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Mid Sweden University

English Studies

Racism in Robinson Crusoe and Humanism in Heart of

Darkness: A Postcolonial Study

Joen Scahill

English C/Special Project

Tutor: Martin Shaw

15 January, 2009



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Table of contents

Introduction…………………………………………………...................3

Presentations of the Primary Literature………………………………….4

Main Secondary Sources…………………………………........................5

Robinson Crusoe’s England……………………………………………..6

Slavery in Africa: an Insight……………………………… …………….6

Land, Ho! ..................................................................................................6

Arrival at World’s End…………………………………………………..7

Fearing Feasts……………………………………………………………7

Capturing a Cannibal…………………………………………………….8

Little Europe……………………………………………………………..9

Divine Intentions: Rescuing Friday from Barbarism………....................10

The return to civilization: Crusoe’s Strange, Happy Ending....................11

Marlow’s England……………………………………………………….12

Marlow’s History Lesson………………………………………………..13

Journey into the Unknown: Marlow leaves England……………………14

Land, Ho! ……………………………………………………………….14

Slavery in Africa: an Insight…………………………………………….15

Companionship with Cannibals………………………………………….15

Fearing Feasts……………………………………………………………16

Arrival at the Heartless Centre of Progress……………………………....17

Little Europe……………………………………………………………...17

The return to Civilization – Marlow’s Gloomy Ending………………….18

Conclusions……………………………………………………………….18

Works Cited………………………………………………………………20



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“ Europe undertook the leadership

of the world with ardor, cynicism

and violence” Frantz Fanon

Introduction

In literary criticism during the last twenty years there has emerged a widening of postcolonial

studies. A rather new term in general and thus as a field in literary studies in particular (the

1990s), post-colonialism in this context can be said to examine the representations of other

cultures in literature (Barry 199). Furthermore, one important aspect of post-colonialism is the

re-reading of texts produced during colonialism (McLeod 33). In this essay, I intend to

demonstrate through a re-reading of Robinson Crusoe and Heart of Darkness that the fictional

characters Robinson Crusoe celebrate colonialism, while Marlow despises it. The emphasis

on fictional above serve as an aide memoire that although colonialism was, and is, very much

real, the colonialism investigated below is imagined . In both Robinson Crusoe and Heart of

Darkness, albeit in different ways, western imperialism and colonialism is clearly portrayed.

This essay analyses how these two canonized fictional characters view the fictional

indigenous people they encounter during their overseas adventures. The two narratives are

comparable as they have both been charged with racism through post-colonial critique in

relatively recent years. Moreover, they are also comparable since both protagonists make

certain remarks worth considering on the subject of indigenous peoples.

My approach will be a thematic close reading: both contrastive and comparative

analyzes of the two narratives will be made. The narratives will be analyzed separately

because it simplifies the reading and clarifies the study; consequently, the main body of the

essay will be divided into sub-chapters. Post-colonial literary theory will be used to scrutinize

how non-Europeans are represented in the two fictional works. Specific post-colonial

concepts such as “otherness” or Eurocentric universalism and various identified things unsaid

in the narratives will be addressed in detail. Within the scope of this study, there will be no

attempts to cover occidentialism, despite its current up-to-dateness, nor will there be room for

an overview which would account for and comment on all the works referring to the two

primary sources used. Furthermore, any references made to either Defoe’s or Conrad’s

personal lives will be as limited as possible, since there is a distinct difference between a



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character and an author. My objective is to analyze how the main characters view the various

indigenous peoples they encounter. The aim of this dissertation is to show that Robinson

Crusoe has racist values as opposed to Marlow: I will demonstrate through a post-colonial

reading of Daniel Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe against Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness that it

is possible to identify Crusoe’s dream of a colonial utopia, as well as Marlow’s severe critique

of that by tradition very same European illusion. I will argue that while Robinson Crusoe

supports colonialism, Marlow is questioning the entire project.

Presentations of the Primary Literature

Published in 1719, Robinson Crusoe has sometimes been regarded as one of the earlier and

first true novels in the English language. However, Sanders writes that “the claim made by

successive generations of literary historians and critics that Defoe (1660-1725) is the first true

master of the English Novel has only limited validity” (Sanders 302). The original title of the

novel is: THE LIFE and Strange Surprizing ADVENTURES of Robinson Crusoe, Of York,

Mariner: Who lived Eight and Twenty Years, all alone in an un-inhabited Island on the Coast

of America, near the Mouth of the Great River of Oroonoque; Having been cast on Shore by

Shipwreck, wherein all the Men perished but himself. WITH An Account how he was at last as

strangely deliver’d by PYRATES. Written by Himself . Immensely popular since its

publication, the novel is written in the form of a journal, and as the title reveals, it deals with

Crusoe’s experiences as a castaway on an uninhabited island in what is in reality today’s

Chilean archipelago. Defoe published some 500 books on a variety of topics (Penguin intro),

an astonishing amount of writing for any author, and Robinson Crusoe is thus only a small

part of the quantity of Defoe’s produced texts. According to Sanders, it is “probably his 412th

work” (Sanders 302). The edition used for this study is a Penguin Classics published in 2003.

