Paper:African Literature,Comparative study of "Things Fall Apart"and"Heart of Darkness"

                              Comparative study of  

           “Thing Fall apart” and     “Heart of Darkness”

                                  Submitted To

                           Department Of English,

  Maharaja Krishnkumarsinhji,Bhavanagar University.

Introduction:

The literature helps to shape the perspective of person about the world. It helps more when person reads something which is unknown to him. In the well known book “Heart of Darkness” by Joseph Conrad, an image of a not so well known place (Africa) is depicted. Some would say that Conrad’s novel does much harm to the perspective of Africa. In an attempt to give a different perspective of Africa to the rest of the world, Achebe and similar African writers have struggled through and published well known literatures throughout the world. With the goal to not only give some realism to the truths of Africa portrayed in western literature, but to write back to those blind truths such as those seen in Conrad’s s"Heart Of Darknes". In both the novel African society and culture has been described but in different way. here writer’s intention does matter that from whose perspective write has written the novel, as the perspective changes the whole image of novel gets changed.

Things Fall Apart and Heart of Darkness shows how differently two cultures can perceive greed, corruption, and power. The authors experience two complete different views due to their particular scenario. Conrad, the author of Heart of Darkness, focuses on the European side of the African story and the way he experienced slavery. Achebe, writer of Things Fall Apart, describes the simple, modern life of the African’s while comparing it to the unreasonable Europeans. 

In “Heart of darkness” Africa is portrayed as an underdeveloped and primitive place. It also suggests that Africa’s native people are also underdeveloped and primitive. This narrative makes the reader to think that Africa itself is unknown and primitive that is why African people are also underdeveloped and primitive. While in, “Things fall apart” Achebe has portrayed the different Africa. This novel has discredited the idea of Heart of Darkness by showing the image of Africa before colonialism came into existance.Achabe claims that the image of Africa which is portrayed in Heart of Darkness is not because of African people’s lack of awareness and knowledge but it’s a result of colonialism. In the article “Times Literary Supplement”, Achebe attacks on Conrad for being as racist,

“The Heart of Darkness” by Conrad, which is regarded as master piece. I have no doubt that the reason  for high  rating of this novel in Europe and America is simply that there is fortifies fear and prejudice and is clever enough to protect itself, should the need arise, with the excuse this not real Africa at all. Yet it sets in Africa and teems with African whose humanity is admitted in theory but totally undermined by the mindlessness of its context and pretty explicit animal imagery surrounding it. In the entire novel Conrad allows two sentences in broken English to African: The Cannibal who says, “Catch ‘im, Eat im” and the half caste who announces “"Mista Kurtz—he dead."

The story of Chinua Achebe’s “Things fall apart” takes place in the Africa during the time of colonialism. In this novel we follow the life of one man, Okonkwo and his experience of colonization of Africa. Though most of the novel is focused on Okonkwo, the narrator generally provides insight into the thoughts of most characters. There are times when the narration is focused around different characters – namely Ikemefuna, Nwoye, Obierika, and Ekwefi. The multiplicity of voices allows the reader to see different characters through a variety of lenses. Access to the internal thoughts of a variety of characters also gives dimensionality to the Igbo people as a whole – Achebe never lets the reader assume that the Igbo people are homogenous and could be summed up in one single character. On the other hand, “The heart of Darkness” by Joseph Conrad, follows the life of White man and his journey in Africa. One thing that is very interesting in this story is the narrator. The story is told through one of four people who sit and listen to Marlow, who is narrating the whole story. Sometimes this can be really confusing. Deeper into the story we follow Marlow’s journey to find Kurtz.

In the “Heart of Darkness” the awful presentations of the Africans are based on Conrad’s lack of knowledge. The Africans in the story do not have any names and they do not even participate in real conversations. Conrad’s descriptions of them are animalistic. They appear only sporadically in the text. It is rare to see an African in a longer part of the story. This means that we are not introduced to the African point of view of the actions taking place. We only get to take part of the “white” side of the story. While In “Things Fall apart” African culture and people is portrayed from Achebe’s perspective. One may think that these Africans are savages, but actually they had many great abilities. The art of conversation and the use of proverbs are regarded very highly by this tribe. We also read about their clothing and food customs. Another thing that is good with part one and the description of the tribe is that Achebe is realistic. He does not try to make the Ibo-tribe look good, instead he shows us their good and bad sides. Here, Conrad without knowing the real African culture represent it with prejudice and shows African more animalistic while Achebe as the native has leaved in Africa and has better understanding of African culture and tradition. He presents the real image of Africa without any prejudice.

European prejudice against Africans is clearly present in Heart of Darkness. In traveling through Africa, the protagonist, Marlow, describes all the natives he encounters as savages, comparing them to animals or the wilderness of the jungle itself. In one instance, Marlow discovers a death pit literally an open grove where natives go to die. He describes the men there saying,

Black shapes crouched, lay, sat between the trees, leaning against the trunks, clinging to the earth in all attitudes of pain, abandonment, and despair they were nothing earthly now, nothing but black shadows of disease and starvation One of these creatures rose to his hands and knees and went off on all fours towards the river to drink.

Furthermore, the way in which the man crawls on hands and knees to the river to drink is animal-like and degrading. To Marlow, not only are the Africans indiscernible from each other they are also all inhuman. The man crawls on the ground like an animal walking on all fours to drink from a river, whereas a European would never drink from anything but a well or a tap. Marlow also compares the natives to animals in describing one of the workers on the ship. He says that "to look at him was as edifying as seeing a dog in a parody of breeches and a feather hat walking on his hind legs”. This man demonstrates that the savages might be tamed because, "He ought to have been clapping his hands and stamping his feet on the bank" .Yet he has been domesticated in the way one would train a dog to do a trick. According to Marlow, despite this native's knowledge, he is still an animal pretending to be civilized. Marlow assumes that the worker is the same as the other natives: he is too crude to be truly sophisticated like a European. Marlow continually generalizes the barbarian nature of the natives to describe one individual in a way consistent with his preconceived beliefs the very definition of a stereotype.

