Elements of Darkness in Apocalypse Now and Heart of Darkness

In Heart of Darkness and Apocalypse Now, both Joseph Conrad and Francis Ford Coppola create similar statements through their creations as they both centralize their views upon the effects of environmental changes that affect the human condition. The film Apocalypse Now vaguely reflects a similar message pursued by Conrad’s novella, due to the difference in time period, place setting, and circumstances in which the film was created. Conrad wrote his novella during British colonization, focusing upon imperialism. Coppola’s film similarly focused upon the barbaric nature of man, which demonstrates the insanity of the Vietnam War. In Heart of Darkness, Conrad centers his main focus upon the journey of Marlow, a sailor, who travels into

In the novella Heart of Darkness, and the film Apocalypse Now, both Joseph Conrad and Francis Ford Coppola question the supposed dichotomy between civilized society and uncivil savagery. Although both the novella and the film differ in setting, Africa and Vietnam respectively, both [uncover] man’s primeval nature, as their protagonists journey down the respective rivers, and descend into the heart of darkness. Perhaps the most significant aspect in the journeys of both Marlow and Willard, is witnessing the psychological breakdown of “civilized” men as their removal from society and exposure to the primitive practices of the “savages” living in the jungle, unleashes their own primordial instincts. This frightening observation effectively conveys

    Within the text of Heart of Darkness, the reader is presented with many metaphors. Those that recur, and are most arresting and notable, are light and dark, nature and Kurtz and Marlow. The repeated use of light and dark imagery represents civilization and primitiveness, and of course the eternal meaning of good and evil. However, the more in depth the reader goes the more complex it becomes. Complex also are the meanings behind the metaphors of nature included within the text. It represents a challenge for the colonists, often also signifying decay and degeneration. Finally Kurtz and Marlow represent imperialism and the colonists. All these metaphors come together and contribute not only to

When Joseph Conrad sat down to write Heart of Darkness over a century ago he decided to set his tale amidst his own country's involvement in the African Congo. Deep in the African jungle his character would make his journey to find the Captain gone astray. Over eighty years later Francis Ford Coppola's Willard would take his journey not in Afica but in the jungles of South Asia. Coppola's Film, Apocalypse Now uses the backdrop of the American Vietnam War yet the similarities between the Conrad's novel and Coppola's film remains constant and plenty.

following the story line of the Heart of Darkness is amazing although the settings of each story are from completely different location and time periods. From the jungle of the Congo in Africa to the Nung river in Vietnam, Joseph Conrad's ideals are not lost. In both the book and the movie, the ideas of good and evil, whiteness, darkness, and racism are clear. Also, characterization in both the novel and the movie are very similar. Both The Heart of Darkness and Apocalypse Now examine the good and evil in human

Francis Ford Coppola’s Apocalypse Now lacks the impact of its inspiration, Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness. While the basic elements of imperialism and human nature remain intact, the characters of the film bare little resemblance to their literary counterparts. The film serves as a re-interpretation of Conrad’s novella, updated from 19th-century British imperialism in the Congo to a critique of 20th-century U.S. imperialism in Southeast Asia. Coppola’s changes in setting and plot structure, however, force the film to sacrifice the character development so crucial in the literary work. This detracts from the overall effectiveness of the film.

When Marlow went on his journey, he expected to meet a man with qualities so admirable that it was ineffable. He traveled many miles to meet Kurtz. Kurtz was said to be loved and adored by all who met him. Marlow anticipated that he would be a true renaissance man. When Marlow finally does meet Kurtz, he comes to the cantankerous realization that Kurtz has turned into a savage just as the natives whom he lived among. This shows Conrad’s negative attitude towards human nature and the pessimistic tone he maintained throughout the story. When Kurtz is on his deathbed, he exclaims, “’The horror! The horror!’”

The true purpose of the book is to reveal to the European people that Africa is being raped by the ivory traders. Kurtz, the villainous ivory hunter, is portrayed in a captivating manner due to his eloquence. Kurtz is a representation of all European ivory traders, specifically Belgium, who journey to Africa in hopes of striking it rich. Europeans come to take the ivory, but while there, they destroy the land and kill the people. Marlow then meets an accountant after arriving at his post in Africa. The accountant seems to be a representation of the trading companies due to the fact that he is an accountant and dressed immaculately in all white. The trading companies just like the accountant only care about the money being made off of the ivory. The accountant is dressed so perfectly, however is corrupt on the inside.