As Robinson Crusoe is one of the most widely read and translated novels in history, a great

deal of research have been made.

The novella Heart of Darkness was published in 1902, and can be regarded as the first

canonized piece of writing in the twentieth century. Seeking adventures in the last unexplored

areas in Africa, Marlow, a seaman and dreamer, leads a steamboat expedition on the Congo

River in the interest of the Company. The search for Kurtz, a gifted agent who has become a

threat to the Company, takes them up stream all the way to the remote Inner Station. The

journey turns out to be not only a quest for truth regarding the rumors that surrounds Kurtz,



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but also, for Marlow, a voyage of self-discovery. Long held to be concerned with the

European presence in Africa, the novella has only quite recently begun to be perceived in

light of post-colonial literary studies. The most prominent critique of the book is that of

Chinua Achebe; in what was initially a university lecture, he famously pointed out what he

regarded was racism in the book, as well as various unfavorable descriptions of Africa. It is

commonly believed that the story is based on Conrad’s own experiences in the Congo a

decade earlier (Penguin intro). The edition used is a Penguin Popular Classics, published in

1994. It did not achieve canonical status while Conrad was still alive, although his writing

became somewhat recognized with his more political fiction in the beginning of the twentieth

century (Sanders 473). Since Chinua Achebe’s attack in 1975, it has been widely debated, and

a vast amount of criticism has been written on the subject.

Main Secondary Sources

My main secondary sources are: Frantz Fanon’s The Wretched of the Earth (1961), Edward

Said’s Orientalism (1978) and Chinua Achebe’s lecture An Image of Africa: Racism in

Conrad’s Heart of Darkness (1975). I will also rely on post-colonial theory such as Beginning

Theory by Barry and Beginning Postcolonialism By McLeod and also Ideas and Identities:

British and American Culture 1500-1945 by Lundén and Srigley. Both Fanon’s and Said’s

books will help in describing and discussing possible Eurocentric or racist values expressed

by the main characters; they will also be a valuable tool for putting the narratives into a

historical perspective. Achebe’s critical dissection of Heart of Darkness will be analyzed in

relation to additional perceptions of the novella. In addition, I will use the theoretical post-

colonial works mentioned above to explain the specific postcolonial and imperial actions

which created the values and shaped the societies in which both Defoe and Conrad lived.

Robinson Crusoe’s England

Robinson Crusoe opens with descriptions of Crusoe’s restlessness and desire to go to sea, as

well as an account of what is expected from him, namely, to build a career. However, being

young and restless, Crusoe disregards his father’s advice of seeking “the middle state”, which

basically means a middle class existence of which his father has “found by long experience

was the best state in the world, the most suited to human happiness” (Defoe 6). Later on in the

narrative, when Crusoe is washed up on a deserted island, he subsequently questions the

intentions of God or providence as regards the outcome of his decision to disregard the advice



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of his father. To be blunt, Crusoe’s inquiries into the reasons of his marooned existence lead

to the assumption that he is being punished by either God or providence.

Slavery in Africa: An Insight

Crusoe goes to sea, and after a series of smaller adventures he is captured by Moors and

becomes a slave in Morocco. Throughout the novel, there is a romantic or naïve notion

concerning slavery, as is evident by Crusoe’s too brief a reflection on the matter: “At this

surprising change of my circumstances, from a merchant to a miserable slave, I was perfectly

over-whelmed” (17). Indeed, there are no realistic descriptions of the slave experience:

Crusoe simply shrugs. After two years in captivity, he escapes in a small vessel together with

Xury, another slave. As they sail along the coast of North West Africa, Crusoe is afraid: “the

truly barbarian coast, where whole nations of Negroes were sure to surround us with their

canoes, and destroy us” (21, original italics). This is one of the first examples of Crusoe’s

racist preconceived notions of other peoples. Eventually, they are rescued by a European ship.

The Portuguese captain wishes to buy Xury:

[H]e offer’d me also 60 Pieces of Eight more for my boy Xury, which I was loath to

take, not that I was not willing to let the captain have him, but I was very loath to sell

the poor boy’s liberty, who had assisted me so faithfully in procuring my own. However

when I let him know my reason, he own’d it to be just, and offer’d me this medium, that

he would give the boy an obligation to set him free in ten years, if he turn’d Christian;

upon this, and Xury saying he was willing to go to him, I let the captain have him (28-

29).

The racism above is evident in Crusoe’s peculiar notion that Xury is his “boy” and that he has

the right to let the captain “have him”. Moreover, the novel reflects contemporary attitudes

toward religion and otherness. As for the religious ethnocentrism in Crusoe’s ultimatum

above, it served as a tool for the Europeans with which they justified their civilizing aspects

of colonialism. This particular belief in the superiority of Christianity is a recurring theme in

the novel.

