Literature | Criticism

This literature criticism consists of approximately 15 pages of analysis & critique of Literature.

Literature | Criticism

This literature criticism consists of approximately 15 pages of analysis & critique of Literature.
This section contains 4,216 words
(approx. 15 pages at 300 words per page)
Buy the Critical Essay by Chinua Achebe

SOURCE: Achebe, Chinua. “Conrad's Racism.” In Readings on “Heart on Darkness,” edited by Clarice Swisher, pp. 184-94. San Diego, Calif.: Greenhaven Press, Inc., 1999.

In the following excerpt from an essay originally published in 1977, Achebe argues that in Heart of Darkness Conrad characterizes Africans in a way that dehumanizes them and sets up a contrast between civilized England and uncivilized Africa.

Heart of Darkness projects the image of Africa as “the other world,” the antithesis of Europe and therefore of civilization, a place where a man's vaunted intelligence and refinement are finally mocked by triumphant bestiality. The 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 takes place on the River Congo, the very antithesis of the Thames. The River Congo is quite decidedly not a River...

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This section contains 4,216 words
(approx. 15 pages at 300 words per page)
Buy the Critical Essay by Chinua Achebe
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Critical Essay by Chinua Achebe from Gale. ©2005-2006 Thomson Gale, a part of the Thomson Corporation. All rights reserved.