Ethnocentrism with Whom Resides the Heart of Darkness

Ethnocentrism 1 Ethnocentrism With Whom Resides the Heart of Darkness? Antonio Arevalo James Campbell High School Ethnocentrism 2 Abstract This paper discusses Heart of Darkness, Joseph Conrads most acclaimed novel, and attempts to determine what the heart of darkness that Conrad speaks of is. I found, through my interpretations, that the heart of darkness is the ethnocentrism that Europeans maintained in the age of colonialism. More specifically, this ethnocentrism brought about sweeping ignorance and failed to erect a bridge between the Europeans and the newly discovered African natives in the book. Ethnocentrism 3 Critically lauded as one of the foremost novels of the twentieth century, Heart of Darkness has†¦show more content†¦For instance, Kurtz played the African people, enjoying and encouraging their pagan devotion to him. He simply would not have been able to exploit such people in Europe. The Africans were merely simple people. Ethnocentrism 5 Conrad, though he may seem racist in our postcolonial perspective, had the best intentions, attacking an issue, that, at the time Heart of Darkness was published, was a major hot spot in the world. Slowly but surely, ethnocentrism in Europe is slowly diminishing, fading from the long fatigue of maintaining Africa as the civilized continents foil. Ethnocentrism 6 Works Cited Achebe, Chinua. (1977). An Image of Africa: Racism in Conrads Heart of Darkness Massachusetts Review. Conrad, Joseph. (1990). Heart of Darkness. Dover: Dover Publications. Kenney, Jeff. (n.d.). Exhuming Mistah Kurtz: The Meaning of Heart of Darkness in the Post-Colonial Climate. Culcom.net. Retrieved January 27, 2006, from http://www.culcom.net/~shadow1/conrad_essay.htm Mwikisa, Peter. (2000, April). Conrads image of Africa: Recovering African voices in Heart of Darkness. Mots Pluriels. Retrieved January 27, 2006, from