Land, Ho!

They soon arrive in “the Brazils”, and the captain helps Crusoe to buy a tobacco plantation, a

characteristic colonial act. Crusoe, being a westerner and therefore a capitalist, immediately

expands his plantation business: “For the first thing I did, I bought me a Negro slave, and an

[sic] European servant also” (31). The racism here is, obviously, that Africans are slaves,



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while Europeans are merely servants. Nevertheless, “the inhuman attitude towards slaves was

reflected to some extent in the indifference to the conditions of the working classes in Britain”

(Lundén & Srigley 70). After a few years, Crusoe convinces his neighboring plantation

owners that they must go to the African coast and fetch “ Negroes for service in the Brazils, in

great numbers” (Defoe 32). Again, it is the western notion of financial profit through

expansion that is the driving force behind his decision, a conviction which is manifested also

on the island later on when Crusoe expands his agricultural -and goat herd projects.

Moreover, the idea that expansion is dependent on slaves is similarly expressed on the island

when Crusoe dreams of capturing a cannibal slave. It is on this voyage to the African coast

that Crusoe is washed up on a desert island, being the sole survivor of the shipwreck.

Arrival at World’s End

The greater part of the novel is set on the deserted island, where Crusoe spends twenty eight

years of his life. On the island, Crusoe is mainly occupied with three projects: firstly, to create

a civilized existence - he is building things and creating a steadfast means of acquiring food -

secondly, to protect himself from cannibals and thirdly, to spend his free time contemplating

on either his marooned existence, his prospects of ever leaving the island as well as religious

matters. Needless to say, it is not altogether germane in this analysis to focus on other events

or statements than those referring to the characters view of either the non-European world or

the people they encounter; consequently, the focus in this part will be on Crusoe’s perception

of the cannibals and treatment of Friday, as well as his opinions regarding the European

overseas mission.

Fearing Fiests

One of the greatest moments of suspense in the novel is when Crusoe stumbles upon a single

naked footprint on the shore after having lived alone on the island for years. Later, he

discovers that cannibals are using the island for festive activities. Initially, Crusoe thinks

about how he might “destroy some of these monsters in their cruel bloody entertainment, and

if possible, save the victim they should bring hither to destroy” (133). There is nothing racist

about the statement, since he also wants to save a person. However, soon the reader learns

that he wants to use the victim as a slave. He continues to express his disgust regarding

cannibalism: ”My mind was thus fill’d with thoughts of revenge, and of a bloody putting

twenty or thirty of them to the sword” (134). Revenge is an interesting word choice here; the



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love the creature” (168). Strangely enough, considering their friendship, Friday is not even

included in the wonderfully long title: it noticeably says all alone; thus Crusoe’s companion

for several years is not even mentioned, although they “liv’d there together perfectly and

completely happy” for three years (174). Clearly, then, the novel can be depicted as racist

already on the cover. In describing Friday, Crusoe reveals what he thinks are desirable

features: “He was a comely handsome fellow…had all the sweetness and softness of a

European in his countenance…his skin was not quite black, but very tawny; and yet not of an

ugly yellow nauseous tawny, as the Brasilians and Virginians, and other natives of America

are” (162). Needless to say, Crusoe’s racism is clearly expressed in his notion on complexions

of non-European peoples.

Little Europe

The re-naming of the man resembles to a certain extent what Boehmer discusses regarding

place names. The colonists, he argues, in naming new places after regions left behind, “re-

created in some part the symbolic experience of the old world. But at the same time they

marked out a new region, where a new life could begin to unfold. Naming set up a

synchronous time frame for the colonies: though not Europe, they were declared to be

contiguous to Europe, and subject and secondary to it” (Boehmer 18). The re-naming of

places secondary to Europe which belonged to other peoples, as well as the definition of the

subject races, is perhaps most notably evident in Crusoe’s habit of calling the island his

“kingdom” and the naming of Friday, the opposite and secondary subject of Crusoe. In

naming him after a weekday, Crusoe can also bring back that obsession of and dependence on

time so associated with “civilization”. Furthermore, if replications in names like New York or

Perth were essential during the colonial era, it was equally important to replicate a successful

means of subsistence in the colonies. Consider for instance Crusoe’s need to create a

European home and agriculture, not to mention the importance for him to follow European

laws and religious convictions. As for Crusoe’s belief that the island is his “kingdom”, it

resembles what Said has identified as a conventionally European notion regarding the rest of

the world. Indeed, Said argues that a white middle class westerner believe it is his human

right not only to rule the non-white world, but to own it (Said 199). This is clearly

demonstrated in the following passage from the novel:

My island was now peopled, and I thought myself very rich in subjects; and it was a

merry reflection which I frequently made, how like a king I look’d. First of all, the



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whole country was my own meer property; so that I had an undoubted right of

dominion. Secondly, my people were perfectly subjected: I was absolute lord and law-

giver; they all ow’d their lives to me, and were ready to lay down their lives, if there

had been occasion of it , for me (190).

