
Chinua Achebe sparks an important and serious discussion of Joseph Conrad’s racism in “An Image of Africa.” During the lecture Achebe addresses that even though Conrad was known to be a great man of his time; he is extremely racist. Racism during the nineteenth and twentieth century was heavy, which becomes evident in Conrad’s writing about his traveling experience to Africa. At first glance, it appears that Conrad is focusing his insults mainly on Africa and the punitive differences in culture.  A different perspective becomes apparent by close reading, and Conrad’s true message becomes clear. According to Conrad, not only does Africa have issues but societies of all kinds and all over the world are not perfect. Achebe only sees one side of this and does not focus on the hints Conrad sneak in about not actually being racist. By interpreting repetition, word choice, and context readers realize Achebe may be looking at Conrad’s writing the wrong way and not noticing that Conrad thinks all societies should be one and that segregation is unjust.

To start off, Achebe talks about the area of writing Conrad frequently brings up of “epitomize the ambivalence” (57).  In such a racist time the thoughts that run through Conrad’s head go against the social norm; this is hard to deal with when Conrad sees the other side of things. In his writing, there is an obsession over the African people and their differences. During this time everyone thought whites and blacks were not meant to be mixed at all but all it takes is one person to voice their thoughts for change to begin. Conrad’s publications were the start of mixing the cultures. Slowly, the idea began to show up in society. Achebe even talks about how dialects of languages began to develop which is step in the right direction. Conrad saw how segregation did not make sense and secretly, maybe even without knowing, was a part of the transition towards blending and accepting cultures. The idea of Conrad starting to bring up signals of integration may not have occurred to Achebe because the subject was too close to him. Achebe is African American so his hate and anger did not allow him to take a step back and realize Conrad’s ambivalence toward racism. Interpreting the context of Conrad’s sly writing brought evidence that Achebe did not understand what Conrad was saying.

Next, when “ugly” is used for the first time in the passage it has its own sentence which draws readers’ attention. Conrad describes his encounter with people and the environment they are living in. There are “motionless foliage” and “peaked grass roofs” which conveys a spooky and dark image (54,55). People are described as “phantoms” with “rolling eyes” and “monstrous” (54,55). After the detailed description, “ugly” is used to sum up what Conrad saw. These inhumane characteristics are hurtful and strong but it goes along with the norm of the society that everyone believed. Achebe is correct in that Conrad insults a culture at this moment. On the other hand, Achebe then made it a point to emphasize the sentence from Conrad’s Heart of Darkness “What thrilled you was just the thought of their humanity-like yours…Ugly” (55). The word is used again but this time not just to describe the African culture and people but other cultures such as the European’s as well. By the different ways Conrad refers to the word “ugly” readers may be surprised to realize Conrad may not be a racist at heart. He knew his work would not thrive if he abruptly wrote about his real opinions, so he was clever as how to show his thoughts in his work. Achebe had not realized that by Conrad insulting one culture he was also doing the same to all societies at the same time. By emphasizing and interpreting a repeated line, readers find out Achebe misinterpreted that Conrad’s underlying message that not just one but all societies have ugly qualities.

Last, Achebe picks out excerpts from Conrad’s writing to talk about in the passage and by focusing on the word choice used the overall message can be put into focus. First, in Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, he talks about two different rivers which are symbolically parallel to two different races. Two rivers can be completely different in many ways but one undeniable truth is that they are both bodies of water that either come from or empty out into the same area. There is a “lurking hint of kinship, of common ancestry” between bodies of water and human races as well (53). Conrad acknowledges this fact that there is a connection by using this metaphor but Achebe did not pick up on it. If one body of water is polluted there is a chance the other has problems with it too since they come from the same source. Also, in the midst of what can be perceived as a racist comment Conrad sneaks in a compliment showing his appeal and connection to another race. Conrad describes a working man he saw, on his trip, that works with fire as “full of improving knowledge” and a woman that caught his attention in Africa as “magnificent” (53). These phrases and words are snuck in the paragraphs so that he would not be criticized for outwardly admiring another race and culture. Word choice plays an important role when trying to uncover the truth behind writing.

All in all, three different ways to interpret a text leads to finding that Achebe had misinterpreted Conrad. First, interpreting the context and where the writing is coming from, puts together a clear picture that Conrad may not have been as racist as Achebe thinks. Then, repetition of the word “ugly” played an important role in focusing on that Conrad wanted to emphasis all cultures are not perfect, but Achebe took it as an insult to only his race.  Finally, by reading and translating hidden phrases and words Conrad’s true opinion becomes present that all societies are one. Without in-depth analyzing readers skip over the truth that Achebe was unable to see the good hidden in Conrad. It takes courage to fight against what the rest of the world thinks but Conrad was able to show his true feelings by hiding it in his writing but not making it easy to see. Achebe did not see the message hidden in the writing because he took Conrad’s work to heart and the wrong way. Even to this day society is still working on the idea of equality but there is always good in even the people that may have evil reputations.
