Heart of Darkness vs. Apocalypse Now

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.

The Vietnam war was an absolutely brutal time in American history. The war lasted for the majority of the 1960s and left many young men dead. The short story “The Things They Carried” by Tim O’Brien and the film Dear America: Letters Home from Vietnam give us just a glance into the war by giving using the three themes of fear, pressures, and blame/guilt to embody the concept of war and how it absolutely changes a person. War not only destroys countries, but it destroys people.

Prior to the meeting with Kurtz, both Marlow and Willard encounter a peculiar man, in Heart of Darkness, it is the Harlequin, in Apocalypse Now, the Photojournalist - who is essentially based on the Harlequin. Both characters serve to provide final insight regarding the current disposition of Kurtz, before the inevitable meeting. Like the Harlequin, the Photojournalist views Kurtz as “a great man” and views himself as “a little man.” Thus both characters share feelings of self-doubt, a sort of insecurity, in which they feel themselves to be of less significance than “Mr.” Kurtz, despite their own achievements - as venturing this deep into the jungle, is by no means an easy task. While he does not hesitate to use violence, Kurtz is described more prominently a good speaker, in essence, “a poet warrior in the classical sense”, whose intriguing philosophical insights have enlightened both characters, as the Photojournalist concludes: “The man’s enlarged my mind.” It is the willingness of both the Harlequin and the Photojournalist to cave in to Kurtz’s words, that perhaps marks their own descents into darkness, as despite witnessing the atrocities committed by Kurtz, they fail to refute their view on Kurtz, instead choosing to defend him, as the Harlequin states: “you can’t judge Mr. Kurtz as you would an ordinary man.” The most profound difference between the two is their influence (or lack thereof) on the protagonist. While the Harlequin is convinced by Marlow to abandon Kurtz, the Photojournalist stays by Kurtz’s side with absolute conviction, and it is his profound rant that perhaps forces Willard to question everything his prejudices on Kurtz. The Photojournalist attempts to enlighten Willard, he questions Willard, asking: “why would… you want to kill Kurtz?... Because

“War does not determine who is right - only who is left.” ~ Bertrand Russell. The famous quote from Bertrand Russell describes the reality of war. War only lets the powerful and the wealthy side win and not the righteous side. On an average 378,000 people die each year at war while 1,450,000 people died in the Vietnam war. The Vietnam war started on 1 November 1955 and lasted until 30 April 1975. The war was fought between the North Vietnamese Communist government and the South Vietnamese Communist rebels known as the Viet Cong against the non-Communist South Vietnamese government and their ally U.S.A. The war destroyed the life of both, the North and South Vietnamese along with the other nations that took part in it. More than 1 million people were killed including civilians and over 3 million injured. Thousand were wives were left widows and hundreds of kids orphans. After consistent protests by the Americans, U.S.A withdrew from the later stages of war. The Vietnam War is a depiction that wars are murky and filthy and should be circumvented as they bring agony and desolation to the people. To show this I used three different mediums which are - Political Cartoon “Name a

The Vietnam War was a conflict, which the United States involved itself in unnecessarily and ultimately lost. The basis of the conflict was simple enough: Communism vs. Capitalism, yet the conduct of the Vietnam War was complex and strategic, and brought repercussions which had never been seen before. The struggle between North and South had an almost inevitable outcome, yet the Americans entered the War optimistic that they could aid the falling South and sustain democracy. The American intentions for entering the Vietnam conflict were good, yet when the conflict went horribly wrong, and the resilient North Vietnamese forces, or ‘Viet Cong' as they were known, refused to yield, the United States saw they were fighting a losing battle.

The Vietnam War and the war against terrorism are highly unpopular and controversial wars amongst American citizens. The United States went to war in Vietnam to keep their sphere of influence and to stop the spread of communism, and they went to war against ISIS to stop terrorism. Even though these wars don’t provide any direct benefits to us, the government deemed them to be necessary. However, many American citizens believe that these wars did not need to happen in the first place. Despite differentiating opinions, the Vietnam War and the war against terrorism are very comparable because of their similarities, but also their differences.

Howard Zinn says it best when he writes that “from 1964 to 1972, the wealthiest and most powerful nation in the history of the world made a maximum military effort, with everything short of atomic bombs, to defeat a nationalist revolutionary movement in a tiny peasant country – and failed” (Zinn, 460). Zinn does not mince words when expressing his thoughts about the Vietnam War, because as Zinn says, Vietnam was basically a modern portrayal of David vs. Goliath. One could even go as far as to say that Vietnam was in essence a case of mass genocide in Vietnam. Thousands and thousands of Vietnamese and America soldiers were killed along with thousands upon thousands of innocent, Vietnamese citizens. War is an infectious disease and the Vietnam War is a perfect example of how deadly of a disease war can be. Everybody involved in the Vietnam War was affected, whether it was Vietnamese citizens, Vietnamese soldiers, American soldiers, or even American citizens back home. The disease that was the Vietnam War infected the hearts and minds of two countries half way across the world from each other.

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.

The man known as Marlow is the ever thinking expeditionist in Conrad's Heart of Darkness. Captain Benjamin Willard is the rugged soldier that exists as Marlow's likeness in Copolla's film . There are direct similiarities to these two men other then the fact that they are from dominant angelo powers and are directed on a mission to find a man gone missing. Both of these men are insightful and have an eye looking to those around them. Marlow doesn't entirely trust the company he works for the same that can be said about Willard as he does declare their words to be "Lies all Lies." Willard and Marlow are

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.

     The film also depicts the character of Kurtz in a very different light. Conrad builds up the appearance of Kurtz so much that his first scene is intentionally anti-climactic. He is discovered to be an ailing, elderly gentlemen, malnourished and on the verge of death. Marlow himself is simultaneously impressed with and disappointed by Kurtz. He enjoys listening to the old man’s philosophies, but he is let down by Kurtz’s lack of realistic thinking. He has clearly lost his mind, and with it, some of his credibility and mysticism.

The Heart of Darkness written by Joseph Conrad and Apocalypse Now by Francis Ford Coppola are both stories of man traveling down river to save an ill Kurtz. Apocalypse Now is the movie adaptation with some director changes of Conrad’s Heart of Darkness. The two stories telling the bone chilling truth about the affects war has on the individual. Even though character names, and the setting of the two pieces are different, the main concept portrayed is the same. Both Apocalypse Now and Heart of Darkness deal with the dismaying side of expansionism and colonization.

Aboard the steamboat are the natives or “savages” that the members of the crew have taken as slaves to do their jobs. This is when Marlow starts to realize just how much colonization has done to Africa. He saw Africa as darkness because it was unknown to him, but when he realized that London was dark because of the greed and evil of the people. They came into the Congo to try and bring light to these savages and in the end he found out that the darkness was everywhere especially in the civilized cities. They hid behind fear and laws to keep them safe from the darkness, which in turn made them, feel above everybody else.

      In both Apocalypse Now and Heart of Darkness certain elements of darkness attempt to show how deep one must look inside themselves to discover the truth. Conrad portrays the idea of the darkness of the human heart through things such as the interior of the jungle and it's immensity, the Inner Station, and Kurtz's own twisted deeds. Coppola's heart of darkness is represented by the madness of the Vietnam War and how even to look for a purpose in it all; is itself quite mad.