The quote exemplifies Said’s European stereotype most notably in Crusoe’s dream of totaldictatorial ownership and right to rule. Crusoe’s dream of wealth and power is built on the

same notions of ownership and right to rule which the Europeans justified colonialism and

imperialism. More specifically, the quote mirrors attitudes and views in Defoe’s England

concerning its colonies, as well as Crusoe’s belief in British supremacy and right to rule.

Divine Intentions: Rescuing Friday from Barbarism

Crusoe understands that Friday has “a secret religion”, and he “endeavour’d to clear up this

fraud” (171), to his man Friday. At the time when the novel was published, people in Europe

believed that only one God can exist: “I begun to instruct him [Friday] in the knowledge of

the true God” (171). One of many summonses in the Bible can be linked to this: “And this is

life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God , and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast

sent” (John 17:3, emphasis added). Crusoe sees Friday’s religion as secret because he believes

that only one, true god can exist. Strangely enough, though, Crusoe seem to express some sort

of tolerance, as in these remarks from when the island is somewhat peopled:

It was remarkable too, we had but three subjects, and they were of three different

religions. My man Friday was a Protestant, his father was a pagan and a cannibal, and

the Spaniard was a Papist; However, I allow’d liberty of conscience throughout my

dominions” (190).

If “liberty of conscience” is religious freedom, then Crusoe’s condemnation of Friday’s

religion must be regarded as a contradiction. Additionally, the following passage by Fanon

could, arguably, add more to the above discussion on Friday’s secrecy: “A national culture

under colonial domination is a contested culture whose destruction is sought in systematicfashion. It very quickly becomes a culture condemned to secrecy” (Fanon 191). Although

Fanon focuses on culture and not religion, the same intolerance towards other beliefs is

apparent. Ultimately, Crusoe observes that “the savage was now a good Christian, a much

better than I” (174). It is possible to identify Crusoe’s behavior here as either ethnocentric

redemption or Anglicization of Friday. Conversion, on the other hand, is a central theme even

regarding Crusoe himself, who becomes truly religious only when he arrives on the island and

consequently begins to question the intentions of God, as I mentioned above. Indeed, it is



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fundamental for Crusoe if salvation is to be expected – as for Friday, salvation is forced upon

him. Crusoe’s Eurocentric meditations on the differences between his own people and culture

to that of Friday ultimately lead to the conclusions that he is right and Friday is wrong. Said

identifies a tendency among European authors in the nineteenth century to view the “Orient”

as an area in need of attention from the West, in need of reconstruction and even rescue. The

Orient, he argues, was viewed as isolated from the main European progresses within science,

arts and trade (Said 323). Although Defoe lived in an earlier period, it is possible to identify

similar viewpoints in his work. Similar convictions are expressed by Crusoe in his attempts to

rescue Friday from a culture “in need” of attention and reconstruction. Similarly, McLeod

explains that

[U]nder colonialism, a colonized people are made subservient to ways of regarding theworld which reflect and support colonialist values. A particular value-system is taught

as the best, truest world-view. The cultural values of the colonized peoples are deemed

as lacking in value, or even of being ‘uncivilized’, from which they must be rescued

(McLeod 19).

Importantly, Boehmer points out one aspect of the European need to control their colonial

subjects and the intolerance towards other belief systems: “Crusoe, we remember, made a

servant of Friday by attempting to convert him into a copy of himself. Crucially, colonialist

constructions of the other as in need of civilization were used to justify the dispossession of

natives” (Boehmer 31). The fear of other cultures and other traditions is clearly portrayed in

the novel, too. Crusoe, for instance, confronts Friday: “What would you do there, said I,

would you turn wild again, eat mens flesh again, and be a savage as you were before” (177).

It is when Friday wishes to go back to his own people that Crusoe become worried about

Friday’s old culture and traditions.

The Return to Civilization – Crusoe’s Strange, Happy Ending

Finally Europeans arrive on the island, and after a series of smaller adventures, Crusoe can

sail back to Europe together with Friday. The island is now inhabited by a few men. When

Crusoe eventually comes back to England, he has been away from home for some thirty five

years. His relatives are all dead. Almost immediately, he decides to go to Lisbon and visit the

captain who saved him from slavery and introduced him to the plantation business in the

“Brazils”. Several irrelevant adventures take place in Europe in the final chapters – Crusoe

and Friday are, for instance, hunted by hundreds of wolves and a bear. Eventually, however,

he finds out that caretakers still make a profit out of his farm – in fact, Crusoe is wealthy –



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and the happy ending is ensured. Thus slaves were the reason for his financial success, and

colonialism a highly profitable business. Crusoe’s happy ending is probably a reward for

leading a good, Christian life. The people he left on the island become part of his colonial

plans. He returns to the island with supplies for the men, including “some women from

England ” (240), but merely for a short visit so he can expand his new settlement, expansion

being central in colonialism as it suggest an increased profit.

