Joseph Conrad is a profound writer of prose most famous for his works between 1897 and 1911. Conrad was born Jósef Teodor Konrad Walecz Korzeniowski in 1857 in Berdichev, Russia. Both of his Polish parents died by the time Conrad was 12 years old. Before his death, his father had introduced Conrad to the English language through translations of Shakespeare he had created as a source of income. Conrad later went to two schools before deciding that he wanted to go to sea in the year 1874. With Some financial support from his uncle, he worked his way up from a passenger to an apprentice to a steward in the French Merchant Service only to return home years later to massive debt. Because of this he attempted to commit suicide, but failed. Conrad later served 16 years in the British merchant navy and went on a number of expeditions across the world that became inspiration for many pieces of his work including his journey through the Congo depicted in Heart of Darkness. Conrad began to learn English at the age of 21 (Domestico).
Conrad had retired from life at sea by 1895 and published his
…show more content…
One famous critic of his was Chinua Achebe, a Nigerian author. Achebe once looked up to the writings of Conrad but as he grew older he realized that “Conrad was a seductive writer… [and he] was the subject of Conrad’s seduction” (" Chinua Achebe: 'Heart of Darkness' Is Inappropriate”). By this, Achebe meant that Conrad’s style of writing and eloquent use of words distracted the reader from the blatant racism throughout the story. His descriptions of African people are not reader friendly to say the least. Conrad even refers to one character he passes by as a dog. Achebe realized the obvious racism exhibited in Heart of Darkness and in response wrote his novel, Things Fall Apart. This book depicts the English coming to Africa from the viewpoint of