“They’re all the fucking same,” white, “men,” (Smith 404). White, male novelist Joseph Conrad viewed Africans as “‘monstrous and free,’” (Achebe, Image 3). White, male, missionary James Smith saw Umuofia society as “evil” (Achebe, Things 174). Ironically it’s these Western, white, male authors whose narratives shape the Western educational curriculum and ignorantly launched the impression that, “African history did not exist” (Achebe, Image 1). If Africa’s history was accurately depicted decades ago, in Conrad’s Heart of Darkness and James Smith’s fictional text, The Pacification of the Primitive Tribes of the Lower Niger, Africa wouldn’t be cast as “‘the other world’” (Achebe, Image 2). Chinua Achebe’s novel Things Fall Apart and his essay “An Image of Africa: Racism in Conrad’s ‘Heart of Darkness’” confront the ruthless reality of historical racism, shedding light on how the West systematically subjugated non-white cultures for its own supremacy. Coupled with Achebe’s truth-telling, Zadie Smith’s, Swing Time exposes the modern repercussions of Western colonialism.  

Firstly, Things Fall Apart serves as a response to the racial issues Achebe outlined in his essay about Conrad’s Heart of Darkness. Achebe challenges the same Western perspective  that Conrad’s work highlights by providing a counter-narrative which centers on the Igbo tribe. Conrad describes a colored person he encounters as, “…blind, furious …raging,” (Achebe, Image 7) and recalls an Englishman as, “…marblelike …rich …triumphant …friendly,” (Achebe, Image 7). Despite never having met either, Conrad finds the European’s appearance superior. Through the lens of African culture, Achebe humanizes the people Conrad’s narrative dehumanized. He offers readers an alternative perspective of African civilization before the arrival of Western colonizers. While Conrad viewed all the Africans in the tribe as “human animals,” (Achebe, Image 7), Achebe brings dimension into the Igbo tribe by describing their social rankings for which Okonkwo, “saw himself taking the highest title in the land,” (Achebe, Things 161). If equality extended across all races today, the mixed narrator in Smith’s Swing Time might not have perceived herself as a “counterfeit” (Smith 47) when compared to her privileged white, blood-sister, who is conventionally seen as the “right” (47), child.

Furthermore, Achebe’s novel emphasizes the brutality inflicted upon Africans as a result of Western colonialism. His writing challenges the idea that Western expansion was a noble duty by exhibiting the consequences it had on African society. Achebe highlights how Okonkwo, once a respected Umuofia man, hanged himself because he struggled to accept the new Christian society his village was being forcefully converted into by white missionaries. In Igbo culture, hanging oneself “is an abomination for a man…” and “…makes his body evil” (Achebe, Things 196). Throughout the novel, it is evident that Okonkwo would never commit such a dishonorable act, especially if it could potentially undermine the social positions of his family in Igbo society. Comparing this perspective to the glorified portrayal of colonialism in Heart of Darkness compels readers to reevaluate the ideas Conrad’s popular writing enforced within their opinions. Conrad writes how Belgium’s colonization of Congo created “an improved specimen” within whom “a few months of training” evolved from having “been clapping his hands and stamping his feet on the bank” to “hard at work” (Achebe, Image 3). It is clear that Conrad believes that the colonization of Congo humanized this man. Had Western imperialists respectfully acknowledged non-Western cultures rather than intoxicating them with their Western values, the modern problems intertwined with colonialism could have potentially been mitigated. Due to the historical disadvantages that people of color have as a direct result of their non-Western background, breaking the cycle of poverty and familial instability can be a challenging endeavor because they are inherited generationally. This cycle is evident in the life Tracey, a talented dancer in Swing Time, leads when she finds herself confined to London’s projects. Eventually, as she matures into adulthood with her children, she regresses back into the same poverty she came from. Similarly, people like Lamin, with achievements earned in Senegal, wouldn’t feel their “qualifications meant nothing,” (Smith 442) if all backgrounds were equally respected.

As a global populace, we need to account for the dehumanization of non-Western societies written by white, Western writers. Chinua Achebe and Zadie Smith use their authentic voices to challenge these historical misrepresentations and highlight the struggles minorities face today as a direct result of Western-created stereotypes. By embracing diversity, we will see each other simply as “a continent of people” (Achebe, Image 9) rather than a society dictated by Western imagination.