Heart of Darkness, Hollow Men, and Apocalypse Now Essay

Throughout the first two parts of Joseph Conrad's book, Heart of Darkness, the character Kurtz is built up to be this amazing and remarkable man. In the third book, however, we learn the truth about who Kurtz really is. Kurtz cries out in a whisper, "The horror! The horror!"(p. 86), and in only two words he manages to sum up the realization of all the horrors of his life during his time in the Congo.

This is apparent in The Hollow Men in lines 13-15 when the poem says: "Those who have crossed With direct eyes, to death's other Kingdom Remember us-if at all-not as lost"(Collected Poems 1909-1935 56). The meaning to of deaths other kingdom does not seem to be hell or heaven it seems to me to be somewhere else. In lines 57-60 Eliot is talking about where the hollow men meet, which is at the tumid river. In Heart Of Darkness "Marlow tells of his journey into a nightmare kingdom of death, the heart of darkness in the forests of the Congo". Conrad describes Africa as a "Kingdom of Death" and the Congo River relates to the "tumid river". Let me digress to the hollowness of Heart of Darkness. The former, Helen Gardner suggests that: " 'The Hollow Men' exhibits the feeling of total meaninglessness, the extremity of skepticism which Marlow said he felt on the brink of death: 'a vision of grayness without form filled with physical pain, and a careless contempt for the evanescence of all things....' "(Landscape As Symbol In The Poetry Of T.S. Eliot 92). The darkness and the hollowness are the same thing. They are the emptiness of moral strength and faith. It is what Marlow feels as he is on the brink of death.

The novel, Heart of Darkness, by Joseph Conrad, portrays a dark and somber theme throughout the entirety of the book. Even in the end, the darkness is still there. But even so, the end is difficult to understand. The ending is very vague on certain perspectives. Conrad intentionally does this, not to detract from the rest of the novel, but to sum the entirety of his main point up.

Kurtz’s lack of restraint and hunger for ivory consumes not only his soul but drains all of his physical existence. Upon seeing him, Marlow states, “I could see the cage of his ribs all astir, the bones of his arm waving (126)”. Conrad focuses on the physical features of Kurtz to display the madness that has consumed him. However, though Kurtz’s body is deteriorating, Kurtz’s mind continues to thrive. Conrad shows this in Marlow’s shock of witnessing a flame of passion that remains in Kurtz’s eyes as he converses without signs of exhaustion (126). Conrad continues to describe Kurtz as a shadow composed of tranquility and satisfaction. Conrad’s incorporation of this detail signifies the evil and greed that consumes Kurtz and is reflected through his physique. However, the power of Kurtz’s presence is personified through the action of his words. As the strength in his voice captures Marlow’s attention, it merely reflects his influence upon his followers. The power reflected through his voice displayed his confidence as well as his position as a leader for the natives. Hi demeanor displays an air of arrogance that makes others feel less equal to him. Those who follow him fear him, but also continue to respect him.

In Heart of Darkness, Kurtz is depicted as an upstanding European who has been transformed by his time in the jungle- being away from the society he was used to that could have prevented him from becoming such a tyrant. I have experienced being in a situation where I was very different from the people around me. It forced me to figure out their interests so I was able to join in on their conversations. By the end of the day, I no longer felt alone. So that experience taught me that I am going to come across diversity in life, but I need to be open and accepting of it. If I had chosen to just be shy, I wouldn’t have learned this lesson. I didn’t find myself being pulled toward base, cruel instincts as Kurtz, but I think that’s because Kurtz had no one to control him. If a person gains that much power, it may lead to the transformation that Kurtz experienced. –pg. 144 “But his soul was mad. Being alone in the wilderness, it had looked within itself, and, by heavens! I tell you, it had gone mad.”

When Joseph Conrad sat down to write Heart of Darkness over a century ago he decided to set his tale amidst his own country's involvement in the African Congo. Deep in the African jungle his character would make his journey to find the Captain gone astray. Over eighty years later Francis Ford Coppola's Willard would take his journey not in Afica but in the jungles of South Asia. Coppola's Film, Apocalypse Now uses the backdrop of the American Vietnam War yet the similarities between the Conrad's novel and Coppola's film remains constant and plenty.

interpretation of the darkness in his journey with these words, "True, by this time it was not a blank space any more...a place of darkness. But there was in it one river especially, a mighty big river... resembling an immense snake uncoiled, with its head in the sea, its body at rest curving afar over a vast country, and its tail lost in the depths of the land...the snake had charmed me." (p. 11) However, in Heart of Darkness, the definitions of lightness and darkness has been reversed. Darkness can be interpreted to stand for the purity and innocence of the natives lifestyle, while lightness can be seen as the corruption, greed, and exploitative ways of the white men. The natives lived by the code of nature in a sort of "darkness," in that they had not been exposed to the corruption of the