Marlow’s England

Let us look at the beginning of Heart of Darkness. Five men have gathered in a cruising yawl

on the river Thames. With the use of a narrator behind a narrator, it is a story told by an

anonymous person who listens to Marlow’s long description of his overseas experiences.

Thus Marlow never actually leaves England. Nevertheless, his stirring account gives the

impression that he is not simply remembering, but in fact travels to the Congo. The story

opens with strange and binary depictions of London. Achebe has interestingly interpreted the

introductory descriptions of London and the Thames as some Western triumph over Africa, of

light versus darkness and good versus evil:

[T]he book opens on the River Thames, tranquil, resting, peacefully "at the decline of

day after ages of good service done to the race that peopled its banks." But the actual

story will take place on the River Congo, the very antithesis of the Thames. The River

Congo is quite decidedly not a River Emeritus. It has rendered no service and enjoys no

old-age pension. We are told that "Going up that river was like traveling back to the

earliest beginnings of the world". Is Conrad saying then that these two rivers are very

different, one good, the other bad? Yes, but that is not the real point (Achebe 2).

The above interpretation by Achebe is based on a central concern of his, famously pointed out

in his essay, namely that “ Heart of Darkness projects the image of Africa as ‘the other world’,

the antithesis of Europe and therefore of civilization” (Achebe 2). In postcolonial criticism,

this Eurocentric viewpoint is labeled “otherness”, a Western tendency to view non-Europeans

as exotic or immoral “others” (Barry 194). Similarly, Said mentions that the Orient has

contributed to the definition of Europe or the West by being its contrasting picture;

contrasting idea, contrary personality and a contrary experience (Said 64). Achebe’s

interpretation is one-sided in its attempt to steer Conrad’s allegorical and sarcastic word

choices away from the bigger picture to suit his own interpretation. It is one-sided because it

refuses to deal with Conrad’s recurring double-sided accounts: to fully appreciate Heart of

Darkness, it is crucial to recognize that Conrad’s language and portrayals are often binary,



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and that boundaries are indistinct at times. Contrary to Achebe’s depiction, it can be argued

that a certain unrest and disturbing allusion lurk over London in the initial descriptions of the

city: “The air was dark above Gravesend, and farther back still seemed condensed into a

mournful gloom, brooding motionless over the biggest, and the greatest, town on earth”

(Conrad 1). It certainly sounds worrying, and London seems threatened – especially in

combination with the descriptions of the setting sun as “stricken to death by the touch of that

gloom” (Conrad 6). It might be regarded as a suggestion that the dark center of Empire kills

the good light, for instance. As for the phrase “the greatest town on earth” - it is true that

London was the biggest and most progressed town in the world at the time - however, it might

be another example of Conrad’s sarcasm, since he also calls it “the monstrous town” (Conrad

7). He indicates that the heart of “civilization”, with its progress and size, is also monstrous in

its expansionary ambitions.

Marlow’s History Lesson

Furthermore, Marlow’s later comparison between the Roman Empire to that of the British is

worth looking at briefly: “And this also, said Marlow suddenly, has been one of the dark

places on earth” (Conrad 7). He is referring to how the Roman soldiers must have perceived

Britain when they conquered parts of it. He imagines how the Roman must have viewed

Britain as the end of the world: “the utter savagery, had closed round him, - all that

mysterious life of the wilderness that stirs in the forests, in the jungles, in the hearts of wild

men” (Conrad 9). The similarities between this description and the later description of the

Congo are obvious, and that is precisely Conrad’s point; what is interesting is the sarcasm,

here represented by the supposed fundamental difference between “wild men” and modern,

“civilized” British citizens. In other words, Conrad suggests that his contemporaries are

barbaric. This sarcasm is again evident in the following reflection by Marlow on the

differences between the Roman conquerors and the British:

[T]hey were no colonists…they were conquerors, and for that you want only brute

force…it was just robbery with violence, aggravated murder on a great scale, and men

going at it blind – as is very proper for those who tackle a darkness. The conquest of the

earth, which mostly means the taking it away from those who have a different

complexion or slightly flatter noses than ourselves, is not a pretty thing when you look

into it too much. What redeems it is the idea only. An idea at the back of it; not a

sentimental pretence but an idea; and an unselfish belief in the idea – something you can

set up, and bow down before, and offer a sacrifice to (Conrad 10).



