Comparing Heart of Darkness and Apocalypse Now
Heart of Darkness written by Joseph Conrad and "Apocalypse Now" a movie directed by Francis Coppola are two works that parallel one another but at the same time reflect their own era in time and their creator's own personal feelings and prejudices. "Apocalypse Now" was released in 1979 after two years in the making, as Coppola's modern interpretation to Joseph Conrad's novel, Heart of Darkness (Harris). Conrad's book is an excellent example of the advances writers and philosophers made in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. This advance deals with civilized humanity's ability to be prepared for and know the unknown. (Johnson) Comparatively, Copolla's movie does the same in the late 1970's. "Apocalypse Now" dares to breach the edges of soldier sanity in a stressful and protested Vietnam War.
One of the many similarities between Heart of Darkness and "Apocalypse Now" is race. Joseph Conrad and Francis Coppola both use white men as the characters that have dominance (Bradley). The white men not only dominate their respective crews, but also the peoples native to the country the white men are visiting. The character Conrad uses, Marlow, and Coppola uses his character, Willard, both look at the natives as though white men are the civilized culture and the native people are the savage culture (Franklin). Both works also reflect the theory that "civilized" white men that go into an uncivilized land become savage and do not return to white civilization. An example of this that is in the book is MarlowÕs appointment with the doctor. The doctor measures Marlow's skull to compare its size at the present time to the size of his skull upon his return from the Congo. The thought is that a civilized manÕs skull is a different size than a savage's skull. When Marlow asks the doctor how what the results of this test have been in the past, the doctor comments that there are none because no civilized person has ever returned from the Congo. An example of this in the movie is when Willard faces his own personality of whether or not to complete his soldierly mission of killing Kurtz or to abort it. If he completes the mission he is still civil, if he does not, the Vietnam jungle has conquered him. The first soldier that is sent to kill Kurtz did not kill Kurtz, but in fact became one of his followers.
By the second part of the play, Hannah is working at a Mormons visitor center in New York and simultaneously taking care of Harper. Joe meanwhile is beginning his first relationship with a man, Louis. Both Joe and Hannah are opening up; Joe living out his homosexual tendencies and Hannah being exposed to absurd circumstances such as the meeting of prior. Prior in many ways becomes Hannah's first real recognition of homosexuality. Prior, who is surviving with A. I. D. S visits the Mormon center, where he falls severely ill and ends up being saved by Hannah.
Initially Pearl is the symbol of Hesters public punishment for her adultery. As the novel progresses and Pearl matures she symbolizes the deteriation of Hester's like by constantly asking her about the scarlet letter "A". Pearl in a sense wants her mother to live up to her sin and, she achieves this by constantly asking her about the scarlet letter. Another peice of evidence that shows how Pearl symbolizes the sin Hester has committed, is when the town government wants to take Pearl away from her Revrend Dimmsdale convinces the government that Pearl is a living reminder of her sin. This is essentialy true, Hester without Pearl is like having Hester without sin.
Pearl’s ever-changing moods and temperaments secure her as Hawthorne’s most prominent symbol in The Scarlet Letter. Pearl, the impish girlish creature, symbolizes many elements in Hawthorne’s book. Hester’s love for Pearl is never misplaced in the tale, but the reader gains a sense of contempt. Hester believes that without Pearl, she would not have survived the seven long years of exile from the Puritan society. Her daughter’s varying personality traits brings about a sense of joy and a change in her monotonous life.
The Scarlet Letter, written by Nathaniel Hawthorne, includes a variety of symbolism, which plays a significant role in the book. The most significant symbol in The Scarlet Letter is Hester Prynne's daughter, Pearl, whom Hester bore as a result of her sin of adultery. Hester "named the infant "Pearl" as being of great price, -purchased with all she had, -her mother's only treasure!"(Hawthorne 75) As a consequence for Hester's sin, she is forced to wear the letter "A", for adultery, on her chest for the rest of her life. However, the scarlet letter is not the most severe consequence for her sin, Pearl gives Hester the most grief, "the scarlet letter in another form". (Hawthorne 84) Yet, if it were not for Pearl, Hester would not have been able to survive the pure agony of life itself. Pearl is like the wild red rose outside the prison door, giving Hester hope that everything would turn out positive. Pearl is not just a mere token of sin, her purpose is much greater- she symbolizes the love affair of Hester and Dimmesdale, Hester's passionate nature, she is a living daily punishment to Hester, and a living conscience for Dimmesdale. Yet, Pearl is the one who saves Hester from death and Dimmesdale from eternal sorrow. She forces Hester to live on and kisses Dimmesdale to show her filial love. She both guides them and teaches them the true lessons of life.
