Marlow VS. Willard

A detailed Summary of Marlow VS. Willard

Charles Marlow and Captain Willard have many characteristics that would make them alike and different. Marlow, from the novel Heart of Darkness, was a man who was on a mission through Cambodia to find Kurtz. Captain Willard, from the movie "Apocalypse Now", was a man on a mission to exterminate a fellow member of the United States Armed Forces, Kurtz. "Apocalypse Now" is a Vietnam parallel of the novel Heart of Darkness. While both these men were on a search for a man, they both went through many difficult hardships on the way.

Both of the men had different backgrounds before they began their journey. Marlow was an experienced sailor, while Willard was an experienced warrior. Willard was a man who went to hell and back in Vietnam. His soul was already corrupted and only got worse while his journey to Kurtz continued. Marlow was a man who just wanted a job. His experience in sailing was the reason he got into his mission. Marlow takes the place of a captain who was killed by natives while on a similar journey. Willard was a man who was picked by the secret service. He was looked at because of his strong history in the military. The history of both men

On each of their journeys, Willard and Marlow observed so many different things going on around them. While Willard made a stop during a battle, he was trying to find who was in charge. All that was heard was gunfire and cries of young men. "Forward the Light Brigade"(class handout). This was the idea going on around there. The added battles just made the journey for Kurtz more difficult. Marlow encountered a few attacks of his own. The natives didn't take too kindly to his steamer being where it was.

Both Marlow and Willard became obsessed with a man by the name of Kurtz. Marlow wanted to meet Kurtz very bad. He was so fascinated with his accomplishments that he wanted to meet him. Willard, on the other hand, was on a mission. He was sent by American Military forces to do one thing, exterminate Kurtz. While he wanted to meet this man, he knew that he would only decide to kill him when he met this man. Willard knew that he would only be able to do what was wanted of him only if this man in his mind was as insane as the military thought. Marlow's intentions were decided before he even met Kurtz. They both had jobs and were expected to do them, but were they going to?

The surroundings for each man were unique. While both Marlow and Willard had to put up with natives, they had crews that were different. While Marlow had a crew with mostly natives, Willard had a crew of American soldiers who were serving their country. Willard's crew was comprised of mostly young men who had no idea what they were doing. "Come on all of you big strong me," writes Joseph McDonald, "Uncle Sam needs your help again"(Class handouts, McDonald). This would describe the men that were with Willard. None of them knew where they were he

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Approximate Word count = 1175
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Arts