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Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness as a modern novel
Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness as a modern novel
Movie versus literature
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Francis Ford Coppola’s Apocalypse Now is the 1979 epic Vietnam War film based on the novel Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad. However the word ‘based’ as to be called into question as the two differ quite dramatically. The periods in which the two stories are about are completely different, within 70 years of each other, as is the setting and the circumstances. However, through the ideas of savagery and madness character, plot, and the themes which both pieces seem to convey the two stories are very similar and it is clear that Coppola was heavily influenced by Conrad’s Heart of Darkness.
Conrad’s, Heart of Darkness is an excellent tale that demonstrates the difference to what we believe to be an ideal within civilisation and the actual reality of it which is shown through the acts of torture, exploitation and the demeaning and shameful treatment of Africans. Conrad tries to explore the idea of what we believe to be civilised and what we believe to be primitive and savage and shows us that what happened in Africa was not civilised but in fact primitive. Heart of Darkness is narrated by its main protagonist, Marlowe, who is a well trained and seasoned mariner. In Coppola’s ‘Apocalypse now’ the story is focused and narrated by the main character Captain Willard who is a trained U.S. Army operative assigned with the task of going from Vietnam to Cambodia up the Nung river, with the order to kill Colonel Walter Kurtz who as seemingly gone insane. Unlike Kurtz, Marlowe’s character is renamed in Apocalypse now and this is because the two characters, although going on a similar physical journey, are do differ from one and other. Willard, it seems does not share the same philosophical and meaningful insights that Marlowe does on his jo...
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... although obviously not strictly a remake, The African Congo and all of the characters in the book can be seen in Apocalypse now. Putting aside the noticeable differences both stories portray a very similar journey into a savage jungle and an even tougher journey into the characters self. Although the two stories are located in very different parts of the world, in different periods, both of the main characters faced a multitude of varying events that changed their outlook. In Heart of Darkness, Marlow, it seems, learned the value of his life and the overall effects that one individual can have on another. However at the end of Apocalypse Now we are left with a slightly different view of Willard, one that seems to show a disregard for human beings and it’s safe to say that his journey would have put him in a much ‘darker’ place than he was to begin with.
In 1979, Francis Coppola released a film that he said he hoped "would give its audience a sense of the horror, the madness, the sensuousness, and the moral dilemma of the Vietnam war" (as quoted in Hagen 230). His film, Apocalypse Now, based on Joseph Conrad's 1902 novel Heart of Darkness, is the story of Captain Benjamin Willard's (Martin Sheen) journey to the interior of the jungle of Southeastern Asia for the purpose of executing his orders to track down Colonel Walter E. Kurtz (Marlon Brando). Once Kurtz is located, Willard is to "terminate his command with extreme prejudice" because Kurtz has raised an army of deserters and natives, whom he rules over like a fanatical war lord- When Willard finally reaches Kurtz's compound and meets him, he discovers a man who has descended into primitive barbarism. From the beginning of their encounter, Kurtz knows why Willard was sent to find him and makes no effort to stop Willard from slaying him with a machete. With his mission accomplished, Willard boards the boat that will take him. back to civilization.
At the beginning, the two works have plentiful the same “story” (Dorall 303). Heart of Darkness tells a story about Marlow, a young captain. He reserves a commission to research Kurtz. Kurtz is an ivory trader, who works for a Belgian trading company and loses in the Congo jungles. Apocalypse Now’s background is Vietnam War. An American captain Willard gets a mission
One of the many similarities between Heart of Darkness and "Apocalypse Now" is race. Joseph Conrad and Francis Coppola both use white men as the characters that have dominance (Bradley). The white men not only dominate their respective crews, but also the peoples native to the country the white men are visiting. The character Conrad uses, Marlow, and Coppola uses his character, Willard, both look at the natives as though white men are the civilized culture and the native people are the savage culture (Franklin). Both works also reflect the theory that "civilized" white men that go into an uncivilized land become savage and do not return to white civilization. An example of this that is in the book is MarlowÕs appointment with the doctor. The doctor measures Marlow's skull to compare its size at the present time to the size of his skull upon his return from the Congo. The thought is that a civilized manÕs skull is a different size than a savage's skull. When Marlow asks the doctor how what the results of this test have been in the past, the doctor comments that there are none because no civilized person has ever returned from the Congo. An example of this in the movie is when Willard faces his own personality of whether or not to complete his soldierly mission of killing Kurtz or to abort it. If he completes the mission he is still civil, if he does not, the Vietnam jungle has conquered him. The first soldier that is sent to kill Kurtz did not kill Kurtz, but in fact became one of his followers.
The character of Marlow is renamed Willard in Apocalypse Now. This is noteworthy; the character of Kurtz has the same name in both the text and the film, so why not Marlow? “This is probably because the character of Kurtz in the film is almost identical to that in the book, whereas Willard is very different from Marlow” (Benner, 34). Kurtz is the person who has disconnected himself from society; he is not tied to any particular era, so his character works just as effectively in the 20th century as in the 19th. However, Marlow is the ordinary person in Heart of Darkness - the one ordinary man in the entire book, more-or-less; he is what ties the book into the society of ...
Although one is a book and the other is a movie, both Apocalypse Now which is directed by Francis Ford Coppola and Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad portray very detailed scenes by using various elements in their respective works. A scene is particular that stands out is the death of the helmsman which contains many similarities but also many differences between the two works. Similarities like the iconic fog that appears serve to convey a message of the helpless that the characters feel because at the mystery of their surroundings and of the uncertainly of what their tasks.
