In order to create interesting and engaging worlds in literature, authors must consider the atmosphere they wish to create. Tense, sinister, or lively atmospheres can add a lot to narratives and engage the reader. This is true for Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad and Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, who both create interesting worlds through use of atmosphere. Heart of Darkness is an example of colonial literature which depicts a dark and tense atmosphere within the African setting. Similarly, Things Fall Apart, an example of postcolonial literature, also often has a tense atmosphere as a means to critique colonial conflicts, but it contrastingly often presents a more lively and lighter atmosphere before the arrival of Westerners in Africa. As such, Both Heart of Darkness by Conrad and Things Fall Apart by Achebe express the hostility between Europeans and Africans through the depicting tense atmospheres. However, Things Fall Apart uses a more peaceful atmosphere in sections to depict pre colonial Africa positively challenging colonial beliefs, whilst Heart of Darkness perpetuates negative portrayals of Africa by depicting a darker atmosphere which Others the continent.

To begin, both texts depict tense atmospheres within their African settings with the arrival of Europeans, thus emphasizing the conflict between Africans and Europeans as a means to critique imperialism. This is evident in Achebe’s Things Fall Apart when a European man arrives at an African village on an “iron horse” and is killed because the Africans thought he was a threat. In retaliation, the European colonizers destroyed the whole village, murdering its inhabitants. Here, the metaphor comparing the European’s bicycle to an “iron horse” underlines the naivety of the Africans, explaining why they could have thought it was a threat. However, the juxtaposition between their naive actions and the extreme retaliation from the Europeans is able to emphasize the extremely tense relationship between the two sides, reiterating the violence of Europeans towards Africans. As a result, Achebe achieves a tense atmosphere wherein readers anticipate more conflict. Subsequently, this tense atmosphere is able to criticize the conflict between the Europeans and Africans, thereby critiquing imperialism more generally. Conversely, in Heart of Darkness, tension is achieved when Marlow and his crew are attacked by African natives as they travel up river. In this scene, Marlow’s “poleman gave up the business suddenly,” and then “sat down abruptly” and “ducked” his head. Giving off information slowly, Marlow notes that “sticks” were “flying about-thick.” Only later is it revealed that they were “Arrow, by Jove!” Here, the literary technique known as delayed decoding is used. The effect of giving this impressionist information slowly is that audiences, like Marlow, are initially confused as to what is happening. The suddenness of these actions and the confusion do achieve a tense atmosphere as there is a dissonance and subjectivity towards what is happening, which builds such tension. Moreover, the imagery of arrows “flying about thick” underscores the violence of the scene, again achieving a tense atmosphere. As a result of this tension, Conrad is able to critically portray the conflicts of Western imperialism in Africa. Both Conrad and Achebe use tension as a means to underscore the violence of Europeans towards Africans which, thus, exposes the violence of colonialism in a critical manner.

However, Achebe’s Things Fall Apart attempts to critique colonialism by depicting pre-colonial Africa as a richly cultured and lively place through its peaceful and communal atmosphere. For instance, Achebe portrays religious customs of the Igbo people, especially the markets wherein if one threw a grain of sand in the sky, it would not again hit the ground due to its liveliness. In addition, Achebe portrays cultural customs, such as how men would “break the kola nut” before certain events. Achebe’s use of hyperbole to describe how busy the market is reiterates a sense of liveliness, thereby achieving a busy and communal atmosphere. Moreover, the imagery of breaking the kola nut evokes images of peace, particularly given its religious connotations with breaking bread. In addition to a very communal atmosphere, a peaceful atmosphere is also achieved, and the African setting is portrayed to be a harmonious and richly cultured place before the arrival of Europeans. In addition, Achebe frequently mentions and incorporates traditional Igbo folk tales and stories, told to young children by their parents, such as the tale of the tortoise which was told to Nwoye by his mother. The inclusion of such stories evokes feelings of peace and community, drawing attention to the harmonious nature of the village. Again, a peaceful and communal atmosphere is achieved via the inclusion of these stories and the village, and its families, are presented to be richly cultured and at peace before the arrival of Europeans. As a result, Achebe’s creation of a peaceful and communal atmosphere before the arrival of Europeans cements the idea that Africans were not in need of colonialism, which brought conflict, and, therefore, the novel is subsequently able to criticize Western colonialism.

On the other hand, Conrad depicts a much darker atmosphere of Africa, negatively Othering Africans and thus perpetuating colonial beliefs about the continent and its people. For example, he describes Africa as being “so hopeless, so dark, so impenetrable to human thought, so pitiless to human weakness.” The asyndeton in this description underscores that Africa is missing civility as conjunctions are similarly missing, making the sentence grammatically incorrect and therefore not proper. Moreover, the parallel structure and repetition of “so” emphasizes its excess negativity, and the semantic field of despair via the diction of “hopeless,” “dark,” and “pitiless” evoke a disparaging feeling. As such, Africa is depicted as a demoralizing place, whilst Conrad achieves a somber and dark atmosphere. Such a negative depiction of Africa only perpetuates the negative idea that the continent needed Western colonialism. In addition to this, Marlow describes Africa as a “prehistoric earth” which “seemed unearthly.” The diction of “prehistoric” when describing Africa implies that it is uncivilized and barbaric. Additionally, the description of Africa as an earth that seems “unearthly” is a paradox as it goes against common sense, which further emphasizes how the Europeans saw Africa as uncivilized and contradictory to civility. As a result, the African setting is depicted to be dark, barbaric, and uncivilized. Conrad’s dark, and somewhat sinister, atmosphere again Others Africans and pains Africa negatively which, in turn, cements the idea that it needed colonization. Even though Conrad had written the novella as an attempt to critique imperialism, such depictions still perpetuated coloniali ideologies that Africa and Africans were inferior and required Western intervention.

In sum, via the use of tense atmospheres in both works, the hostility between Europeans and Africans is displayed. In both cases, tension is achieved through depictions of violence between the native Africans and Europeans. Such violence underscores and the achieved tense atmospheres underscore the conflict between the two groups and, therefore, serve as criticisms towards African colonialism. However, Things Fall Apart attempts to depict pre-colonial Africa positively, thus not needing Western colonialism. Therefore, via its portrayal of a peaceful atmosphere through depictions of family, cultural practices, and folk tales, the novel is able to critique the colonization of Africa. Yet, because of the dark and sinister atmosphere created in Heart of Darkness, Africa and Africans are Othered as uncivilized which perpetuates colonial ideologies by depicting a darker atmosphere. Such portrayals of atmosphere as a means to create meaning and critique real world issues can highlight the significance of literature, showcasing how vivid atmospheres add meaning to such messages.