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Considering the remark on complexion and noses above, it seems farfetched to label Conrad a

racist: he is condemning racism in that sentence. Furthermore, if one returns to the above

statements after having read the entire book, the sarcasm is even more apparent, since the

reader eventually learns that no “idea” is present. As Sanders puts it: “The tale, as it unwinds,

exposes the lack of such an ‘idea’ and the remoteness of any ideal from the colonial reality”

(Sanders 474). In sum, Marlow’s history lesson implies that twentieth century European

colonial powers are as cruel as the Romans in their overseas conquests.

Journey into the Unknown: Marlow leaves England

If Africa is the antithesis of Europe, it is worth considering how reduced Marlow’s first stop

is, Brussels: “In a very few hours I arrived in a city that always makes me think of a whited

sepulchre...A narrow and deserted street in deep shadow, high houses, innumerable windows

with venetian blinds, a dead silence” (Conrad 14). The description of Brussels as a whited

sepulchre with death-like atmosphere probably alludes to Christ’s opponents in the New

Testament: “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited

sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones,

and of all uncleanness (Matthew 23:27). This highly unfavorable portrait of Brussels is

Conrad’s critique of King Leopold’s overseas rape of the Congo Free State (NE). In referring

to the New Testament, Conrad illuminates the hypocrisy of imperialism; the critique is

specifically aimed at the hypocritical Belgian presence in the Congo at the time. In other

words, they justified their inhuman treatments of the Africans with the use of a pretense: their

disguises were that of civilizing missionaries.

Land, Ho!

Continuing his journey to Africa, Marlow witnesses a man-of-war in action along the African

coast:

It appears the French had one of their wars going on thereabouts…there she was,

incomprehensible, firing into a continent…there was a touch of insanity in the

proceeding…Somebody on board assuring me earnestly there was a camp of natives –

he called them enemies! – hidden out of sight somewhere (20).

Conrad is clearly expressing his contempt for European “warfare” here, highlighting not only

the cruelty of using modern weapons against defenseless Africans, but also how absurd it is to

fire into a continent to quiet uproar. He also points out how problematic it is to view them as



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enemies, when the Europeans are intruders with superior weapons who have come to Africa

to take the continent away from the Africans.

Slavery in Africa: An Insight

Having arrived in a coastal town in Africa, Marlow is witnessing Africans who are building a

railway for the Europeans. He comes across a chain-gang: “I could see every rib, the joints of

their limbs were like knots in a rope; each had an iron collar on his neck, and all were

connected together with a chain” (22). Firstly, it would be problematic and contradictory to

include descriptions such as these in a racist narrative. Secondly, the irony in Conrad’s

writing must be taken into consideration. Marlow’s seemingly cold remarks about the chain-

gang resemble the hard-boiled writings introduced by Hemingway on a larger scale some

twenty years later. Reading between the lines, however, it is fairly easy to detect Marlow’s

attempt to preserve grace under pressure, so as to reinforce the sense of shock for the reader.

Soon, Marlow stumbles upon dying Africans. Like animals, they have crawled back to die in

a meadow as a result of the inhuman work forced upon them: “It seemed to me I had stepped

into the gloomy circle of some Inferno…they were dying slowly – it was very clear. They

were not enemies, they were not criminals, they were nothing earthly now, - nothing but black

shadows of disease and starvation, lying confusedly in the greenish gloom” (24). Since

inferno is another word for hellhole, it should be clear that Conrad illuminates the hellish

treatments of the Africans. Moreover, it could be argued that the gloom in this grave-like

meadow is related to the earlier gloom above Gravesend, London. Additionally, parts of the

last sentence in the novella seem to confirm this: “The tranquil waterway leading to the

uttermost ends of the earth flowed somber under an overcast sky – seemed to lead into the

heart of an immense darkness” (111). Indeed, London is connected to this darkness. If the sun

never set in the British Empire, then its colonies cast long shadows. Although London was

less involved than Brussels in that specific part of Africa, Conrad’s target is colonialism per

se.

Companionship with Cannibals

McLeod writes that Bhabha has identified colonial stereotypes. Characteristically, these

stereotypes appear as horrors - savagery, cannibalism, lust and anarchy (McLeod 53). While

these stereotypes are apparent in Defoe’s fantasies about the otherness of overseas cultures,

Conrad is using conventionally established notions of savagery to illuminate that the



16

Europeans are also savages. If the ultimate savage in literature conventionally has been the

cannibal, then the cannibals present in the sarcastic Heart of Darkness instead serve as a

reminder that the true savage is Kurtz and all that he embodies – lust, anarchy, and the evil of

capitalism, colonialism and the horrors of European presence in Africa. More accurately

expressed, Boehmer writes that “Conrad suspected a primitive and demoralizing other to

reside within the white” (Boehmer 59). Undoubtedly, an inattentive reading of the novella

might lead to misunderstandings regarding Conrad’s purpose of having cannibals onboard the

boat together with Marlow. It is important to keep in mind that the book is full of binaries,

such as recurring themes of light versus darkness, good versus evil and so on. The cannibals

might also mirror the blood thirst of the Europeans.

