Achebe's Interpretation

Chinua Achebe believes that it is ridiculous for Hart of Darkness to be considered acceptable reading material. From the examples he provides Conrad's description of Africa and Africans is racist, socially regressive, and inhumane. Achebe points out how the Africans are seen as props not people; more specifically as props for European culture and civilization. He starts his article by talking about how he spoke with someone who "never really thought of Africa as having things like history or literature". This is the arrogant assumption that only what is important in the Western world matters; that Western scholarly elites must approve culture for it to be considered legitimate. Obviously, every place that has existed since people have existed has a history and a culture, regardless if Western society considers it a civilized place. Achebe suggest that Hart of Darkness only contributes to the false perception of Africa being a horrific place with scary savages who are not fully human from one European man's twisted views. He also mentions how the Africans described as either make undeveloped noises as a form of speech or are only seen as performing demonic rituals; this is very convenient for Conrad to limit human communication and represent Africans as evil devil summoners because it makes it easier for others to see Africans as less than human. Similar to Apocalypse Now, except set in Vietnam the Western world comes to educate what they consider to be uncivilized people.The only people we get a close look at are not Vietnamese, but Cambodian dressed in "savage clothing" of leaves with arrows and spears; they also do not speak a word. In this particular uncivilized place the spread of Communism was against the Western world's approval of how an economic system should be set up, hence the arrive of so-called Western  saviors.