Envisioning Africa: Racism and Imperialism in Heart of Darkness (review)
Gottfried's study skillfully both demonstrates and resists the pressure exerted by the genre and the protagonist to see the novel as a record of Stephen's development toward "the end he had been born to serve." It also illuminates various etymologies and instances of wordplay that enrich our reading of the text, and which may well have contributed to Joyce's enjoyment in it. The writing is perhaps overemphatic; Gottfried restates his general claims so often that one may find oneself impatient for their illustration. But his study reveals, on the "fringes" of Stephen's consciousness, elements of humor and humanity central to Joyce's oeuvre.