The analysis focuses on the representation idea of “Things Fall Apart” by Chinua Achebe and “The Heart of Darkness” by Joseph Conrad. Various writers use literary and political representation strategies to convey their message to the audience. Literature works directly critique an existing society or portray an alternative, bizarre reality and works of political fiction. Multiple genres intersect with the political novel, including the social novel, the proletariat novel, and social science fiction. Language is used as a tool for literary depiction. Understanding the source material’s connection and representation is crucial to the symbolic process. Therefore, representation analysis generates an understanding of the authors’ intentions and message. Addressing a specific issue of emerging Africa, during the colonial period, white missionaries and the colonial government invaded tribal Igbo society. It follows the protagonist, Okonkwo, who falls apart from the community in the same framework replete with Igbo proverbs. The novel received high marks for its nuanced and realistic portrayal of tribal beliefs and the psychological and societal breakdown that co-occurs. Okonkwo, an Igbo figure, is used by Achebe to symbolize the animosity between Africa and Europe (Kenalemang 12). This man holds a high social status in Umuofia, but his strength and aggressive nature put him on the verge of becoming a threat.
In Heart of Darkness, the author takes a critical look at the atrocities of Western colonialism, painting a picture of the scenario that stains the countries and peoples it abuses and westerners. Although the novel has faced much criticism, its semiautobiographical narrative of Conrad is among the most discussed English literature works (Geeti 13). Hence, Heart of Darkness is largely regarded as a modernist masterpiece that tackles postcolonial issues head-on.
Postcolonialism is the antithesis of colonialism, involving writing techniques that emerged as a response to colonialism. Things Fall Apart’s author is an African who saw firsthand the negative consequences of colonialism on his culture; in it, Achebe essentially rebuts the writings of European authors who have misrepresented Africa (Kenalemang 12). The culture of the colonizer is imposed on the colonized, whether they like it or not. Post-colonial authors frequently lament the destruction of their thriving indigenous cultures at the hands of imperialists.
Conrad’s use of language—his concentration on words’ intrinsic inadequacy to describe the real, in all its horrible truth—involves the modernist aspects of his writing. Along his travels, Marlow comes across many unspeakable phenomena, uninterpretable words, and a mysterious environment. Thus, language consistently fails to accomplish its primary purpose: facilitating communication (Hasan, Ahmed, and Muhammad 39). Hence, the experience that constitutes the actuality, significance, and profound essence of any particular period of one’s life is a daunting task.
Achebe used a method other than Igbo proverbs, idioms, and tales to bolster the postcolonial aspects of his discourse. At specific points in the novel, Achebe uses a succession of Igbo terms only hinted at in the English text. In other places, clear English referents are utilized to allude to Igbo allusions through a semantic transition or translation (Salami 24). He was motivated by something other than what was initially apparent. Most of the italicized transliterated terms have to do with cultural, religious, or social particulars of the Umuofia people and thus may be seen as linguistic strategies chosen by the author to achieve a degree of localization with a basis on a foreign language. However, reducing Heart of Darkness only to parallels with Conrad’s life would be an injustice to the novel. Considerations such as Conrad’s use of many narrators, his couching of one narrative within another, the story’s achronological unfolding, and his nearly post-structuralist skepticism in the stability of language are crucial when evaluating the novel’s contribution to the growth of modernism (Hasan, Ahmed, and Muhammad 39). Heart of Darkness, in that regard, is a transitional work between the declining Victorian sensibility and the rising Modernist one.
Heart of Darkness is the subject of Achebe’s criticism. The short story by Joseph Conrad is set in Africa during the imperialist movement. It is insulting to Achebe that the narrative negatively depicts African culture and customs. Things Fall Apart, Achebe’s novel on the imperialist drive in Africa, was released before the essay. The narrative delves into Africans’ thoughts before and after the imperialist movement. The White Man’s rule over African countries is a central theme in both works (Geeti 13). While one is a recounting of events, the other is a critical examination of another writer’s take on those events. Things Fall Apart, by Chinua Achebe, has been argued to be used to address and criticize the problems of Heart of Darkness. Achebe makes some good points in his work, Things Fall Apart, and I think his arguments in An Image of Africa are sound.
Some can argue that Achebe does not incorporate the ideas given in An Image of Africa into his work. Achebe claims that Heart of Darkness shares some of Conrad’s racist ideas with his novel Things Fall Apart. One argument he offers is that Africa is misrepresented in Conrad’s writing. It may be argued that Things Fall Apart gives us a short glimpse of European culture to draw firm conclusions about the continent (Salami 24). They regard them as barbarians who infiltrate a civilized society and use religion to gain power and control.
In conclusion, Things Fall Apart is for the reader’s eyes only. Postcolonial analyses of Heart of Darkness have given place to increasingly dismissive criticisms. In Achebe’s words, Conrad was thoroughgoing racist, dehumanizing Africans to be foils for examining the European psyche. Achebe is correct in his assessment that despite Conrad’s condemnation of colonialism, the author undermines the racism at the system’s foundation by treating Africa’s indigenous people as expendable props. Hence, the literature is the best in the West but fails to attribute any unique characteristics to the African people.
Works Cited
Kenalemang, Lame Maatla. “Things fall apart: an analysis of pre and post-colonial Igbo society.” (2013).
Salami, Ali, and Bamshad Hekmat Shoar. “Things fall apart and Chinua Achebe’s postcolonial discourse.” International Journal on Studies in English Language and Literature 6 (2018).
Conrad, Joseph. Heart of Darkness. 1999. Ontario: Broadview Press, 2002.
Achebe, Chinua. Things Fall Apart. 1959. New York: Anchor Books, 1994.
Hasan, Mariwan, Lona Ahmed, and Roman Muhammad. “Imperialism, Colonialism, and Racism in Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness: A Postcolonial Approach.” Acuity: Journal of English Language Pedagogy, Literature and Culture 6.1 (2021): 36-50.