How did the critical response to show changes over the year
Answers
Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness is considered one of the great works of English
literature. The early responses to the novella praised the novella and called it one of the
events of the literary year. However, this changed in 1977 when Chinua Achebe
criticized the novella for being racist. As a response to Achebe's critique, Edward Said
defended Conrad in 1993. In this essay I will argue that each critique is highly influenced
by the time-period in which it was written. I will also explain how they have been
influenced and from what standpoints they have entered into the debate on Conrad.
Finally, I will also show how the discussion has changed over time.
Before beginning to explore the critical responses to the text, it might be a
good idea to start with a short summary. Heart of Darkness deals with Marlow's
expedition on board a steamboat into the African jungle in search of an ivory-trader
named Mr Kurtz. His mission is to find and bring him back to civilisation. However, Mr
Kurtz does not want to leave and actually orders an attack on the steamboat when they
get close to his station. Mr. Kurtz is worshipped by the Africans and he exploits this.
Marlow does however manage to bring Mr. Kurtz aboard the steamboat. On the way back
to England, Mr Kurtz dies, his last words are “the horror, the horror” (Conrad 69) and
Marlow returns to England without him. In England, Marlow visits Mr. Kurtz' intended
and gives her Kurtz old letters. She remembers what a great man Mr. Kurtz was and how
much she loved him. She also wants to know what his last words were, to which Marlow