Racism or Nah...?

Accusing someone of being racist is a bold statement to make however; using textual evidence and an analytical response makes the statement controversial. I appreciated Chinua Achebe’s point of view and reasoning of how/why Joseph Conrad is racist, especially since Chinua Achebe is a Nigerian Writer and Professor, although I was not convinced. If a work of literature does not scream racism or say in the fine print, “This novel deals with racism…” I will not analyze the reading for it. Conrad informed readers about a story about what he personally experienced throughout his journey along the Congo River to the heart of Africa and how that affected people around him. Heart of Darkness, written in 1899, has readers automatically infer that whites will be prejudice towards black, analyzing the interactions of Europeans in specific and Africans. Conrad did not write a novella about the history of Europeans colonizing land in Africa; prior history should have pertained before reading the novella. Therefore, readers are aware the novella will be sensitive towards several topics and in Achebe’s case: racism. Achebe’s statement of “Africans teaching their own people” is a segregated statement. It is as if saying Jews have to teach other Jews about the holocaust and not Nazis. How are third party people supposed to be educated on history if someone who is of that race during the historical time has to teach it? Yes, the way Conrad described Africa and Africans on numerous accounts are portrayed as racist, but that is the purpose of a writer. In order for readers to grasp and understanding of the work, describing scenes and characters in depth is essential to creating a picture of what is occurring.

The way Achebe put passages of Conrad’s novella in his speech helped me get a different point of view of how Conrad is describing native “savages” which supposedly illuminated how he is racist. Conrad described an African woman being “…savage and superb, wild-eyed and magnificent…” with every compliment came an insult. Then later described a European woman as delicate and elegant in the way she walked toward him. If we stop and think for a minute and picture the African women, we too can describe her as savage and wild-eyed. It is as if you are picturing an African woman who has a dark countenance but in reality, she is delicate and elegant. I agree Conrad could have used diction but Heart of Darkness is still an exceptional novella despite if there are racist comments. 

Scoop in the Gothic

Caution: Blog post may contain many obscene ideas and implications. Viewer discretion may be advised.

What comes to mind when you hear or see the phrase “gothic”? Are you even aware of a gothic genre (i.e.: gothic novels, movies, songs, etc.)? Maybe we have recalled gothic novels and movies, but songs…No idea. By now, you are probably thinking of the people who wear all black with an excessive amount of piercing or tattoos but that is just your ignorant conscious. Gothic genres reflect on the supernatural within real situations to have readers believe in the supernatural. Gothic literature entails powers, the uncanny, the sublime, humans’ psychological state of mind, vivid imagery (i.e.: haunted mansions, dark scenery, open tracts of land, etc.), and most importantly, the supernatural.

In our childhood, we have seen several instances of a gothic genre or even the occurrence of the supernatural.

Movies:

• The Haunted Mansion
•   Dracula
•   Frankenstein
• The Woman in Black

Often times, there are several works of gothic literature, but Emily Brontë’s gothic novel has to be the best by far. Wuthering Heights has to be the best gothic novel I have read this far (I have only read one gothic novel).

Warning: If you have read the novel, do not watch the movie. The movie is very…trash.

While reading the novel, Bronte’s adds an excessive amount of vivid imagery to relate with what is happening in the novel. Not only that but with setting, she brings up themes and topics about the novel and the characters within the novel… all through the use of setting. For example, readers are introduced to a dark house that experiences bad weather and assumes that it is simply just a dark house that experiences bad weather. Although, this dark house that experiences bad weather relate to the dark characters who live within this house, with their dark humor, and their dark attitudes.

In addition, the younger characters in the novel are somehow all related to each other whether it is through marriage (incest) or their parents (cousins). Personally, my favorite set of characters are the two Cathies. “Omg, how was she even able to read a novel with two different characters with the same name?” It was easy once you kept reading, keyword “kept”. Emily Brontë has a mother and a daughter, Catherine Earnshaw Linton and Catherine Linton Heathcliff who possess many of the similar character traits. Although, the loving nature of Catherine Linton Heathcliff (young Cathy) was what differed from her mother. Her mother having sought love through a social status did not experience the same love her daughter experienced. Through the topic of love was when the double nature within these two characters were found. Young Catherine was able to fulfill and continue the life her mother would have lived had she made better choices. Although this novel, written centuries ago, Emily Brontë addressed several themes that can relate to society today. Nobody should hinder a child’s or someone else’s growth and ability to learn from his or her mistakes. The life an older generation once lived is redundant, but the younger generation has the ability to fix the mistakes and make something better out of a previous life. 

More on Wuthering Heights (Highly Recommended) 

Thug Notes!!