Fearing Feasts

One specific moment concerning the cannibals is curiously interesting – they have a dead

hippopotamus with them onboard the steamer, to prevent them from attacking the other

travelers when they become hungry. It is worth looking into Marlow’s narrative here: “Why

in the name of all the gnawing devils of hunger they didn’t go for us – they were thirty to five

– and have a good tuck in for once, amazes me now that I think of it” (Conrad 59). If the

comedy in this passage seems racist, as it may for some contemporary readers, one should

also consider Marlow’s comments regarding how unwholesome and unappetizing the pilgrims

must seem for the cannibals. Throughout the book, the pilgrims are ridiculed. That is, of

course, Conrad’s way of expressing contempt for the ethnocentrism and supposed religious

superiority of the Victorian missionaries during their civilizing mission. If it is racism to write

about cannibals, then the descriptions of the missionaries resemble contempt, hatred and

disgust. A comparison between Marlow’s view of the cannibals and his view of the Eldorado

Expedition illustrates the problem with, for instance, Achebe’s argument that Africa is the

antithesis of Europe and therefore of civilization. The Eldorado Expedition is in Africa to

“tear treasure out of the bowels of the land…with no more purpose at the back of it than there

is in burglars breaking into a safe” (Conrad 44). Remembering the introductory discussion

about the lack of a European “idea at the back of it”, it is clearly Europeans that are targeted.

It is especially evident in combination with a later reflection: “In a few days the Eldorado

Expedition went into the patient wilderness, that closed upon it as the sea closes over a diver.

Long afterwards the news came that all the donkeys were dead. I know nothing as to the fate

of the less valuable animals. They, no doubt, like the rest of us, found what they deserved”



17

(Conrad 48). The less valuable animals are the Europeans. In comparing Marlow’s

satisfaction of dead Europeans to his view of the cannibals, then, clearly confirm that Conrad

shows more contempt for his own people: “Yes; I looked at them [the cannibals] as you

would on any human being, with a curiosity of their impulses, motives, capacities,

weaknesses, when brought to the test of an inexorable physical necessity” (59-60). Indeed, he

is more “racist” towards Europeans. Sanders, for instance, argue that Conrad’s colonizers “are

drawn from a variety of national backgrounds; most are disreputable, uncomprehending,

intolerant, and exploitative” (Sanders 473). All these nationalities and all these features are

combined in the creation of Kurtz, who serves as an embodiment of European cruelty.

Arrival at the Heartless Centre of Progress

Greeting Marlow at the Inner Station is a silly Russian. If the Inner Station is the heart of

darkness - the darkness being colonialism and imperialism - then the descriptions of the

Russian is Conrad’s way of cleverly mocking colonialism and imperialism: “He looked like a

harlequin. His clothes had been made of some stuff that was brown holland probably, but it

was covered with patches all over, with bright patches, blue, red, and yellow” (75). The

“holland” remark is obviously aimed at a certain country with interests in the Congo. As for

the patches, it mirrors an earlier passage when Marlow is in Brussels and studies a colonial

map of Africa, a map covered with colorful patches: “On the East Coast, a purple patch, to

show where the jolly pioneers of progress drink the jolly lager-beer” (15). The reader is

introduced to the infamous Kurtz rather close to the end of Heart of Darkness. Kurtz serve

more or less as an embodiment of colonialism, and everything that it implies. The reader

learns that he has ravaged the country looking for ivory, a characteristic colonial search for

profit, all disguised under false pretences in the names of geographical exploration, discovery

and progress. Kurtz’s insanity reflects the insanity of colonialism; his fragmentary statements

deal to a large extent with his anxiety concerning the unfinished aspects of his mission. He is

suffering from megalomania – like Caesar, Napoleon and other conquerors, or conquering

countries, for instance. Kurtz dies on the return journey, a scene implying that Empire must

die as well.

Little Europe

The Inner Station with all its evil represents the European presence in Africa. This heart of

darkness exposes the ugly face of colonialism, in the novella characterized by Kurtz; he grew



18

up “all over Europe”, too, and therefore represents all colonial powers. He is the ultimate

savage in the text. Achebe among others have complained about Marlow’s remarks on

African “savages”, but since the truly barbarian is Kurtz, Marlow’s comments instead reveals

Conrad’s use of binary language and themes as a means of highlighting the evil of white men,

as well as the eternally recurring truism that humanity is incorrigible barbaric and cruel.

