Divided hearts: how an image of Africa is created by two different authors in Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness & Buchi Emecheta's Destination Biafra

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The relationship between Europe and Africa has been a relationship of conflict and oppression since the days of the slave trade and colonialism. This division has been a recurring subject in literary works from the Victorian era onwards and up to today, when the relationship is often examined within a post-colonial context by authors from the former colonies. This essay examines two novels dealing with this problem to find out how one African and one European author deal with it. What are the similarities and differences in describing Africa and its inhabitants? What images of Africa do they give and why? What do they recognise as the main conflict between Africa and Europe and do they suggest any solution to the problem? The novels: Destination Biafra by Buchi Emecheta, and Heart of Darkness , by Joseph Conrad, both deal with periods of violent change in African history and the relationship between Europe and Africa. Furthermore they are written by authors who have a lot in common: they were both orphaned in early age, they share an exile-experience and colonial oppression in their home-countries and they both write in English although it is not their mother-tongue. Even if both authors recognise colonialism as the main conflict which has had an evil impact on Africa, they present totally different solutions to the problem. Emecheta believes in co-existence and mutual support on equal terms. And, most of all, she believes in women, especially the African women who, according to her, are the hope of Africa. Conrad believes that the only way to protect Africa from the evil impact of Europe is to leave Africa alone, thereby avoiding contamination of the continent with the evils of civilisation. In this opinion he resembles many modern Europeans who are not aware of the hidden racism in the idea...