Darkness is a major theme in The Heart of Darkness. Kurtz is unaware of his own darkness which leads to his downfall. He cannot see what kind of person he has become and how the darkness of the jungle has completely taken over him. The jungle is so secluded and mysterious that it actually influences Kurtz’s bad behavior. Kurtz becomes greedy and powerful but never realizes that this behavior is bringing him down until he is on the verge of death. Kurtz last words, “The horror! The horror!”(63) show Kurtz’s realization that the darkness had consumed him. Kurtz himself is one of the biggest examples of darkness in this book.

Apocalypse Now, directed by Francis Ford Coppola, is the story of Captain Willard's journey up the Nung River in Cambodia to kill a general, Kurtz, who has lost control of himself. It is set in the Vietnam War and is a very gritty and affecting film. Imagine my surprise when I learned that it was sort of based on Joseph Conrad's famous novella, Heart of Darkness. Conrad's book, the tale of the sailor Marlowe's African adventure, is a study on the evils of colonialism. The two stories at first glance do not seem very similar, but after examining both, it is quite shocking the degree of similarity between the two. Many people have been able to draw comparisons to Joseph Conrad's novel Heart of Darkness and Francis Ford Coppola's film

This line in the poem symbolizes how Kurtz was very similar to the hollow souled men that were depressed by how their lives how and will turn out. The poem speaks of the uncivilized hollow men. In the Heart of Darkness, the uncivilized are described as ignorant throughout the entire book. They are full people but others feel as if they are not complete humans “We are the hollow men; we are the stuffed men” (Eliot 1-2). For example, when the uncivilized natives spoke their sound meant nothing. Kurtz came from a civilized background but still understood the natives and what they were experiencing. He was not hollow because he was able to meander in civilization and lived with abnormal people. T.S. Eliot is describing the other side he is making a clear point about Kurtz. “The Hollow Men” got its name because throughout the poem Kurtz is referred to as “hollow shame” and “hollow at the

   In the opening scenes of the documentary film "Hearts of Darkness-A Filmmaker's Apocalypse," Eleanor Coppola describes her husband Francis's film, "Apocalypse Now," as being "loosely based" on Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness. Indeed, "loosely" is the word; the period, setting, and circumstances of the film are totally different from those of the novella. Yet, a close analysis of character, plot, and theme in each respective work reveals that Conrad's classic story of savagery and madness is present in its cinematic reworking.

Francis Ford Coppola’s Apocalypse Now lacks the impact of its inspiration, Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness. While the basic elements of imperialism and human nature remain intact, the characters of the film bare little resemblance to their literary counterparts. The film serves as a re-interpretation of Conrad’s novella, updated from 19th-century British imperialism in the Congo to a critique of 20th-century U.S. imperialism in Southeast Asia. Coppola’s changes in setting and plot structure, however, force the film to sacrifice the character development so crucial in the literary work. This detracts from the overall effectiveness of the film.

In Joseph Conrad's "Heart of Darkness" and Francis Ford Coppola's "Apocalypse Now" the reader learns more and more about human nature as Marlow, Captain Willard, go farther and farther up the river in search of Kurtz. An evil side lies within every man, but this evil remains repressed by society. When moving up the river and farther away from civilization, the evil side begins to break out. Whenever basically different cultures meet we are led to discover ourselves and can even drive us to perceived madness.

In the book Heart of Darkness, a story within a story is being told. The character, Marlow, is telling the story of Kurtz to legitimize his role in the events that are taking place. A downside to this approach is that the reader only hears rumors and accounts about this mysterious figure, Kurtz, before actually meeting him. Kurtz remains an unknown and enigmatic character in Marlow's mind.

He witnesses the heart of darkness. The absolutely corrupted evil mind by greed and thirst for power. Kurtz has become an insane godlike slaver and leader in a native African tribe. He developed extremely high level of self importance and as the result he disconnected with the world and reality. Although, Kurtz started out like Marlow, as noble conqueror. However, there was nobody to check on him, he had no supervisor and as Marlow often said - Kurtz could not restrain himself from the temptation. He entered a state of mind where had no borders anymore, slaying down other tribes and killing for wealth without showing any kind of remorse. For him it became normal or even natural. Kurtz's godlike side also prevails where he claims around him