That is, does the book itself, quite apart from the individuals in it, express racism? Or does any racism in the book express an opinion of Conrad’s? The first major work on colonialism, the story is clearly written from the perspective of a foreign white man on a boat in a strange country. This in itself creates problems for many readers, who see Conrad’s effort to write about Africa and Africans as presumption or even racism in itself. Although some might say Heart of Darkness describes the tragedies of the African people, Heart of Darkness should not be considered a canon because it exploits the native people and encourages colonialism
Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad tells the story of sailor named Charles Marlow’s time as captain of an ivory-hauling steamboat along the Congo River. The 1899 novel, rooted in Conrad’s own