Marlow on the other hand has no idea about Kurtz, or any knowledge of the land he is about to visit, before he gets there. He is completely unaware of his "darkness." As the journey continues up the river though, Marlow shows signs of contempt for the native people and their "primitive" ways. The jungle is referred to as "darkness," as "chaos" and "a black and incomprehensible frenzy"(HOD 37). As he travels into the heart of the Congo, he feels like he is leaving society farther and farther behind him. When he encounters a white man who is dressed as though he is still in Europe, Marlow says he "respected" him. He says: "...in the great demoralization of the land he kept up his appearance. That's backbone. His starched collars and got-up shirt-fronts were achievements of character"(HOD 21). Marlow takes this man as a "sort of a vision,"

There are very few movies based on novels that become successful. If we take a look at the novella Heart of Darkness and the movie Apocalypse now, we will find that these two works parallel each other. Apocalypse Now is a 1979 movie of Coppola interpretation of Conrad’s book. The book and the movie both deal with a Captain who was commanded to go on a missing up the Congo River to assassinate a mad colonel who made himself God among local pilgrims. The underlying theme present in both could be revealed just from looking at the title of both works. The main characters Marlow and Willard both learned about the battle between good and evil and how the jungle can bring out the evil in everyone.

At the end of his journey he realized the reason that everyone who went on this expedition was trying to make their fortune and that is how Kurtz eventually died. His “appetite for more ivory had got the better” of him. No matter what the cost to himself and the people around him, he was going to be the best and get the most money. His selfishness eventually caused his death when the manager downstream would not send food because he hoarded all of the ivory all to himself. Marlow knew that Kurtz was very serious about his job when he saw “heads on the stakes” in front of his house. Which could have been a warning to other people who try to come get his ivory. But the interesting part was most of the heads are faced toward his house. Kurtz wanted attention and loved to have power. These heads could be there to adore him just like the natives when he was with them. Kurtz search for power and wealth left in its wake death and destruction, showing that humanities quest for wealth leads to destruction.

There are certain film adaptations that convey the literal meaning of a novel rather than spreading the same theme and ideals in a derivative form. Apocalypse Now, directed by Francis Ford Coppola, obtains inspiration through the plot and message from Joseph Conrad’s novel Heart of Darkness. The setting in Apocalypse Now differs from the setting of Heart of Darkness, however the theme of becoming hollow and being consumed by the darkness is portrayed through similar events in history. European Imperialism and the Vietnam War involved the displacement of the natives, along with the decaying integrity of the men involved within the conflicts. Conrad and Coppola respectively utilize the implementation of film and literary techniques in order to

In the literary fiction, Heart of Darkness vivid imagery of cruelty is used as a way to expose the inhumane nature of imperialism, and to highlight the racial issues that plague much of Europe during the time. In the novel Heart of Darkness, the narrator, Marlow recounts the horrendous things he sees on his travel to Africa. The cruelty helps signify why the imperialistic and racial superiority view of Europeans are major political and social issues.

   In the opening scenes of the documentary film "Hearts of Darkness-A Filmmaker's Apocalypse," Eleanor Coppola describes her husband Francis's film, "Apocalypse Now," as being "loosely based" on Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness. Indeed, "loosely" is the word; the period, setting, and circumstances of the film are totally different from those of the novella. Yet, a close analysis of character, plot, and theme in each respective work reveals that Conrad's classic story of savagery and madness is present in its cinematic reworking.

Various parallels can be drawn when comparing and contrasting Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness and Frank Coppola's "Apocalypse Now", while taking into consideration Heart of Darkness is a novella and "Apocalypse Now" is a film. These differences and similarities can be seen in themes, characters, events and other small snippets of information including anything from quoted lines to strange actions of the main characters. Both pieces follow the same story line but they are presented in different contexts, allowing for many differences as well as the ability to see how Conrad is able to write a piece of literature that can be transposed to many different settings regardless the time period and still convey the same message of colonialism.