No matter how hard she tries, Hester cannot make her child obey. Pearl “could not be made amenable to rules” (Hawthorne, 1994, p. 62). Since Pearl was created out of a sinful desire, she represents sin itself, and what comes from it. Being created out of disobedience to God, Pearl could not obey. Everything that Pearl does comes back to a strange obsession with “the scarlet letter on Hester’s bosom” (Hawthorne, 1994, p. 66). When Pearl plays, she “took some eel-grass, and imitated, as best she could, on her own bosom, the decoration with which she was so familiar on her mother’s. A letter,--the letter A,--but freshly green, instead of scarlet!” (Hawthorne, 1994, p. 122). She creates a scarlet letter for her own breast, after which Hester has to explain why Pearl should not wear one (Hawthorne, 1994, p. 122). When Hester takes the letter off, she feels a freedom she has not felt for years, but Pearl becomes angry and wants Hester to put it back on, thus putting the guilt and grief back into her mother’s life. This represents how sin holds one back from a freedom that is found from forgiveness in God’s grace. Because Hester has trouble making Pearl obey, this makes many of the people believe she had a demon, thus representing
Because of Pearl's banishment from Puritan society she was thrown to another way of life and her wildness and peculiarity is a direct product of her banishment. Her character acts as a mysterious and interesting symbol in The Scarlet Letter. Pearl is an important character, as she is a constant reminder to Hester, as well as to the reader, of the sin of Hester. She contributes largely to the themes of the novel through her unusual history. The one character that seems to play the most uninvolved role in the novel is one of the most forceful symbols and individual throughout.
Francis Coppola’s movie Apocalypse Now was inspired by the world famous Joseph Conrad novel Heart of Darkness. A comparison and contrast can be made between the two. Both have similar themes but entirely different settings. Heart of Darkness takes place on the Congo River in the Heart of Africa, while Apocalypse Now is set in Vietnam.
The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne is a novel that shows the Puritanical way of life. Society does not accept the fact that Hester has committed the sin of adultery so they cast her out by making her wear a scarlet letter 'A' across her chest. Pearl is the product of Hester's sin, the scarlet letter is the product of society. This idea shows that Pearl is the scarlet letter and the scarlet letter is Pearl. There are many ways in which Pearl is shown to be as the scarlet letter because she is considered to be a part of nature, she is the physical connection between Dimmesdale and Hester, and Pearl is the reason that makes Dimmesdale and Hester to finally accept their sin and make their confession in front of society and the people within society. The reasons are listed in this manner because in the first one nature is a stronger force that human force, then comes her connection between Dimmesdale and Hester because she is the natural connection which is a link from the first one to the second and also her being the reason Dimmesdale and Hester accepting the sin is last because there is a stronger connection between the child and the parents here which is linked from the previous reason.
The world religions of Islam and Christianity may have their differences to the naked eye, but when you take a closer look into their histories similarities arise. They both went through transformations that had drastic impacts on the way they were controlled and the way that the religion was taught to the followers. Christianity and Islam have both experienced splits between their members due to the fact that followers thought that their beliefs were the correct way to practice the religion. While these transformations are long in the past, the splits that have occurred within each religion continue to have lasting effects on Islam and Christianity to this day.
Both Conrad’s, “Heart of Darkness”, and Coppola’s, “Apocalypse Now”, profoundly illustrate the journey of man into their inner self and man’s encounters with their insanity, fears and demise. The novella and film are comprised of numerous pivotal themes that facilitate the understanding of the deeper meaning of both works. Fundamentally, theme is an extensive message or idea expressed by an author and is a crucial element of literature since it sheds light on universal concepts. The most striking parallels that can be formulated when comparing themes in both the novella and the film are associated with human nature. Specifically, Conrad and Coppola incorporate theme of hypocrisy in order to portray man’s incredible potential for evil.
On the surface Christianity and Islam have their very obvious differences, but at their core they hold many similarities. Both religions have monotheistic beliefs, meaning they believe that there is only one God. Both religions also have similar guidelines to their respective religion, The Five Pillars and The Ten Commandments. They do though; have different ways of worship, different holy cities and also different sacred writings.
Achebe argues that the racist observed in the Heart of Darkness is expressed due to the western psychology or as Achebe states “desire,” this being to show Africa as an antithesis to Europe. He first states Conrad as “one of the great stylists of modern fiction.” [pg.1] He praises Conrad’s talents in writing but believes Conrad’s obvious racism has not been addressed. He later describes in more detail that Conrad’s “methods amount to no more than a steady, ponderous, fake-ritualistic repetition of two antithetical sentences.”
The two religions are monotheistic and have faith in one single God, but Islam alludes to the same god, as Allah. The two religions are focused around diverse teachings. Christianity is focused around the life and teachings of Jesus Christ, and Islam is focused around the teachings of the prophet Muhammad. In Christianity, Jesus Christ the child of God is accepted to be sent to earth to spare humankind from sins, and in Islam
Heart of Darkness is a story in which racism presents itself so deliberately that, for many, the dilemma of race must be tackled before anything else in the book may be dealt with. Conrad used derogatory, outdated and offensive terminology for devaluation of people’s color as savages. This use of language disturbs many readers who read this book.
Although she uncontrollable, wild, and self-willed, she looks and feels the scarlet letter by herself not by other people’s thinking. Hester is a kind, and friendly. The A is an angel for her. She is the reason Hester lives bravely and strongly. ‘‘And there stood the minister, with his hand over his heart; and Hester Prynne, with the embroidered letter glimmering on her bosom; and little Pearl, herself a symbol, and the connecting link between those two’’ (Hawthorne 106). Her being encourages Hester and Dimmesdale to face the cruel society. The A becomes the sincerest and noblest symbol of love in her eyes. Hawthorne expresses those Puritan in the town prejudge Hester for her scarlet letter. Nevertheless, Pearl perceives that her mother is generous and beautiful. Hawthorne condemns Puritan’s fool through the description of link between Pearl, scarlet letter, and