Picture Perfect

I am thoroughly happy to have completed this story and now be able to view it in its entirety. I have to say, this last portion was by far my favorite. It really brought together everything we have been studying and talking about in class in regards to colonization and its effects on the cultures that are imposed with an outsiders view and lifestyle. While reading this novella leading up to this section, I kept wondering when we were ever going to encounter the white man’s aggressions towards this tribe. As unfortunate as the events that occur were to the people of the Umuofia, it was a fantastic portrayal of the destructive effect that may take place when one culture imposes its lifestyle and beliefs on a people group of a different culture. And this is what I believe led Okonkwo to take his life, is the path to complete destruction of the traditions of their culture. He clearly found his identity in maintaining and fulfilling these traditions, so as he watched them slip away from the society of his homeland, he in turn saw and felt the imminent demise of himself. He no longer fit into the new society that was being built up around him in his own home. I have to say, I loved the last paragraph where the District Commissioner portrays the ignorance of the white man in what he has done through the process of colonization. As he reduces Okonkwo’s long and tumultuous life to a paragraph in a book, we are shown a clear picture of the differences of the “other”. That D.C. would never understand the passion of Okonkwo’s life because he is so far removed from his society, and that ignorance, though completely natural, keeps their worlds from ever finding true understanding. Most people hated what that last line did to the big picture, but I saw it as the perfect way to end what was blatantly a book about the irreconcilable differences of two cultures, especially when one culture is there to conquer the other.

Why not know more…

Heart of Darkness has clearly been a highly controversial piece, however, as an accurate portrayal of a part of history that has been suppressed and glossed over, by European society, and the “other”, I think it is a highly educational novella for anyone to read. Clearly, we must take with a sense of objectivity the harsh and violent language Joseph Conrad uses, especially where it is aimed at the African natives. But this harsh language alone is no reason to avoid a book such as this. When reading literature from a different time, there always must be openness to the fact that the cultural norm the author is coming from is not always going to fit into the comfortable bubble we currently live in. This is part of what makes up studying history, and perspectives of those that came before us.
I fully agree with Miller when he explains how we should read Heart of Darkness, “as a powerful exemplary revelation of the ideology of capitalist imperialism, including its racism and sexism,” (HoD 474). It should be clear that we communicate internationally on a basis of sharing one culture with another, we will never be the same culture and we will all never fully acclimate to the perspectives of foreign societies. Therefore, we have literature and communication one person to another to imply these cultural differences. It is not for the reason of colonizing one another, but to objectively but openly view another society through the eyes of a stranger. Meanwhile always attempting to view the world through the eyes of the author, this is essentially why literature such as Heart of Darkness is created. To give eyes into the world that some will never gain on their own.

Some still compare

Francis Galton wrote "The Comparative Worth of Different Races", in which he tries to convince us that we cannot compare one race to another. He argues that since we come from different social constructs and different cultures, the difference of our classes are not directly comparable, "the ability of class A of one race be equal to the ability of class C in another," (HoD 225). Galton therefore determines that we must still compare each race to one another, even if the system of comparison is not perfect. He regards that this breakdown of one race to another, is reason enough to raise the standard of expectation amongst these races to become equal with the highest race. "It seems to me more essential to the well-being of future generations, that the average standard of ability of the present time should be raised," (HoD 228). Given his perspective on each race maintaining an unequal level of existence, he informs us that the process of colonization proves to either destroy or reform a race and their culture. The affects of such an endeavor are seen in the Heart of Darkness in the way that Kurtz dominates the African jungle with his heavy handed control on every aspect of the natives’ lives and even existence. The natives are beaten and chained and forced into manual labor to the point of physical exhaustion and even death. This abuse, coming from a man of higher class according to Galton, is exploited in order to find his riches and therein gain even more control. Galton seems to believe that this sort of colonization can raise the level of a races social worth to a higher standard. However, Kurtz only brings destruction and demoralization to the African natives. This is hardly a productive effort of social transformation.