Coração Sombrio | Livro

However, the novel is not without its complexities and controversies. While Conrad is critical of colonial brutality, modern critics, most notably Chinua Achebe, have argued that Heart of Darkness is inherently racist in its portrayal of Africa and its inhabitants. Achebe argued that Conrad denies the African characters a voice, reducing them to a background landscape that reflects the psychological state of the Europeans. The African continent is depicted as a primordial, chaotic void that strips away the layers of European civilization. While the novel condemns the treatment of Africans, it primarily uses their suffering to expose the moral degradation of the white European psyche. This ambiguity ensures that Heart of Darkness remains a subject of intense academic debate, forcing readers to examine the lens through which they view "the other."