The Concept of Racism and Africans Torture in the Heart of Darkness - Essay Sample

Any art of work by talented writers usually aims at pointing out themes with the aim of informing the world about a given aspect of the society. Therefore, Heart of Darkness, as a projection of the image of Vietnam war and how soldiers massacred and tortured their soldiers in the Vietnam war outlines African torture in various perspective. Stadel et al. (25) outlines that concepts of war depict Africa as a different world by referring to it as the other world while revolving around mockery and vaunted intelligence by triumphant bestiality around River Thames. This essay reflects on how the Africans are taken as subjects to mistreats and abuses, a platform for hard labor and people who submit to any Whites harsh rule.

Conrad uses slang terms and abusive words in describing Africans showing that he had an innate hatred in Africans right away from the name he used to label Africa as the other world. He often used the word nigger depicting his innate dislike on African, their color, their way of life and culture. He used uncouth words that communicated that even though Africans could take part in the Vietnam war, they need to be directed. It was depicted in words, a certain enormous buck nigger encountered in Haiti fixed my conception of blind, furious, unreasoning rage, as manifested in the human animal to the end of my days. Singh et al. (p.1170), examined the statement and argued that Africans need to be directed and that it was a mistake for an African to be seen in Haiti by the words furious unreasoning rage to show that at no point should an African be given a chance to reason.

In this art of work, Conrad outlines concepts of racism and imperialism which are displayed by the soldiers and how African people are mistreated in the company that is run by white men, yet it is in the land of the African continent. There is a lot of cruelty in the business that surrounds the innocent Africans who are forced to hard labor with little pay. Also, the statement, a nigger was being beaten nearby. displays the level of cruelty specifically on the Blacks. What exactly does Conrad show about Africans in the text they said he had caused the fire in some way: be that as it may, he was screaming most horribly (Conrad et al., p.36)? It is evident from the above statement that even though the white men in charge of the laborers did not know the possible cause of the fire, they continued with their mistreatment to the nigger as without any sense of mercy.

Kurtz is displayed as an immoral creature who is feared by all sorts of people around the company and seen as the god of his community. He misuses the energy of the Africans by using them for his selfish gains (Stronach p.759-760). What exactly does Conrad mean when he explains how the 'niggers' as he calls them as instruments of slavery as they are used by Kurtz to fetch ivory? Various statements on Africans that are accompanied by harsh rule by Kurtz and mistreats that are connected to race and color show that indeed Africans are subjected to torture. The way Kurtz misuses the blacks show that he takes himself as a God in the midst of the native Africans. Conrads description of African workforce is so suggesting (Paris p.11). For instance, he describes the workmen using the following undermining words, Strings of dusty niggers with bare feet arrived and departed; a stream of manufactured goods, rubbished cotton, beads, and brass-wire set into depths of darkness, (Conrad et al., p.27). The above description shows that the African men were taken as instruments used to performing unworthy tasks that rendered them dirty outlook. Also, the words with slaying feet indicate that despite being used to generate income for the white, the blacks basic needs were not taken into consideration since they were not offered to work attires like boots (Singh et al., p.1168).

The third blueprint is that Africans are displayed as a race that should submit to any harsh rule of power, yet they are in their own country to sufferings in their own country. The description of the way the nigger was screaming using the term screeching most horrible as a result of being tormented by the white barbaric, show that the white men viewed Africans as a semi-human race who deserved to be led. Also, Conrad undermined the African language when he described the wailing of the African man who was being mistreated by the white people. Conrad described the mans cries for mercy that was in his mother tongue as horrible wailings (Conrad et al., p.36).

The way Conrad's article directed on mistreats on Africans provokes the reader to the extent of coming up with a series of question: Why does Conrad always put Africans in a context of abuses from white men? Conrad describes how an African lamented on the way he had been mistreated, beaten and ridiculed by the white man, what a row the brute makes? (Conrad et al., p.40). Also, he reinforces the statement with the term indefatigable man to show that Africans were not considered to be as the white and were not given time to rest were treated as tireless beings.

The story in the Heart of Darkness revolves around barbaric and brutal imperialistic rule of the whites of the weak African people in Congo while pretending to civilize them during the colonial era. Conrad revolves around harsh attacks on the African people while making them view themselves as incomplete as compared to the European rulers. According to an internet source by Paris et al. (p.1), the European rule seems inhuman and unsympathetic on the natives of Congo since Conrad stated in his writings the words like indefatigable niggers showing that the rulers did not show any human acts on the residents. It also shows that the Whites viewed the natives to since they depicted that they were incapacitated, and they could not define their destiny without the White (Singh et al., 1169). The blacks were incredibly exploited without any appreciation of their toil, but instead, they are forced to work past their limit under the pressure and whippings.

In conclusion, Heart of Darkness depicts more about racism, imperialism and mistreats on Africans. For instance, the article has pointed out several aspects of mistreats, abuses, harsh rule of power, use of slang words and other acts of taking advantage of Africans. All the undertakings of the Whites were basically to overrule Africans and to do all sorts of mischiefs to undermine their well-being. All the aspects discussed in this article display that Heart of Darkness is a picture of the miseries that Africans passed through while fighting for their stake in the society and for winning independence and civilization. This excerpt, therefore, shows the relevance of people who are concerned in reading and analyzing written books to maintain the aspect of pointing out themes relevant to an art of work.

Works cited

Conrad, Joseph, and Leonard F. Dean. Heart of Darkness: Backgrounds and Criticisms. Englewood Cliffs, N.J: Prentice-Hall, 2016. Print: 1-43

Conrad, Joseph, and Paul B. Armstrong. Heart of Darkness: Authoritative Text, Backgrounds and Contexts, Criticism. , 2017. Print: 11-44.

Conrad, Joseph. Heart of Darkness. Oldcastle Books, 2015. Retrieved on Wednesday 31st May 31, 2017, at 2300 hours.

Paris, Bernard. Conrads Charlie Marlow: A New Approach to Heart of Darkness and Lord Jim. Springer, 2006: 11

Stadel, Joachim, et al. "Quantifying the heart of darkness with GHALOa multibillion particle simulation of a galactic halo." Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters 398.1 (2009): L21-L25.

Singh, Satpal, and Imtiaz. The Cultural Dominance of West in Aravind Adigas The White Tiger. The Dawn Journal. 4.2[2015]: 1161-62, 1169. Retrieved on Wednesday 31st May 31, 2017, at 0034 hours.

Stronach, Ian. "Enlightenment and the heart of darkness:(neo) imperialism in the Congo, and elsewhere." International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education 19.6 (2006): 757-768.