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I.K: This novel is racist. The language used to describe the natives by the British dehumanized them. They are truly no less than any of the British men just because they have different lifestyles and skin color but were talked about in ways that do show racism.

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I.K: This novel is racist. The language used to describe the natives by the British dehumanized them. They are truly no less than any of the British men just because they have different lifestyles and skin color but were talked about in ways that do show racism.

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Darkness may represent the idea of Africa that the Europeans had created. It could also represent the idea that death and destruction seemed to be lurking behind each man.

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Marlow kind of flowed with the wind as a character and was not really in many positions throughout the book so it does not give readers to separate themselves from him as a character, even though he is technically on the oppressors side of the story, which would usually make most reads want to disassociate with him.

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I.K: Marlow is a character that kind of is swept along with the current of events. He goes in innocently, believing what he is told and gradually sees new sides of both the British and natives causing readers to be unsure about Marlow's exact viewpoint on everything because he is not completely for the imperialism but also not hateful of the wilderness and native people. He is understanding of both which makes him a character we must figure out over time.

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I.K: Marlow is a character that kind of is swept along with the current of events. He goes in innocently, believing what he is told and gradually sees new sides of both the British and natives causing readers to be unsure about Marlow's exact viewpoint on everything because he is not completely for the imperialism but also not hateful of the wilderness and native people. He is understanding of both which makes him a character we must figure out over time.

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I don't think the novella is purposefully racist, but similarly to its view on women, a product of his time. It's not an excuse for the language used, but back then Europeans were very ignorant and judgemental to other cultures and civilizations they didn't understand.

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I think the reader should interpret the issue of female characters in the novella as a product of its time. It's not an excuse for the lack of representation and nuance, but it accurately reflects the stereotypical perspective of an English man in the 19th century.

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This is not necessarily a racist novel, there just happens to be racist things in the novel. However, at the time when this was written, the ideas that one race was better was still evident, so at the time of release, there may not have been any issues with it.

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The story is old from a male's perspective when females weren't very significant in society. In the story the female characters were treated unfairly, but during this time period it was normal to treat women in this way.

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As I mentioned earlier, the book has tendencies to be against colonization by saying Africa is a dangerous place that is hard to navigate.

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I think that when this novel was written, it would no have been considered racist due to what was happening during that time, but now as people have changed their views, it is now starting to develop into a racist novel. I think it is important to read because it is very historical and people need to be able to understand problems that occured in the world.

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The novel is racist and people should bother to read as it is an important part of history. Meaning the racist views of the book can help us learn to be more accepting and not repeat the mistakes of the past.

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Marlow is a character that Conrad intended to for readers to constantly change their viewpoint on him. He will do and say things that come across as racist yet shows his sympathy and kinship for the natives. Readers are constantly going back and forth trying to decipher Marlow as a whole character and could be similar to how Conrad felt during his voyage.

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I think Marlow was used as a curious and almost innocent point of view on Africa and imperialism because he wasn't there for the same reason as the others. Marlow was only there for the adventure and to quell his childhood wonder with the African content.

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This novel in my opinion is racist to an extent because some of the remarks that are made kind of allude to that. But then again, you have to think about the time period this novel is set in and when the novel was written it wasn't "abnormal" to treat people of color in that way. Not saying, that it was okay that they treated them that way but it definitely wasn't surprising.

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Racism was not the intention of the novel, but rather the effect. The effect really depends on how easily the reader can be influenced by the characters. If the reader is more of a free thinker, then they will realize that the book does mock colonization without having to be told to. I think the book could have at least given the readers a little nudge though.

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Conrad intended for the reader the difference between a person who is is constantly surrounded by society and someone who isn't living among society. When a person grows in a society, they are more easily influenced by others and inclined to accept the thoughts and actions that are widely accepted.

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Darkness represents what the Europeans believed they were going to fix when they went to Africa. Europeans thought they would help Africa by imperializing them, bringing lightness into their "dark" world.

