Similarities Between Heart Of Darkness And Apocalypse Now

Darkness in Human Nature

The Heart of Darkness written by Joseph Conrad, is a tale of a sailor and his leading conquest on the Congo River to uncover the true nature of man. Apocalypse Now, is a film by Francis Ford Coppola set in Vietnam which explores the influences of war on individuals and the effect it plays on them. The Heart of Darkness focuses on the character known as Marlow, as we the audience follow his journey through his perplex view of which that is humanity, and observe the blurred lines of one’s morality. While similarly, Willards voyage in Apocalypse Now sets forth the indistinguishability of self-identity leading to a self-craze of despair and gloom in the vast Vietnam Jungle. The theme of the human nature of individuals

Unlike The Heart of Darkness where the antagonist is usually the one that declines from high morality to low morality, in Apocalypse Now it’s the other way around. Willard the main protagonist suffers from moral deterioration as his order to kill Col. Kurtz becomes more than just an order. Willard soon finds himself perceptive to the darkness around him and his previous tour to Vietnam only breaks him further. General Corman explains the changed morality of man through war while saying, "There's a conflict in every human heart between the rational and the irrational, between good and evil. And good does not always triumph. Sometimes, a dark side overcomes what Lincoln called, 'the better angels of our nature.' Every man has got a breaking point. You and I have them. Walter Kurtz has reached his, and very obviously, he has gone insane." (General Corman 00:15:57) Ironic as it is, General Corman draws parallels to Willards and Col. Kurtzs, to some degree even foreshadowing Willards fate saying he himself will reach this “breaking point” to which he later does. As Willard soon finds himself pursuing the mission of Col. Kurtz, he is placed in a situation where a group of Vietnamese civilians are caught in misfire and some are killed. While one Vietnamese woman remains to be a survivor, Willards group decide to take her, just when Willard goes to shoot her in cold blood for the sake of the mission. This just relates back to General Corman where he says, “Every man has got a breaking point,” (General Corman 00:15:57) implying that Willard has finally reached his. Kurtz says he admires this trait, of one going against their morals and feels like it is needed at points. "You have to have men who are moral and at the same time who are able to utilize their primordial instincts to kill, without feeling, without passion, without