Apocalypse Now is a presentation of imperialism in a more contemporary setting, the Vietnam War, to which more people can relate. Heart of Darkness is a classic imperialistic novel portraying the same basic events in Apocalypse Now. However, because Apocalypse Now is visual representation, it is more widely accepted than Heart of Darkness. Despite the contrasts, they both show the ignorance of imperialism and the destruction and selfishness it displays.
“Under an overcast sky — seemed to lead into the heart of an immense darkness.” This is the last line of the book Heart of Darkness and it summed up the setting and tone of the book. Apocalypse Now is an epic war film made in 1979 set in Vietnam directed by Francis Ford Coppola. It is based on the book Heart of Darkness. The settings of both the book and the movie are very different; they take place in completely different places. However, their effects are very similar to each other and shown in a variety of ways: in character development, cultural aspects, as well as thematically.
In the movie, Apocalypse Now, based on the Vietnam War, the director portrays the reality of war, a very traumatic place, and leads viewers through the painful reality that left many warriors with everlasting nightmares and disturbing memories. As is most great war-related films, the overarching message is pointed towards viewer understanding of the Vietnam War. The director did this by exemplifying the positives and negatives of the war, so that all viewers can learn from these historical events and prevent similar wars in the future. The director uses many literary elements in Apocalypse Now such as setting, characterization, and theme to further the understanding of the message.
The story of Heart of Darkness is narrated by its central character, the seasoned mariner Marlowe, a recurring figure in Conrad's work. "Apocalypse Now" features a corollary to Marlowe in Captain Willard, a U.S. Army special forces operative assigned to go up the Nung river from Viet Nam into Cambodia in order to "terminate the command" of one Colonel Walter Kurtz whom, he is told, has gone totally insane. It is fitting that Marlowe's character should be renamed, as Willard differs from Marlowe in several significant ways: 1) He is not the captain of the boat which takes him and a party of others up the river; 2) He does not reflect the deep psychological and philosophical insights that are a signal feature in Marlowe's character, and 3) He is sent on his mission specifically to kill Kurtz, unlike Marlowe who is simply piloting others in the capacity of captain of a steamboat. However, Willard does communicate Marlowe's fascination (growing, in fact, into an obsession) with Kurtz. Also significant is the fact that he holds the rank of captain, tying in with Marlowe's occupation.
Both Conrad’s, “Heart of Darkness”, and Coppola’s, “Apocalypse Now”, profoundly illustrate the journey of man into their inner self and man’s encounters with their insanity, fears and demise. The novella and film are comprised of numerous pivotal themes that facilitate the understanding of the deeper meaning of both works. Fundamentally, theme is an extensive message or idea expressed by an author and is a crucial element of literature since it sheds light on universal concepts. The most striking parallels that can be formulated when comparing themes in both the novella and the film are associated with human nature. Specifically, Conrad and Coppola incorporate theme of hypocrisy in order to portray man’s incredible potential for evil.
This essay consists of two separate parts but the intention is that both these parts will prove to be relevant from the point of view of what this essay sets out to study. The first part will present Joseph Conrad's life and some of his works and the latter part will consist of a comparison of two of Conrad's works, Heart of Darkness and The Secret Agent. In this essay I will begin from two assumptions, namely, that both the works mentioned above include clearly identifiable similarities in their narration, theme and method, and, that Conrad's own experiences and views have had great effect on both works.
Francis Coppola’s movie Apocalypse Now was inspired by the world famous Joseph Conrad novel Heart of Darkness. A comparison and contrast can be made between the two. Both have similar themes but entirely different settings. Heart of Darkness takes place on the Congo River in the Heart of Africa, while Apocalypse Now is set in Vietnam.
“ The conquest of the earth, which mostly means the taking it away from those who have a different complexion or slightly flatter noses than ourselves, is not a pretty thing when you look into it too much.” (Conrad 65) So stated Marlow as though this was his justification for ravaging the Congo in his search for ivory. Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness shows the disparity between the European ideal of civilization and the reality of it as is evidenced by the domination, torture, exploitation and dehumanization of the African population. Heart of Darkness is indicative of the evil and greed in humanity as personified by Kurtz and Marlow.
The most obvious contrast found in Heart of Darkness is between that of light and dark. In the beginning of the novel when the sun set upon London, the city began to light up yet the narrator describes the light as a "lurid glare under the stars" (Conrad 6). The lights from the city illuminated the Thames River. Because London is described as being light, the light then symbolizes civilization, or at least Conrad's view of civilization. Conrad's view of civilization is one of great despise. Civilization is a place where evil is ever present but ignored and people believe they know everything. The light is the knowledge that we have gained through exploration and the civilizing of places that have not yet been civilized. In contrast there is the darkness. Represented in the novel by Africa and the Congo River, the darkness is the evil that lurks in the unknown. The darkness is full of savages and cannibals. It is the uncivilized and uninhabited part of the world where people eat people and the savages lurk in the trees and in the darkness. Africa is the "heart of darkness," the place where man's inner evil is brought out in the open and is displayed through their thoughts and actions, such as those on Marlow's boat, letting the bullets fly into the jungle without reason or need.
Watts, Cedric. Conrad’s Heart of Darkness: A Critical and Contextual Discussion. Milan: Mursia International, 1977.