Paul Kurtz

filled with desolation. Its protagonist, Mr. Kurtz, was raised amongst civilized people, adapted virtues that were regarded proper in society during the Victorian era, yet when he travels into the Congo, where these qualities are of no consequence, he abandons them to become wild. To understand how Kurtz fell to this emotional corruptness, a reader must be aware of three main elements that caused his disillusionment: power, greed, and isolation. When Kurtz was living in England, he was a follower

creatures, “... unhappy savages” (20) and “...one of these creatures...” (22). Savages and creatures give the connotation that they were evil and animalistic. His words impact on how we think of the African characters in the novel. A woman with Mr. Kurtz was described as a,“savage and superb, Wild eyed and magnificent” (81). The way she was described left the impression that she was exotic and wanted, yet she was savage and an animal.To

In Apocalypse Now, Willard and Kurtz are parallel figures. Kurtz is labeled as a great soldier who went insane, disregarding his orders and going rogue. Willard, on the other hand, is portrayed as someone who is willing to follow orders. These men appear to be vastly different, yet there are strong parallels between them. Both Willard and Kurtz have become disillusioned with the US involvement in Vietnam. Apocalypse Now uses both stylistic and narrative techniques to show the similarities between

I will focus on the scene after Willard kills Kurtz, where he leaves the hut, machete in hand and sees hundreds of Kurtz’s followers bow to him on his way to the boat. Before he returns, he hesitates at the possibility of becoming Kurtz’s successor, however, decides to return to the small comfort and safety the boat gives him. Both protagonists are not just hunting Kurtz, but a longer search to understand evil and how it exists in all of us and able to be unleashed when the conditions exist. Thus

False God Friedrich Nietzsche once provided one of the truest opinions on power that the world has ever heard when he said, “All things are subject to interpretation whichever interpretation prevails at a given time is a function of power and not truth”. The promises and truths that those who gain power spread to their people are not always for the greater good. The worst leaders of people are the ones that put more effort and thought into jerking off their own ego rather than putting any real heartfelt

and “darkness,” and the idea of restraint and whether or not it is necessary. Conrad’s passage describing the restraint of the hungry cannibals exemplifies both themes:  It describes how reality shapes human behavior, and contrasts the characters of Kurtz and Marlow.  “Reality,” as it is used here, is defined as “that which is civilized.”        Conrad emphasizes the idea of what is real versus what is “dark,” what is civilized versus what is primitive, what colonizes versus what is colonized, repeatedly

think and behave but by the end of the novel we see that Proctor has successfully written his own script. He is able to admit to his wrong doings and goes against the beliefs of his own society. In the book “Heart Of Darkness” by Joseph Conrad, Mr. Kurtz goes against his societies expectations but in my opinion in the end he is unsuccessful. People who follow the script, like every other human being, can be considered to be ordinary people but people who write their own script are considered to be

Relevance of Heart of Darkness Alexander Spirovski LITR 211 Professor David Auchter   Joseph Conrad 's Heart of Darkness contains both relevant and irrelevant elements to today 's society. Issues present in the text such as imperialism, racism, and moral ambiguity are still present today but their formats have changed enough in society that Heart of Darkness approaches obsolescence in perspective. Concurrently, the characters and theme presented in Heart of Darkness are scarce in fictional British

Modern day imperialism is not described as it was in Apocalypse Now but in The Heart of Darkness it does. Though, they may have some similarities you can still tell a difference. Firstly of all is to define what imperialism is; there is a “new” type of imperialism, differing from the “old” one that usually comes to our mind. When we think about imperialism we think about the Roman Empire or Napoleonic invasions. The “old” imperialism only military imperialism, but today’s imperialism shows itself

What makes Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness more than the run of the mill adventure tale, is its moral complexity. By the end of the novel, we find a protagonist who has immense appreciation for a man who lacks honest redemption, the mysterious Mr. Kurtz. It is the literal vivaciousness and unyielding spirit of this man, his pure intentionality, which Marlow finds so entrancing and which leaves the reader with larger questions regarding the human capacity. Therefore, Heart of Darkness is profoundly