Conrad's Racism

      Reading Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad has brought up many speculations over the true reality of racism and what it represents to me personally. Part 1 of the novel only comes close to introducing the true idea over such a matter and leaves a certain ambiguity over what Marlow, our main character, thinks of this issue.

    I've never really seen myself as a person confronted by hatred towards others based on their color, race or religion. It's not only unethical but it brings strong confrontations with my morals and values learned at home. Then again, the novel is set in a different context with a different set of ideals in a very different reality which end up making me question whether negative thoughts over racism are something connected to our post-modern world or where they always present in society. It's very interesting to see how Conrad extracts Marlow from this issue and really leaves it up to us to decipher whether or not there's irony in his words or whether he's just another believer of the empire. 

      The early 1900's were flooded with a steady stream of oppression and repression in the european colonies of Africa. A few decades earlier they'd cut out a map of Africa in the Berlin Conference changing the history of the continent forever, leaving the people under cruel regimes looking only for raw materials and an exploitable work force. This makes the concept of racism really obscure at the time the book was written. It was the reality known to the world. As I continue the novel maybe Conrad's standpoint will be clear on this issue but for now it'll remain in the darkness.