Heart of Darkness and Apocalypse Now
Joseph Conrad once wrote, "the individual consciousness was destined to be in total contradiction to its physical and moral environment" (Watt 78); the validity of his statement is reflected in the physiological and psychological changes that the characters in both his Heart of Darkness and Coppola's Apocalypse Now undergo as they travel up their respective rivers, the Congo and the Nung. Each journey up the tropical river is symbolic of "a voyage of discovery into the dark heart of man, and an encounter with his capacity for evil" (Phillips 149). In such a voyage the characters regress to their basic instincts as they assimilate themselves into "an alien world with its primeval dangers" (Boyle 96). In Heart of Darkness, going up the river is described to be like:"travelling back to the earliest beginnings of the world, when vegetation rioted on the earth and the big trees were kings. An empty stream, a great silence, and impenetrable forest ... " (Conrad 55). The river, one which "resemble[s] an immense snake uncoiled ... with its tail lost in the depths of the land" (Conrad 11), is "dangerous, dark, mysterious, treacherous, [and] concealed" (Karl 32). When the characters are unable to withstand the various temptations along
In addition to these numerous shifts in the ambiance, the events that occur along the respective river journeys also illustrate their advancing into the "heart of an impenetrable darkness" (Conrad 79). In Heart of Darkness, signs of physical fatigue of the crew have escalated along the journey. Marlow first complains of his physical misalignment with his limbs when he reaches the abandoned hut, and later claims to have been "increasingly hungry for at least [a] month past" (Conrad 67) when they fish aboard. In Apocalypse Now, such signs are most evident in the failing luster in the eyes of Willard and his crew, as well as the growing 'wear and tear' of their bodies seen in the movie. The physical deterioration can be attributed to numerous events such as the attack of the tiger, which symbolizes the evilness of nature, the 'fire in the canopy' caused by supposedly American comrades, and the battle at the Do Long Bridge amidst a 'confused, hallucinatory, and nightmarish' atmosphere. Like a pre-planned series of ripples caused by a stone thrown into the water, these events portray rings of obstacles that the crew faces as they proceed with their journeys. with a machine gun and give them a bandaid. It was a lie, and the more I saw of them, the more I hated lies." this passage they helplessly sell their souls to corruption. In both the book and the movie, the various events along each individual journey help illustrate not only the physical deterioration of the environment and the characters' health but also the psychological degradation of the characters' conscience and consciousness. Willard's crew also experiences this process of moral deterioration compared to the pilgrims in Heart of Darkness, they are given more space for development of character. Lance demonstrates his acceptance of the 'surrounding evils' by first camouflaging his face and then volunteering to go with Willard on his mission at the Do Lung Bridge, specified by the Lieutenant Carlson as "arsehole of the world". Chef, shattered by his encounter with the tiger and the merciless killing of the innocent girl which he ignites by yelling "let's kill 'em all", also develops by gaining courage to confront the 'hollow core of darkness at Kurtz's camp in Cambodia with Willard and Lance. Clean is amiable and carefree, and his death while listening to his mother "pleading with him to come back home in one piece" (Dorall 304) is a most embittered moment in the film. Nevertheless, his death is a direct result of his leaving his position, allowing for the enclosing corruptness to "spread its claws and consume him" (Watt 90). The other black is Chief, who becomes more hostile towards Willard as the journey proceeds; this increased dissonance concerning the hierarchy of power in the boat finally leads to direct verbal conflict; near his death, he even tries to pull Willard towards the tip of the spear which robbed his life away from him. "the acutest analysis of the deterioration of a white man's morale when let loose from European restraint and planted down in the tropics as an 'emissary of light' armed to the teeth, to make trade profits out of the 'subject races" (Watt 81). These interwoven senses of uneasiness, shame and lack of conscience are reflected in Marlow's reactions towards the book An Inquiry into some Points of Seamanshi
Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 2248
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page double spaced)
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