Joseph Conrad's novel Heart of Darkness uses character development and analysis to truly tell the story of European colonization. Both racist and colonialist views can be found in Conrad's characters, and it is the reader's opinion and interpretation that decides what Conrad is actually trying to say in his work. Chinua Achebe, a well-known writer, once gave a lecture at the University of Massachusetts on Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness, titled "A Picture of Africa: Racism in Conrad's Heart of Darkness." Throughout his essay, Achebe notes how Conrad used Africa only as a backdrop and how he "set Africa as a counterpoint to Europe" (Achebe, p.251) while "projecting the image of Africa as the other world". ', the antithesis of Europe and therefore of civilizations” (Achebe, p.252). With his interpretations of the text, Achebe shows that Conrad eliminates "The African as a human factor", "thus reducing Africa to the role of props" (Achebe, p.257). In supporting these accusations against Conrad, Achebe cites specific examples from the text, while also highlighting the lack of certain characteristics among the characters. Achebe then compares the descriptions of the Destined and the native woman. Explaining that the savage "satisfies a structural requirement of the story: a wild counterpart to the refined European woman", and also that the greatest "difference is that implicit in the author's bestowal of human expression on the one and withholding it from the other" (Achebe p.255). This lack of human expression and human characteristics is what Achebe says contributes to the overflowing amount of racism within Conrad's novel. Human expression is one of the few... middle of paper... itself. It seems that Achebe was closed minded in his essay regarding racism. He proposed no other possibilities regarding the novel, only to say that one plausible reason for this is that "it is the desire...in Western psychology to place the African as a foil to the European" (Achebe, p.251). Achebe simply stated his own views and did not consider other interpretations of the same passage, as Saravan did. If everyone accepted what one man said as the truth, our world would be completely turned upside down (and if you believe what I say is the truth, then you are lost). The individual must decide for himself and himself alone. Both Chinua Achebe and CP Saravan did just that. When Achebe found out that Conrad was racist, he said so. When Saravan found Achebe misleading, he said so. I found the annoyance to be misleading to the reader, and said so.