Contrasting Conflict in Things Fall Apart and Heart of Darkness

Contrasting Conflict in Things Fall Apart and Heart of Darkness Heart of Darkness by Josef Conrad and Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe are two novels that are written to make a statement. Both are meant to stir the emotions of the reader, whether those emotions be anger, hope, frustration, joy, despair, or enlightenment. Both novels take place in the same location and same time period and involve the same groups of people. Both novels …

…within itself, and, by heavens! I tell you, it had gone mad" (113). Kurtz's downfall was one that had developed from within himself. In Things Fall Apart, former tribal leader and respected warrior Okonkwo ends up losing the admiration of his people and eventually hanging himself. The self-loathing hopelessness that led to his suicide came primarily from the discord that had developed between himself and the people of his tribe and the hostility of the whites.