This document is in a file format called LaTeX. You can compile it into something that looks good, or you can just read all the formatting information. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Introduction: Much literary criticism finds similarities between two books, simply because they have similar settings or address superficially similar issues. This is the case of Conrad's Heart of Darkness and Achebe's Things Fall Apart. Although these two books have much in common and focus on similar topics, they still serve fundamentally different purposes. Thesis Statement: Things Fall Apart seeks to demonstrate that African culture was valuable and not primitive, while Heart of Darkness strives to ridicule European activity in Africa, not because it was bad for Africans, but because in many ways it was bad for Africans. Europeans. These differences can be found by examining the various themes that the two books propose, and are also particularly clear after a discussion of the treatment of race in the two books. I will tackle the two books separately before comparing them side by side. Topic sentence: Things Fall Apart seeks to demonstrate that African culture, despite its weaknesses, was worth the effort. The clearest evidence of this is the sheer numbers: over three-quarters of the book is devoted to character development, plot, and describing village life, before white men even enter the story. When the narrator refers to Europeans as strange men, it is clear that he does so from the point of view of an African. But the problem lies in the way the narrator treats Africans. The entire book is filled with phrases such as "among these people, a man is judged by his worth and not by the worth of his father", which serve to tell the story of the Umuofia people. Certainly the village is not a safe place to live, as demonstrated by the death of Ezeudu's son. However, Okwonkwo's subsequent exile allows Achebe to describe another African village, just as the principle of the Mother is supreme. In this way, Okwonkwo's exile is consistent with the purpose of the book: to demonstrate that Umuofian, and by extension African, culture was worthwhile. Another similar aspect is the way justice is administered in the village. The text does much more than simply ensure justice; they serve as spiritual guides for the village. It is possible that some villagers recognize that, although the mundane manifestations of the text are people, their divine representations are necessary to the spiritual and civil maintenance of the village. This is expressed by Achebe himself when he writes "Begin Okwonkwo's wives, and perhaps other women as well, might have noticed the second text having Okwonkwo's springy walk. And they might have noticed that Okwonkwo was not among the titled men and elders who sat behind the text line if they thought these things within themselves This, except, gives us insight into the Umuofian culture shows the true purpose of the book.The text gives us an in-depth insight into the richness of the Umuofian culture, because this is the purpose of the book.Topic sentence: Despite all the wonderful descriptions of the Umuofian culture, Achebe also describes its weak points quotes: Of note is how Nwoye feels his spiritual needs are not being met, and so he joins the Christians There was a young boy who was fascinated. His name was Nwoye. It wasn't crazy logicof the Trinity to fascinate him. He didn't understand it. It was the poetry of the new religion, something that was felt in the marrow. The hymn about brothers who sat in darkness and fear seemed to answer a vague and lingering question that haunted his young soul. This also reveals a lot about Umuofia. Comment: In particular, it includes good with evil; shows that despite being a rich and varied spiritual culture, Umuofia also has its shortcomings. Achebe recognizes this and recounts it along with descriptions of what is great. Other examples can be found in the numerous cases of spousal and child abuse, and in the way twins are discarded. While it is not the purpose of this book to provide a historically accurate account of the culture, these descriptions of evil alongside good reinforce the true purpose, because Umuofia's weaknesses make the strengths seem even stronger. purpose of Heart of Darkness. Topic sentence: In contrast, Heart of Darkness condemns colonialism, not for its effect on Africa, but for its effect on Europe and Europeans. This is an important contrast, because it is the key to many other analyzes that could be done on Heart of Darkness. Evidence and Citations: There are many and varied ways in which Conrad criticizes colonialism. The most obvious is the effect that the thirst for ivory has on Europeans. This is a common theme in the book, starting with the company doctor measuring Conrad's head, producing a caliper-like thing, and calculating the dimensions front and back and every other way, taking careful notes.''More later. in the discussion, the doctor comments that changes happen inside, you know.'' The doctor clearly knows how the Congo changes a man. The word "ivory" rang in the air, was whispered, was sighed. You would think they were begging for it. A shadow of imbecile rapacity lingered in all this, like the smell of a corpse. By Jove! I have never seen anything so unreal in my life. And