In response to the European's stereotypical depiction of Africans, Chinua Achebe wrote Things Fall Apart, which portrays Africans in a structured and civilized society. Although the clan defies the European stereotype, the protagonist, Okonkwo, does not confirming the European beliefs more than contradicting them. While Igbo culture reveres strength and masculinity, Okonkwo's behavior is hyper masculine, typically manifesting itself through violence (Iyasere 378). Okonkwo is described as "a man of action, a man of war" (Achebe, Things 8), and while his achievements are honored, his violent nature is extreme. Also, Okonkwo is entirely inflexible. He believes that "one is either a man or a woman: there can be no compromise, no composite”. Combining this obsession with masculinity and the inability to be both masculine and feminine creates a character that fears anything feminine:

His whole life was dominated by fear, the fear of failure and of weakness It was the fear of himself, lest he should be found to resemble his father. Even as a little boy, he resented his father's failure and weakness and so Okonkwo was ruled by one passion to hate everything that his father Unoka had loved. One of those things was gentleness and another was idleness.

So, Heart of Darkness illustrates the European notions that all Africans are the same: savage, primitive, and inhuman. To contrast this stereotype, Chinua Achebe wrote Things Fall Apart, showing a civilized and structured African society. Unfortunately, the protagonist of Things Fall Apart was not an accurate representation of a civilized African. Yet, since he was a prominent member of society, rather than destroy the stereotype, his violent behavior and unwillingness to yield merely strengthens the European's beliefs about the natives.

Both books are representing African Culture as well as European culture, but writer’s treatment towards Representation of culture is different. The Ibo and European people in Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe have two distinct cultures that begin to blend when the white men come as missionaries and try to communicate and live together with the Africans. European culture also differs from native culture on the Congo Rivers in Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness. Only one man, Kurtz, really connects with the natives and then is taken away dying by his fellow Europeans.

In both of these novels, specific places represent evil things in different cultures. Europeans treat a church as holy ground but to the Ibo culture who didn't know Jesus, it was just a building raised by the white invaders who settled among them. Europeans found the Congo River and a town on its banks and it was thought of as evil because they hadn't experienced living there or vines covering them as they traveled along the river added to their thinking of an evil atmosphere. 

A culture also defines the place of women in society and the treatment they receive from members within the society. In “Things fall apart” Ibo culture regarded women as gentle, weak and obedient to their men. Some women had the status of a priestess and were therefore respected and treated as a deity instead of a common woman. The woman's job was in the house taking care of the children, preparing the meals, and raising easy crops. The men do the brave things such as fighting, hunting, and raising difficult crops, so, women in Things Fall Apart are insulted and oppressed, but their contribution to farm and family is at least in places acknowledged. While Women in “Heart of Darkness”, on the other hand, are isolated and protected; “their role is limited to living in their own world because they might be too weak to face all the obstacles and temptations in the real one. It can be seen in Marlow’s statement,

 “Women…we must help them to stay in that beautiful world of their own, lest ours gets worst” (Heart of Darkness)

Characterization is very important in both novels. In both books we have two very deep characters, Okonkwo and Marlow, whom we get to explore. In Okonkwo’s case it is easy to see what he feels and what he thinks about. He is an easy character to understand.. In Marlow’s case it is much harder because the way Conrad has used the narrator is so confusing, and sometimes it seems as if you do not way Conrad has used the narrator is so confusing, and sometimes it seems as if you do not know who the narrator is. Sometimes you have no idea who is narrating. 

If we read both novel from Colonial and post-colonial perspective than, “Heart of Darkness” is written from the point of view of  Oriental while “Things Fall Apart” is written from the point of view of Occident. Conrad shows the image of Africa from Oriental’s eye, and what they feel about African Culture, He has shown Orientals as superior and in power position, where Black people are shown as inferior, and underdeveloped. While Achebe has shown the real Image of Africa where he has shown real culture of Africa, he has not been prejudice in showing the both side of Africa whether positive or negative. He has shown the African and European culture and customs from African’s perspective, what they feel about European, how they suffer because of them.

 

 Racism is a strong aspect in both the novels, in “Heart of Darkness” this racism is shown very clearly. They use the black people as slaves and the white people stayed together and used racism as a basis to unite, which Achebe’s novel also deals with racism. In his novel it is not as obvious as it is in Conrad’s but the racism is still there. The white people in Things Fall Apart are kind to the black people and offer them salvation while they think of themselves as better than them. The racism of the white people does not have to be directed towards the black people, it is the fact that they believe that they are better than other human beings that shows the racism. So, both books deal with this part in one ways or another.

Conclusion:

If we take a look at the criticism these authors have received we can get a better

View of the comparison. Achebe’s criticism is of course based on anger among other things. But it is a matter of fact that people were treated that way in Africa. Conrad’s descriptions seem very hard at times but the African people did suffer a lot. They were taken as slaves.

By and Large we, reader left disturbed when we read both these novel. But Achebe with his story successfully wins our emotions and sympathy, He has presented the Real picture of Africa, where he shown the Africa of light and Dark. While Conrad shown only Dark Africa. But one of the similarities between their Narrations is that at some extent both became subjective, and presents the African and European from their personal perspective and understanding.