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Comparison of Heart of Darkness and Apocalypse Now Writing his Heart of Darkness Joseph Conrad could not have envisioned that Francis Ford Coppola would transform initial story of a man sent to Africa into epic picture of the Vietnam War. From the critical point of view, Coppola managed to maintain the spirit of Conrad's work extending the ideas of Apocalypse Now beyond the battlefield. Paths, paths everywhere; a stamped in network of paths spreading over empty land (Conrad, 39) This citation characterizes Coppola's decision to make the story of the journey to the heart of darkness basing it on Conrad's ideas, however, in some choices Coppola did forge his own path. Both Apocalypse Now and Heart of Darkness leave their audiences in great moral confusion, however Coppola utilizes radically different interpretations of Conrad's characters to gain the effect. Simultaneously, the novel and the film reveal a moral dilemma around actions of Kurtz in respect to the ideals of the institution he comes from.
However, Coppola again deflects from Conrad's story by portraying Kurtz as a mystical monster rather than the man beyond good and evil. In Heart of Darkness the business institution reacts to the atrocities of Kurtz as being unsound and bad for business and never considers decapitations and ruthless killings to be unmoral. Hagen qualifies this issue as a separation of reason from civilized morality actually causing Marlow to prefer the nightmare of Kurtz. According to Hagen under those circumstances it is better to commit atrocities than to consider them wrong on the basis of efficiency (Hagen, 294). The main confusion for the audience is to judge what the lesser of two evils is, Kurtz or the business. In Apocalypse Now all the visual imagery is designed to reveal the evil nature of Kurtz's compound.
Slain heads, the murders and the savage treatment of Willard make the audience to be repulsive towards the scene. Simultaneously, Colonel Kilgores actions along with images of injured children confuse further the moral judgment of the audience, splitting it between the military and the evil Kurtz. In Heart of Darkness Conrad utilizes Marlow's character as a lens through which author tells the story of the jungle (Labrasca, 290). The audience perceives Marlow as an eloquent and confident seaman and trusts him (Labrasca, 289).
However, Coppola produces Willard as a weakened form of Marlow in order to secure audiences reactions from Willard's viewpoint. Opposite to Marlow, Willard feels guilty about his past and doubts himself. Therefore, without sympathy and trust to Willard's character the audience cannot filter the story through the latter, and thus should comprehend the story through neutral form of camera angels. According to storylines Willard and Marlow must both get acquainted with Kurtz, however each encounters a different one. Marlow faces Kurtz, which constitutes a vestige of hope left on the honest personality (Labrasca, 290). Marlow explains that there was nothing either above or below him...
he had kicked himself free of the earth in order to accomplish his ultimate objective ivory (Dorall, 305). Conrad's Kurtz is pragmatic and effective, without any rules standing between him and his purpose, because he stands above right and wrong, good and evil. According to Hagen Coppola's Kurtz is indefinable in terms of huge presence of evil around him (Hagen 300). During the first meeting of Willard and Kurtz, the lightning and long shots as well as slow editing of the scene are used in order to promote the domination of Kurtz Wilmington 285). Kurtz is portrayed as a mythical monster, which does not have clearly defined personal purpose, thus he is exercising ultimate will for no clear intent (Labrasca, 291).
Having no defined reason for his ruthlessness, Kurtz's character is used to deliver Coppola's political message regarding the war in Vietnam, in particular its futility and invalidity. Both Conrad's and Coppola's stories confuse the moral issues in the minds of their audiences in the world and circumstances most people dare not enter. Enigmatic character of Kurtz, his charisma and cult tempts the audience to join his fatal the horror, the horror world. Once the last lines are read and shots are comprehended the audience remains with a feeling of being carried away from the truth of things, within the toil of a mournful and senseless delusion (Conrad 30). Bibliography Conrad, Joseph.
Heart of Darkness. New York: Penguin, 1999 Wilmington M. Worth the Wait: Apocalypse Now. Boston Books, 1997 Labrasca R. Two Visions of The horror! New York: Frederick Ungar, 1999 Hagen W.
Heart of Darkness and the Process of Apocalypse Now. Cleveland, OH Publishing, 2001 Dorall E. Conrad and Coppola: Different Centres of Darkness. Hyperion Press, 1999
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Research essay sample on Comparison Of Heart Darkness And Apocalypse Now
