Conrad’s Heart of Darkness and Achebe’s Duplicity in Things Fall Apart and Arrow of God

Abstract

 Achebe represents images of Africa in Things Fall Apart and Arrow of God that duplicates Conrad’s portrait in Heart of Darkness . Conrad’s Africa as an enigmatic dark spot is replicated in the works of Achebe, thereby, debunking popular critical polarizations of the texts. However, while Conrad’s narrative engages a double indictment of representations of darkness in the consciousness of both Europe and Africa, Achebe simply surrenders to a one-sided condemnation of African traditions and acquiesces to western narratives. Ultimately, while Conrad’s narrative leaves an echo of double reverberation in the heart of the reader, Achebe’s provide closure in his evident installation of western ideologies and their institutions. Conrad’s influence on Achebe is manifestly evident in Things Fall Apart (1958) and Arrow of God (1964). The fact that Achebe disavows this is an issue in this … I see them contrapuntally, that is, as figures whose writing travels across temporal, cultural and ideological boundaries in unforeseen ways to emerge as part of a new ensemble along with later history and subsequent art.