Heart of Darkness: The Tone of Racism“An Image of Africa: Racism in Conrad's Heart of Darkness”, by Chinua Achebe, addresses the issue of racism as seen throughout Joseph Conrad's work. There is a certain degree of subtlety that Achebe uses to begin addressing the issue of racism, but as the story progresses it is easy to make his point. Achebe expresses his opinion not only on Heart of Darkness, but also clarifies his opinion on Conrad by the end of the essay. The tone in "An Image of Africa: Racism in Conrad's Heart of Darkness" changes dramatically from beginning to end. In introducing his essay, Chinua Achebe uses a pleasant tone to begin his essay and describe the environment in which he encounters some students. He begins by describing a "beautiful autumn morning" that encouraged friendliness and goes on to describe the enthusiasm of the "live boys." After sketching a pleasant setting, Achebe then describes "two very touching letters" he received from some students in New York who were learning about African tribes. He seems excited about these letters, as well as the fact that these students have just read Things That Fall Apart. After a pleasant introduction, the author's tone simply begins to emphasize the importance of Africa and African history and strays from its pleasant welcome. It is soon after this calm defense of African pride that Achebe's anger begins to rise to the surface and his tone becomes enraged. He calls Conrad's words "assaults" against an African tribesman and insists that the story's main character, Marlow, is simply a vehicle for expressing his racism. During Achebe's barrage, Conrad's character is continually called into question. Achebe refers to him as a "total racist" and gives the impression that all reviews of Heart of Darkness are mistaken in their compassion towards the author and the "European mind". He also refers to Conrad's "nigger problem" and "his inordinate love of that very word." After attacking Conrad's credibility and sanity, Achebe goes on to belittle Conrad's book. He calls the book "offensive" and "deplorable," saying the book "displays prejudice and insults" while questioning "the very humanity of black people." By now the essay has turned to anger and you can feel the author's passion to defend Africa through his powerful words and exclamations.