Contrast is a rhetorical device that highlights differences between two or more people, things, or ideas. Achebe’s use of contrast in “An Image of Africa” is drawn directly from Conrad’s use of contrast as a literary device in Heart of Darkness. Achebe explains that Conrad “projects the image of Africa as ‘the other world,’ the antithesis of Europe and therefore of civilization, a place where man's vaunted intelligence and refinement are finally mocked by triumphant beastiality [sic]” (252). This sets up a series of thematic tensions in Heart of Darkness: civilization versus savagery; the “intelligence” and “refinement” of Europe versus the “beastiality” of Africa; and, ultimately, life versus death. Conrad, influenced by the milieu of Western colonial ideology of his era, views Africa and its peoples as inherently inferior to the West. Achebe argues that this is a reflexive reaction, part of the very psychology of Western culture.

Exposition is a literary device used to provide background information, context, or explanation essential to understanding a work. Achebe uses exposition to establish the cultural and historical framework necessary to construct his critique of Heart of Darkness. He focuses on three general areas of exposition in his essay.