The Racism of Marlow

The author of Heart of Darkness makes it clear that the protagonist, Marlow, is blatantly racist. Marlow describes very few Africans as actual human beings; he often resorts to calling them black figures, and black things. Conrad even goes so far in making Marlow say:

“The earth seemed unearthly. We are accustomed to look upon the shackled form of a conquered monster, but there—there you could look at a thing monstrous and free. It was unearthly, and the men were—No, they were not inhuman. Well, you know, that was the worst of it—this suspicion of their not being inhuman. It would come slowly to one. They howled and leaped, and spun, and made horrid faces; but what thrilled you was just the thought of their humanity—like yours—the thought of your remote kinship with this wild and passionate uproar. Ugly" (105)

Marlow does not hide his racism. While he may be much more sympathetic towards the Africans and the evils of European Imperialism, he cannot hide the racism in which he inherits from the central dogma of the time, and the elitist European view. While Marlow is so easily described as a racist, it is much more complex in judging the beliefs of Joseph Conrad. Conrad hides behind many narrators in his telling of the story. The racism portrayed in the book is not necessarily attributed to Conrad himself. In the passage above, Conrad is almost hyperbolic in describing Marlow's views of the black men. The utter disgust Marlow feels in being related to the Africans is very exaggerated. While one may see this as Conrad channeling his own innate racism through a character, one could also describe it as satire. His overly embellished description of Marlow's racism is but a tool to exemplify the evils and miss-judgement of Imperialism. While many see Marlow as a reflection of Conrad, Marlow may just be a tool used by Conrad to better enhance his anti-imperialistic message.