Critical Review - Heart of Darkness and Things Fall Apart

One World, Two Stories Conrad’s â€Å"Heart of Darkness† and Achebe’s â€Å"Things Fall Apart† are two significant and well-known works treating colonialism in Africa. When reading these two stories, one cannot help but realize that though the two authors are making two separate points about two groups, Africans and Europeans, they both have somewhat of the same theme. In Achebe’s â€Å"Things Fall Apart† and Conrad’s â€Å"Heart of Darkness†, the theme seems to be acceptance. Both main characters, Okonkwo and Marlow, change their behaviors based on their surroundings and on what they feel like they need to be or do in order to be accepted in their communities. In Achebe’s â€Å"Things Fall Apart†, the two main characters that I found to be the most relevant in†¦show more content†¦Sadly, even though he expresses a bond or connecting line between the British and the Africans, Marlow goes on to tell his listeners that the bond is not a good one. When the book first began, Conrad made it seem as if Marlow was the good guy in this story. He made it seem like Marlow would be the one to go to Africa and see the beauty of it, and show others a better way to treat the native Africans. Instead, Marlow joins the European group of people in Congo to participate in mistreating the Africans there as well. The second character that I found interesting was Kurtz. At a first glance, Kurtz seems to be like the guy that everyone looks up to. Throughout the story, it becomes clear that he is very manipulative though. Despinte his charisma and the bright light he is viewed in, he uses that to the loss of knowledge of others. That is, Kurtz is a great writer, but instead of using that talent to inform people about the wrong that is happening in Africa, he pads all of his words so that people can not see the true gruesome deeds being done there. Kurtz plays an important role in the conclusion of the story. He dies leaving behind a complicated construct of injustice, corruption, and intrigue. His actions caused nothing good and were more or less intended to degradingly exploit the African natives. To me, â€Å"Heart of Darkness† is filled with an awful lot of greedShow MoreRelatedPostcolonial Literature: Uncovering Western Myths Essay1309 Words   |  6 Pagesof concepts such as deep darkness, mystery, and madness, a place in which attrocities arise at any time of the day, and people are savages and chaotic. From that colonialist viewpoint, Africa was a place that needed help and control urgently in order to save it form itself and civilize it; therefore, white European men felt the need of accomplishing this mission and bring civilization to black men, which only meant to do thing as Europeans did. 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