Heart of Darkness vs. Apocalypse Now!

Based on Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness written in the late- Victorian era, Apocalypse Now! gives a modern interpretation of the novella. Francis Ford Coppola’s film takes place in Vietnam War where he examines America’s foreign policies in the 1960’s. Conrad, on the other hand, recreates the effects of British colonialism in Africa. Both protagonists, Willard from Apocalypse Now! and Marlow from Heart of Darkness, travel upstream along the massive trees that hug the banks on a mission to find Kurtz. As they travel further into the heart of darkness, they forget about the rules and regulations of society, and experience the absurdities of evil and savage nature of the jungle and war. The similarities and contrasts between Willard and Marlow are worth further examination to see their transitions as characters, responses to foreign land, and causes and effects of meeting Kurtz.

In the novella, Marlow begins in the present on boat where he is traveling back toward England. Marlow, with his “sunken cheeks, yellow complexion,” reflects back and tells his story of his journey in Africa to the crew on board (Conrad 66). He reveals that through his aunt, Marlow finds a job in the Company as the captain. Marlow’s sole mission was to travel through Congo River in Africa and retrieve Kurtz back to England. Apocalypse Now!, however, introduces a mindless, wasting, and drunken soldier, Willard, who is waiting for an assignment in the Vietnam War. Willard abuses alcohol until he is finally called to find and execute Kurtz, a highly ranked but “insane” general according to the American army.

Marlow embarking on a journey upriver on the Congo River and Willard on the Nung River, they both witness the atrocities of foreign invasion. Marlow se...

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...d. In the film, Willard remarks that Kurtz is “clear in the mind but mad in the soul” (Coppola). The statement that Kurtz is a “broken man” is continually reinforced. He was first broken from society and later broken from himself. Eventually, Willard kills Kurtz and Kurtz dies as an honorable soldier. However, this does not occur in the novella in which Kurtz naturally dies from malaria.

Aside from some differences of the characters, setting, and time period, director Francis Ford Coppola stays true to Conrad’s theme of isolation and the innate natural brutality that all humans possess. What Marlow and Willard both share in common is their determination ability to push on. Through the observations and personal experience in Africa and Vietnam, Marlow and Willard highlights a person’s susceptibility to fall under the dark side when he or she is isolated from society.