Here again, Conrad's latent racism is apparent.
The following passage also establishes Conrad's inherent racism: "I let him run on, this papier-mache' Mephistopheles, and it seemed to me that if I tried I could poke my forefinger through him, and would find nothing inside but a little loose dirt, maybe." (Conrad, 42) First, the narrator "lets" him run on, implying that the had a position of power over him: He was in a place where he could either "let" him run on or stop him from doing so. This immediately implies superiority.
Second, by using the condescending term, "Mephistopheles," Conrad contrasts the qualities of the black man with Mephistopheles'. Here again, in using caustic wit, Conrad betrays his own racism.
Finally, of course, Conrad depicts the "nigger" as being empty inside in that the narrator could poke his forefinger through his very frame and find nothing but loose dirt. Here, Conrad reveals that in his mind, there is absolutely not worth to a "nigger" outside of a little dirt.
Another passage further develops Conrad's latent racism: "The fool-nigger had dropped everything, to throw the shutter open and let off that Martini-Henry. He stood before the wide opening, glaring, and I yelled at him to come back, while I straightened the sudden twist out of that steamboat." (Conrad, 76)
This is further indicated by Conrad's employment of the phrase "fool-nigger" to imply that any action the black man might take is negative and foolhardy, as per his race's abilities. Here again, Conrad's latent racism comes to the forefront: The assumption is that the black man will err, as his race in inferior, in Conrad's mind.
Finally, this passage adds more fuel to the fire of the argument of Conrad's latent racism: "We two whites stood over him, and his lustrous and inquiring glance enveloped us both. I declare it looked as though he would presently put to us some question in an understandable language; but he died without uttering a sound, without moving a limb, without twitching a muscle." (Conrad, 78)
The "nigger," even in death, had not contribution to the text - he dies motionlessly, and speechlessly. This betrays Conrad's belief that his "inferior" race had precious little to contribute to the white men who - literally, in the passage - look down on him.
There is validity to the argument that Conrad uses racism to further his ideas and plot; but his linguistic style indicates that he too, at his own heart of darkness, was a racist, as indicated by the examination above.
