Comparison Apocalypse Now and the Heart of Darkness Free Essay Example, 1500 words

The charges are unjustified. Willard has also been exposed to the view of some individuals like a photojournalist who feel that Kurtz is some kind of hero: The man s enlarged my mind. He s a poet warrior in the classic sense. (Apocalypse Now). Like Marlow, Willard also experiences the sense of growing threat as they move deeper into Vietnamese territory up the Nung river towards Kurtz s camp. It s as if the further they move away from civilization and towards the Vietnamese, the more bestial they become. The soldiers on Willard s boat exterminate a boat full of Vietnamese civilians and Willard himself kills an unarmed girl. Firchow highlights Conrad s perceptions of Africa from the existing Western viewpoint during that time, which led to misconceptions and misrepresentations of Africa and Africans as a result of which Marlow s journey into Africa became an analog for the exploration of the hidden, dark regions of their inner selves. (Firchow 20). As Marlow re-traces Kurtz s p ath into the jungle, he must face the question of who is really civilized? He is forced into the realization that while the white man proclaims his entry into the jungle for the high moral purpose of civilizing the natives, the actual purpose is quite simply out of their greed for the wealth of the jungle resources. We will write a custom essay sample on Comparison Apocalypse Now and the Heart of Darkness or any topic specifically for you Only $17.96 $11.86/page It wasn t just insanity and murder, there was enough of that to go around for everyone. (Apocalypse Now).