Racism In Heart Of Darkness Analysis

Chains Of Racism
Racism is something you learn, not something you born with. Through the time, many writers have implemented their books with the racism that the mankind has seen along it’s history. Joseph Conrad implements a heavy sense of racism in his masterpiece, Heart of Darkness, through the use of symbolism, setting and various other literary devices.
“Things are not always as they seem; the first appearance deceives many”(Plato). The symbolism plays a vital role in the development of the racism, the colors white and black, or the words light and dark are the main columns of symbolism in Heart of Darkness. “Conrad introduces the significance of "light/dark" and "white/black" indicating that "light/white" and "dark/black" are symbols

However, even when Conrad through the use of his protagonist Marlow, that through commentaries like “The conquest of the earth, which mostly means the taking it away from those who have different complexion or slightly flatter noses than ourselves, is not a pretty thing when you look into it too much” tries to show a position against the racism, the truth is that he does not really establishes any real opposition against the racism, if not that he suggests to turn around from the reality and keep it going.
As noted above, even when many people argue that Heart of Darkness is not a book filled with racism, the evidences are just devastating, the series of events that are presented through the story clearly demonstrate the inhuman racism executed by the protagonist and many other people, even the journals that try to avoid the reality of the book end admitting the conclusion that there “is indeed substantial and demonstrable evidence of racism in the novella.”(Source Ramogale), racism that is successfully implemented through the use of intense symbolism and a dark perspective of a