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Although the book does have sexist remarks towards women it is the female characters who hold the most power in some cases. For example, the mistress controlled Kurtz and the aunt helped Marlow get the job so the reader should view the book as partially sexist and partially not

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A racist novel would not show the suffering of the natives as a human condition, nor take the time to even show them in the first place. HOD is definitively not racist

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conrad wanted marlow to be someone with beliefs other than Kurtz. Marlow was there to challenge imperialist beliefs and highlight that the europeans actually brought the darkness.

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Female characters are marginally significant to the book as a whole. Other than that, I didn't pay attention enough to their significance to have an opinion.

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The reader shouldn't be surprised by the depiction of female characters and should consider Marlow's biases as a narrator. He is not just a narrator but also a flawed individual

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Darkness emphasizes that the jungle is a void that consumes everything. However, the usage of darkness is ironic as the jungle is not a dark voidlike place at all. It is full of life.

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Conrad intended the readers to understand Marlow and be able to understand the ideas presented in the novel. Conrad wanted the readers to see what was going on through Marlow's eyes and point of view.

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While this novella has racist viewpoints and language I do not think it is technically racist. Joseph Conrad wrote it to expose the racism that he witnessed on his voyage and to highlight how the ideas of him and other were created by the preconceived notions of those living in Africa. Heart of darkness is a novella that should be read by everyone to learn about racism as to understand what it really is that imperialism was about.

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I don't think the novel is racist, but, instead has racist tendencies and ideas. People should read it in order to get their own interpretation if it.

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Conrad definitely wanted Marlow to be a calm voice of reason and indifference because the conservative view point that would be easy to digest for readers. If Marlow were more extreme in his views like Mr. Kurtz, he would be taken with a grain of salt by readers, or not taken to well at all.

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Darkness represents the greed and selfishness that lies in all "men". The more they feed into their greed and selfishness is the more they lose themselves to the darkness.

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Conrad wanted the readers to feel mixed emotions towards Marlow. He wanted them to like and dislike Marlow at the same time.

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darkness is used to contrast from the light. In the novel the europeans civilizing the natives supposedly brings light, and the natives ways were dark.

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Darkness is essentially what the Europeans created in Africa. When they went to imperialize a world that was not their own they brought this dark, eerie, and sluggish vibe to a land that was fruitful and alive. So in theory, the are conquering what they have destroyed.

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Darkness can be seen as the greed, lusts, and other "evils" that reside in the hearts of men. The wilderness helped reveal this darkness because they were isolated from society and were left to rely on themselves instead of the other people in the environment. The pilgrims began to lose themselves and become more uncivil the longer they stayed in the wilderness.

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The reader should consider the fact that this novella was set in the late 1800s, where many men believed that they had more power than women. This is conveyed by the fact that none of the female characters actually have names.

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I think Conrad intended for readers to feel like Marlow was a contradictory protagonist. He was often a hypocrite of his own actions and ideas

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Due to Conrad's mental decline throughout the story Conrad probably intended readers to feel sympathy for the character. However, due to Conrad's racism in the book the reader's may have instead felt no sympathy for Marlow due to the characer's inherently racist views.

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Darkness is the unknown and uncharted. The colonists refer to Africa as dark because it is a massive continent that an explorer could easily get lost in.

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“Ah you think darkness is your ally? You merely adopted the dark. I was born in it, molded by it. I didn't see the light until I was already a man, by then it was nothing to me but blinding!”
This is a quote from Bane, a Batman villain, but I'm using it here to show how the Congo natives are products of their environment, and are completely at home in the Heart of Darkness. The Europeans "think darkness is their ally" and come in with lawless intention to take its bounty, in a sense "blinding" the natives with their alien technology.

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Conrad uses darkness to symbolize many things in the novel, he does this especially when talking about the Europeans. On page 70, Conrad writes about how "wild" and "violent" they are, which can be related to their hearts being filled with evil, or darkness.