Chinua Achebe’s literary works and novels were influenced by many events and wars throughout the 20th century. Achebe was born into a British bound Nigeria during the 1930s. As he moved back and forth from Nigeria to America throughout his life he participated in world wars, civil rights movements, imperialism and pinnacle legislative cases. Throughout these events, Achebe began to develop a strong position of equality for African Americans as he took a stand against racism in his life and writings. As a result of Achebe’s personal experiences and background, he wrote his novel, “An Image of Africa” in response to joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness. In doing so he demonstrates how Conrad’s writing influences and prolongs systemic racism. 

During the early 1900s imperialism took over almost 90% of Africa. Nigeria was one of the first to become quickly occupied when it was taken over by Great Britain (Goucher 7). Professor Iweriebor stated that the European imperialist push into Africa was motivated by the three main factors of economic, political, and social expansion (23). He also accredited its rapid development to the “collapse of the profitability of the slave trade, its abolition and suppression, as well as the expansion of the European Capitalist Industrial Revolution” (1).  Achebe grew up experiencing these three factors first hand. Growing up in the world that Kurtz and other Europeans came to conquer, Achebe developed a sense of resentment towards these conquerors and their “racist stereotypes” as they began to slowly take over and redevelop his native country with their “western imagination” (Achebe 8). The imperialist construction began with the “establishment of schools that taught Western languages and learning” and Achebe’s education grew as he gained a new outlook on colonialism through both African and European lenses (Gocuher13). The European lens consists of the colonizers seeing themselves as “superior to the colonized people” and assuming their dominance and ideals are superior. This western mindset led the natives to be “considered as ‘other’, different, and therefore inferior to the point of being dehumanized” (Tyson 420). That same mindset provides Conrad with the allowance and social acceptance to further his racial mentality. He consistently refers to the natives’ faces as “grotesque masks” and references their “inhuman” physical qualities (Conrad 4). By creating this mindset about an entire population, Europeans believed they could continue moving forward in an “erect and immaculate” fashion, consuming and dismissing third world Africa (Lawtoo 3). Achebe agrees that Africa is the picture that had to be hidden from the rest of the world because they were subtly being abused for their manual labor and vital resources (9). This abusive and parasitic relationship led to many symbolic wars such as the East and Northern African campaigns, lasting through the duration of World War II. Not only did this mindset contribute to a World War, but also promoted the development and extension of Conrad’s systemic and influential racism.

Shortly into European imperialism, most of the imperialist countries became involved in a world war. Since the majority of Africa was imperialized by European nations a “million people across Africa were actively involved in the military confrontations, as soldiers or bearers,” (Fischer 3). At the beginning of the war most African soldiers were offered income and many volunteered. However, when the money stopped coming, most were randomly conscripted beginning in 1915. Under the conscription, the French alone sent “450,000 African soldiers from their colonies in West and North Africa to fight against Germany on the frontline in Europe” (Fischer 20). This monumental war further proved how the imperialistic nations used power to impose military force on their colonies. Since Nigeria was a colony who was involved in the draft, Achebe experienced this process first hand through his peers. The fact that the mother countries could exert this much force upon their colonies increased the behavior of racism and further encouraged it. Achebe states that his people “suffered untold agonies and atrocities” due to Europeans, such as hundreds of thousands who died serving for a foreign country (16). This event clearly shapes Achebe’s view towards Conrad’s book as he develops the readers sense of empathy for the Nigerian people and deepens the readers disgust for Europeans.

Achebe, fueled by his personal experiences with conscription in World War 1, became active during the civil rights movement. During the 1950s and 60s the civil rights movement was in full effect with social movements, civil resistance and acts of nonviolent protesting, all with the common goal to end racial segregation, hoping to acquire equality for all races. Although most of these events were meant to be nonviolent and civil, in many cases the federal government had to take action to address these pressing matters by sending national guard troops to diffuse protests or riots (McBride 13). This situation of injustice and lack of equality endowed by the constitution, resonated within the American people, creating a surge to amend these rights. Amid this flux of emotions, Achebe used this inspiration to his advantage as he crafted an image of Africa. Not only did the civil rights protesting and other physical events shape Achebe’s account, so did court the cases during these movements. McBride asserts that Brown vs. Board of Education in 1954 had a tremendous impact on the nation, as it ruled racial segregation to be unconstitutional. This influenced Achebe’s inspiration to fight for public justice and end prolonged racism (1).

Imperialism rose during the early 1900s for numerous reasons such as wealth, economic greed, and political gain. Due to this, Africa fell victim to Europe and Great Britain.  During the 60 years of Europe’s stranglehold on Africa, countries and people were abused and pillaged. As white Europeans such as Joseph Conrad colonialized Africa they treated the natives or “ugly humans” with the upmost disrespect (Conrad 6).  When Conrad published the story of his racist accounts in his tale, Heart of Darkness, local Nigerian and father of African literature, Chinua Achebe, responded with “An Image of Africa.” Influenced by the historical events throughout his life, Achebe rallied behind civil rights movements and fought unlawful conscription as he formulated “An image of Africa.”
