CONRAD AND RACISM

"It was Unearthly, and the men were--- No, they were not inhuman. Well, you know,

that was the worst of it---this suspicion of their not being inhuman." (p. 59)

-Marlow from Heart of Darkness (Conrad, 1981)
 
 

Racism is clearly portrayed throughout the novella and movie in several different ways.

For example, the influential white males are far from color blind in that random shooting

takes place in both the book and the movie merely for the sake of killing the natives of

each country respectively. The native's lifestyles are dramatically changed when their land

is dominated by the overpowering white men. The whites expected the natives to follow

and comply with their demands once the natives homelands were invaded, because the

whites considered themselves civilized and thought of the natives as savages. Color of

skin is used by the whites to rationalize their actions towards the natives.