Heart of Darkness/things Fall Apart

Conrad’s “Heart of Darkness” and Achebe’s “Things Fall Apart” share many similarities and differences. One similarity is the way that Europeans treat the Africans as inhuman. Another similarity is how in despair the Africans resort to death to deal with what Western culture has brought to them. A difference in the books is that in “Heart of Darkness” the Europeans were already settled into Africa while in “Things Fall Apart” the Europeans don’t settle until later. Another difference is that women aren’t talked about as having much of a role in “Heart of Darkness” as compared to “Things Fall Apart”.

Both books share the idea that Europeans treat Africans as inhuman and inferior. In “Heart of Darkness,” it is stated, “They would have been even more impressive, those heads on the stakes, if their faces had not been turned to the house” (Conrad 57). The Europeans had the heads of the Africans on poles, showing how they treated Africans as their own little play toys. The Africans didn’t get a burial but instead are shown off as inhuman and detached from the rest of their body. Also in “Heart of Darkness,” Kurtz’s pamphlet reads, “Suppression of Savage Customs” (Conrad 71). They are referring to the African customs or ideals as being primitive and inhuman. Kurtz’s pamphlet here is revealing how the Europeans need to get rid of African customs and bring in their ideals. The Africans are barbaric and need to be taught a new way of life. Similarly, in “Things Fall Apart,” the District Commissioner reveals that he is going to write a book. The title of it says, “The Pacification of the Primitive Tribes of the Lower Niger” (Achebe p.148). Here the Commissioner is going to write a book on how the Europeans submissed and removed the primitive tribes of Africa. This shows how unremorseful Europeans are. They didn’t care for or try and understand the African customs. They saw through their mindsets of western culture that the Africans are these inferior, primitive people who have to follow the western ways because the Europeans are better and more superior.

Similarly in both books, the Africans in despair result to death to deal with Western culture taking over their way of life and culture. In Conrad’s book it says, “The work! And this was the place where some of the helpers had withdrawn to die” (p. 20). This quote is showing that the Africans who out of despair and sadness over how they were being treated and abused by the Europeans resorted to crawling up and dying by a tree. It reveals that they would rather go off and die rather than remain slaves to the Europeans. The Africans have realized that their customs are well gone and this is their future. This leaves them with a sense of worthlessness. In Achebe’s book the same idea is shown in the line, “They came to the tree from which Okonkwo’s body was dangling, and they stopped dead” (p.147). Okonkwo was in despair just like the Africans in “Heart of Darkness”. He realized that all the customs that he had grown to cherish and obey were being destroyed by the Europeans. They were coming in and teaching them their ways and Okonkwo couldn’t handle the thought of everything he had worked so hard to attain to be gone. All that he was as a person was through the traditions and customs that he had known. Perhaps now that the Europeans came and destroyed his way of life, he had nothing left. His social status didn’t matter anymore in the community. He was in despair and his only choices were death or follow the western way.

The two books can be contrasted in that the entire “Heart of Darkness” book was written with the Western Civilization already settled into Africa. On the other hand, “Things Fall Apart,” the majority of the book is dealt with the life of the Africans and their customs. It is not until late in the book that the Europeans finally settle their customs and ideas into Africa. The conclusion that can be made by this difference is that the audience in Achebe’s book can see how the Africans way of life was before the Westerners came in. In Conrad’s book, the audience did not get a feel for the Africans emotions. In “Things Fall Apart,” it says “Ikemefuna came to Umuofia at the end of the carefree season between harvest and planting” (p.21). The importance of this line has not to do with Ikemefuna but the idea of harvest and planting. The Africans in this book are shown as humans tying to be civilized and follow a structure of organization in prospering their land. They plant and make a way of living. So when the Europeans come and bring in their thoughts and ideas, the audience has a sympathetic view and understanding of why the Africans are less apt at really welcoming the Europeans. In “Heart of Darkness” though, the audience don’t get a feel of sympathy as much for the Africans because