960s some former Europeans colony attained their independence.
