Firchow vs. Achebe

After reading both Firchow and Achebe, I have come to the conclusion that Conrad was not racist. I tend to agree with Firchow because I too feel that he was writing for the demographic of the day. In that time period the majority of the public was under educated and had the same ideals that Marlow displayed in the novel. Throughout the novel we see the evolution of Marlow from a racist to someone who shows compassion for Africa and the Africans. We see this evolution when the man assisting Marlow at the helm is killed. Yes, even though he does not show full compassion he does show his compassion for his helmsman by calling him a friend. This evolution showed me that Conrad was not a racist because it exhibited his open minded feelings towards other races.