Heart of Darkness Vs. Apocalypse Now

Heart of darkness vs

Themes: the hypocrisy of imperialism: Marlow’s adventures show us the horrors and the realities of colonization and Civilization. Kurtz does not hide the harshness of the reality Of the cruelty that the natives are facing. He uses harsh words such as“extermination”. His direct honesty leads to his downfall because it exposes the realities that the outside world is not aware of or the colonizatIon of Africa. It also shows the negative portrayal of African americans because Willard portrays his helsman as a piece of machinery.

Movie- Kurtz exposes the harshness of the Vietnam war through willard’s journey into Vietnam. We witness the harsh deaths against the innocent natives and see the worst of the suffering. The most horrifying of all is when Willard arrives at kurtz’s fort because there are heads on stakes.

Madness is another major theme in the story. Kurtz has clearly gone mad from being in the congo too long. He speaks of killing people like it is nothing. However, his madness could be due to the lack of authority he has to answer to, leading to his abuse of power.

Movie- Kurtz has clearly gone mad in the movie. He appears usually in the darkness representing death and destruction. He takes Willard captive and tries to convert him to the dark side. The madness is more apparent in the movie then the film because other characters appear to be going mad as well. The men on the boat all begin to act foolishly. Lance loses a sense of reality and wants to keep a puppy with him at all times. Another man sets off gas just because the color appeals to his eyes. The movie provides the concept that the madness is due to making your own choices and not answering to authority in Vietnam. Also the movie portrays madness more then the book with the actual images it creates. In the movie Kurtz chops the head off of one of willard’s men and presents it to Willard basically in his lap.

The presence of evil is apparent in the novel. It appears that the motives for evil are often obscured and not justified. Marlow witnesses a man carrying water with a bucket that has a hole in it. He also witnesses the destruction of the landscape for no apparent reason.

Racism- In the movie racism is present because the black soldiers are portrayed as being by the do long bridge which is constantly blown up and the black soldiers are on the front lines. Both black men on willard’s boat are killed one by an arrow and one by gun shot. This allows the remaining people to approach kurtz’s fort with shock but not completely understanding the racism Kurtz has.