The Return to Civilization – Marlow’s gloomy ending

Marlow leaves the heart of darkness with Kurtz onboard the steamer. As they go, a woman

emerges, dressed like a witch of some sort. She is described as wild and savage, but also as

magnificent, gorgeous and superb. Achebe argues that she is the “savage counterpart to the

refined, European woman who will step forth to end the story” (Achebe 4). He is right

regarding the different drawings between these two women, but he forgets to take into

consideration the two women who Marlow meets in Brussels: “Two women, one fat and the

other slim, sat on straw-bottomed chairs, knitting black wool…guarding the door of

Darkness” (Conrad 14-16). The African woman is, despite being a “savage”, at least

described with positive remarks alluding to sensual vitality, while the two in Europe

represents guardians of the afterlife. Moreover, if the African “witch” is deprived of language,

so are the other two “witches”. Moreover, one of them has a wart on the cheek, a cat in the lap

and makes Marlow “uneasy” because she seem to know all about him, like a witch (16). As

for Marlow’s view of Europe on his return, it is rather gloomy. He describes how he has

gained a certain knowledge that the other Europeans are unaware of: “They were intruders

whose knowledge of life was to me an irritating pretence, because I felt so sure they could not

possibly know the things I knew” (102). He is, probably, referring to his insights into the

barbarities conducted in Africa by the Europeans.

Conclusions

It is evident that Robinson Crusoe is a racist work of fiction. It is evident in Crusoe’s deep-

rooted biases and preconceived notions of indigenous peoples, as I have shown in his

comments on indigenous peoples. Crusoe’s racism is clearly portrayed in his intolerance of

other cultures and traditions other than his own. Moreover, his idea that Christianity is

superior to all other religions illuminates his Eurocentric viewpoint as well as his ethnocentric

Anglicization and redemption of Friday. Crusoe’s dream about and creation of a colonial

utopia reveals his imperialistic and colonial intentions. I have demonstrated Crusoe’s



19

Eurocentric values regarding ownership in his belief that Europeans have a right to take what

they want. His celebration of slavery demonstrates his racism further; it shows his belief in

colonialism as a means of acquiring personal wealth and power. Ultimately, Robinson

Crusoe’s treatment of indigenous people, such as Xury and Friday, shows his belief that

Europeans are a superior race. Finally, it has been made clear that Crusoe is justifying racism

through colonialism as the result of providence and the will of God – a reward within reach

only for good Christians.

Heart of Darkness is a text which constitutes a humane message. I have contended that

the novella’s central concern is the unfair, cruel and racist treatments of Africans which

colonialism and imperialism implies. The critical undertones and sarcastic portraits of

Europeans in Conrad’s novella, I have argued, preclude the clash of opinions which a

perception of the novella as racist suggests. Indeed, the antagonistic and oppositional views of

people from both continents in Heart of Darkness make racist values in the narrative

contradictory and therefore impossible. I have shown that Achebe’s “heavy conclusions” as a

result of his one-sided interpretation cannot, after all, so easily sustain a reliable critique of

the novella. It should be evident that there is no clear distinction between Europe and Africa

as regards unfavorable descriptions. It has been demonstrated in examples of Marlow’s

comments on London and Brussels compared to his comments on the Congo. Furthermore,this postcolonial close reading of Heart of Darkness has shown that Marlow’s remarks about

indigenous peoples are no more racist than his remarks are about Europeans. This I have

proved by analyzing Marlow’s binary remarks on the pilgrims, the slaves on the coast, the

Russian, the cannibals and Kurtz’s “woman”, inter alia. Finally, the essay has revealed that

the highly negative portrait of Kurtz as the ultimate savage in the book should eliminate any

doubt whether white people can be truly barbaric in their actions. In sum, Heart of Darkness

is an anti-racist work of fiction, as it emphasizes the importance of ending colonialism and

thereby inhuman treatments of indigenous peoples.



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Works cited

Primary Sources

Conrad, Joseph. Heart of Darkness 1902. London: Penguin Popular Classics, 1994

Defoe, Daniel. Robinson Crusoe 1719. London: Penguin Classics, 2003

Secondary Sources

Achebe, Chinua. An Image of Africa: Racism in Conrad's Heart of Darkness 1975. Heart of

Darkness, An Authoritative Text, Background and Sources, Criticism. London: W. W

Norton and Co., 1988 http://johnlknight.com/achebe/

Barry, Peter. Beginning Theory: An Introduction to Literary and Cultural Theory.

Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2002

Boehmer, Elleke. Colonial & Postcolonial Literature. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005

Fanon, Frantz. The Wretched of the Earth 1961. London: Penguin Classics, 2001

GoGwilt, Christopher. The Invention of the West: Joseph Conrad and the Double-Mapping of

Europe and Empire. California: Stanford University Press, 1995

Lundén, Rolf, Michael Srigley. Ideas and Identities: British and American Culture 1500-

1945. Lund: Studentlitteratur, 1992

McLeod, John. Beginning Postcolonialism. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2000

Nationalencyclopedin. www.ne.se, 2008

Novak, Maximillian E. Daniel Defoe: Master of Fictions. Oxford: Oxford University Press,

2001

Said, Edward W. Orientalism 1978. Stockholm: Ordfront, 2004

Sanders, Andrew. The Short Oxford History of English Literature. Oxford: Oxford University

Press, 1994

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