outside, the silent wilderness surrounding this cleared speck of earth struck me as something great and invincible, like evil or truth, patiently waiting for the end of this fantastic invasion and Marlow's treatment of people at indoor station is amazing. His story shows that they have lost something: in reality they are less satisfied than when they arrived. This refers to Marlow's repeated use of the image of emptiness in relation to people. There are a lot of empty people in the book; The theme here is that when the pressures and obstacles of living in a “civilized” society are no longer present, we must make use of “our innate strength. Principles are no good." This innate strength is moderation. the restraint that the natives on the steamboat possessed, which Kurtz and the Pilgrims lacked. There are many other characters who also fit the empty description; too many to list. When the constraints of society are removed, you must rely on internal moderation to maintain your ethics. Without this limitation, varying amounts of disasters result, with Kurtz as an extreme example. Does this sound good for Europe? No. This theme clearly shows that exploring the jungle was harmful to Europe. One can also discount many other potential purposes of the book, due to the many racial attitudes that Marlow takes. Even if it can be argued that Marlow is not Conrad in any way, it is still worth investigating. It is not that Marlow makes racist comments, but Conrad describes Marlow as not caring about black individuals or treating them as savages. The first clear example of this is prisoners. When Marlow states that the prisoners felt the complete, deadly indifference of the unhappy savages, it is actually Marlow who is indifferent andwild. This is ironic, but it does not underestimate the gravity of the situation: again and again Marlow belittles blacks as savages not worth worrying about. He doesn't actually take any action against them, he simply avoids helping them. This seems to make no sense, especially since he finds some of the black people to be very comforting to look at. But if you consider that Africans are irrelevant to the book, this becomes perfectly clear. Another way Conrad condemns colonialism is with the way he treats colonialism.Europe's past. On several occasions, Marlow refers to Europe as a dark place, particularly when he says And this too was one of the dark places of the earth. Talking about the Roman conquest of England seems rather cryptic, but the reason can be found when considering what happened to the conquerors: England is a much more powerful country than the remnants of the Roman Empire. The same truth applies to the United States, which is currently much more powerful than England. This is another negative effect of colonialism highlighted by Marlow: conquerors do not remain conquerors forever. Therefore, the purposes of the two books have been enumerated. However, it is necessary to discuss the two books side by side. One forum in which to do this is racial imagery. Evidence and Quotes: Heart of Darkness uses light and dark, but light actually refers to blacks and dark refers to whites. Achebe, on the other hand, uses race only as a physical descriptor, as one might describe an individual's height. Both authors use race in ways consistent with their purpose. In Heart of Darkness, the Europeans are the ones tainted by darkness. Is it any wonder then that they receive dark images? Comment: Conrad is trying to say that Africa is bad for Europeans. Black people, who live in Africa, are associated with light, because for them the jungle is the only way. Things that fall apart take on a completely different attitude; Achebe hardly uses race. Topic Sentence: Achebe describes generalizations made on both sides, such as when Mr. Smith is described as seeing things in black and white. And bad black. However, these are simply the racial feelings of particular characters. They are not reported in the book as a whole. The reason Achebe doesn't address race much in Things Fall Apart is that the purpose of the book – to demonstrate that African culture was valuable – is irrelevant to race. In contrast, the reason Conrad uses racial imagery so much in Heart of Darkness is that the purpose of the book relates to colonialism, which in turn is directly tied to race. The race is important, but equally important is the ending. The endings of the two novels probably have more in common than anything else. However, this commonality is superficial at best. Additionally, they both end up with ignorant individuals who continue to do the same as before: the Fated One in Heart of Darkness and the District Commissioner in Things Fall Apart. One contrast, however, is that no one tries to tell the Fated One what happened except Marlow, and he decides not to because it would be too dark, too dark overall, while the district commissioner is blind to everything he sees. Both endings are also ironic, in a way. Of course, the Commissioner's conclusion about how he could write an entire paragraph about Okwonkwo is ironic, because we've just witnessed 200 pages of character development. Reducing Okwonkwo to one paragraph is as ironic as the Fated One's eagerness to accept Marlow's falsehood. Please note: this is just an example. Get a custom paper from our expert writers now. Get a custom essay.