LITR / CRCL 5734: Colonial & Postcolonial Literature

Student Text-Dialogue Presentation, 2003

leader: Greg Johnson
respondent: Kim Herrera
recorder: Kirby Johnson

02 June 2003

Dialogue between Heart of Darkness and Things Fall Apart

The presentation began with a reading of the scene from Heart of Darkness where Marlow discovers Kurtz’s pamphlet, the International Society for the Suppression of Savage Customs. It was emphasized here that Conrad shows Marlow’s quick engrossment, his ability to become “swept up” by Kurtz’ rationalizations and justifications for European exploitation of Africa and Africans.  Kurtz surmises that whites “must necessarily appear to them [savages] in the nature of supernatural beings—we approach them with the might as of a deity.”  But, as far as further insight into Kurtz’ heart and mind, Conrad gives us vague terminology, such as “so on and so on” and “etc., etc.”  The leader suggested that Conrad’s vagueness here implies that each European “conqueror” had his own dark reasons for participating in the brutality that accompanied colonization. 

A contrasting scene occurs in Achebe’s Things Fall Apart, where Ajofia tells Mr. Smith that the Ibo believes the white man “is foolish because he does not understand our ways, and perhaps he says we are foolish because we do not know his.  Let him go away.”  So, by way of these two scenes, we see that the African assessment of the Europeans runs directly counter to how the Europeans’ imagined themselves to be perceived through African eyes.  Perhaps this was the original miscommunication, and if so, how much did this type of misperceptions and miscommunications contribute to Africa’s colonization? Conrad gives the African a voice only twice in his book.  And while Achebe has the narrator tells us that the Ibo interpreter translated “wisely” when speaking to the whites, he shows us that the same interpreter flowered and softened Mr. Smith’s messages when translating to the Ibo. This foreshadowing supports the great surprise heaped upon the men of Umuofia, when the District Commissioner—who stopped Ekwueme at the beginning his story—had them seized and handcuffed.  They were duped—the white man had extended an invitation to hold discussions when, essentially, he had no interest in hearing the Africans’ story.  He simply wanted to imprison the Africans, who went there obligingly and sincerely, but totally unaware. Obviously, some degree of miscommunication had occurred.   Expand this scene again and again, and what you have is colonization. 

The respondent then reminded us that the W. B. Yeats’ poem entitled “The Second Coming,” from which the title of Things Fall Apart was taken, states that “the falcon could not hear the falconer” and thus “things fall apart.”  She went on to say that Achebe’s hybridization is itself a result of change, the (second) coming together of two opposing (“other”) demographics. As for Kurtz, the weight of conflict between his ambitions and the means to attaining them proved too heavy to bear. He saw the light but could not bring himself to give in to it. In spite of his enlightenment, and degraded health, he still harbored images of wealth and fame. Still, he could not live with it. So he died with it.  Yet, Kurtz wanted his pamphlet to live on, though, like Marlow, we can only wonder whether or not Kurtz had really forgotten that valuable postscript: “Exterminate all the brutes!”

In summary, it can be argued that both Conrad and Achebe used parallel methods for their characters when showing what the Europeans and Africans felt in their hearts.  Both authors did not allow their characters to speak their truest feelings to the adversary directly. Conrad had Marlow read Kurtz’ assessment from the pages of the pamphlet; while Achebe had Ajofia masked as a spirit (egwugwu), and using an interpreter (and something is always lost in translations), while delivering the Africans’ definitive assessment of the white man to Mr. Smith. So you could argue that the most important moments of communication between the Europeans and the Africans were transacted through a “third medium.”  Did each misunderstand the other?  Would the umbrella of colonization have cast a different shade if more accurate communications had taken place? The general consensus was that what actually happened was most probably inevitable. After Christianity infiltrated Africa, capitalization was bound to follow.  And the quickest way for the Europeans to capitalize from Africa’s resources was to dominate the Africans, and by any means necessary. Conrad and Achebe are suggesting that mankind—being greedy, and even while acting in what can be painted as a rational mind—is vulnerable to the eloquence of ideas, no matter how asinine or ridiculous.  And it is only within the dark and hidden chambers of the heart that we know and realize our own truths.