Reviewing The Heart Of Darkness And Apocalypse Now English Literature Essay

Reviewing The Heart Of phantasm And Apocalypse outright English Literature EssayThe horrorthe horror, these were the course that echoed in my mind later experiencing Joseph Conrads Heart of shadow and Francis Coppolas Apocalypse Now. Together, both pieces have several parallels this is for the most part due to the event that Coppolas Apocalypse Now is actually an adaptation of Heart of Darkness. While the films story mimics Conrads narration with its general plot points, there are also macrocosmy differences.While the characters of both Heart of Darkness and Apocalypse Now parallel one an new(prenominal) in their natures, this is also where their distinct differences lie. The Accountant in Heart of Darkness is only one of the countless characters that are in Africa with absolutely no blueprint his attire is always kept at its best and it appears as though his only accomplishment was article of belief an African woman to clean his garments, treating her as a servant. To par allel with The Accountant, in Apocalypse Now, Kilgore is also viewed as a purposeless character. Kilgores sole purpose is to surf, yet somehow he manages to avoid death and flush injury in the most treacherous places, causing his focus on the war to be nonexistent. Marlow in Heart of Darkness and Captain Willard from Apocalypse Now both have this mission of finding Kurtz, the man known as god the man known to be as hollow as a barrel the man to be found. In Heart of Darkness, Kurtz is the chief agent at the ivory companys inward Station at Stanley Falls. This so known hallow man is much taken back by the power that he has over the natives, starting out in the congou attempting to give the natives better lives, these mint learn to worship his ways. Due to his good intentions of helping these natives, he becomes isolated from his own civilization and is unexpended to be on his own he begins to retreat into a state of brutality. This clearly epitomizes that the basic homo nature o f Heart of Darkness is usually drowned out by the light of society. We can also key out here that civilization is only superficial, in the way that the natives were more civilized then Kurtz himself. Marlows relationship with Kurtz after finding him begins as a professional one, but as we gibe when the story unfolds, Marlow slowly begins to get wind with Kurtz, and by the end of the book we can see that Kurtz is what Marlow could have been and that Marlow is what Kurtz utilize to be. The dickens men see themselves in one another, a hard but interesting thing to experience.Within Heart of Darkness and Apocalypse Now, the use of light and dark are both dazzling and unbelievable. The representation of light, dark subdued and white is embedded throughout the account of Heart of Darkness. In general, the symbol of darkness usually implies flagitious or some type of mysterious unknown. Yet in the book we see that darkness is used as a symbol for truth, where the light is seen as a falsification. The truth that Marlow discovers is within him, lying in the darkness. The truth was physically found for him in Congo which was known as the darkest spot on the map. With that particularized example of how symbolism has been reversed, we also look into the light. The light comes from the civilization, also seen as a source of falsehood as well as being a form of dark business. The symbolism of white and unappeasable in Heart of Darkness is most apparent when it alludes to cultural and go the white people being the lying, evil, civilized community, and the black natives being enlightened, good, and savages. The alternating lighting in many of the scenes of Apocalypse Now, specifically in the Do Lung scene symbolizes the insanity of the Vietnam War. Here we see that no one knows why they are genuinely there, what is real, what is not, or where exactly the real evil is. Towards the end of the film, after Willard has killed Kurtz, we see Willard purposely placing h alf of his feel in the shadow. This use of cinematography shows that he had united the two ideals that of the military from which his mission spawned from the light, and the moral, yet hardhearted ideal of Kurtz and the darkness of the jungle.Another comparison that can be made between the two is the fact that they both have rivers, not the physical part, but the symbolic importance of these rivers. In Heart of Darkness, the Congo River is essential to the plot of the story, and is also essential to the Europeans in general when dealing with Africa. The river was the only means of affect for the Europeans to be able to get into Africa. In regard to the light and dark aspect, the river did not allow of effective movement upstream, reflecting on the difficulty in Marlows journey within himself, and this struggle that he faces toward obtaining the truth. On the other hand, Marlow was capable of moving easily downstream, making his re cycle to civilization easier and basically effort less. In Apocalypse Now, the Hung River is where we turn towards truth, a struggle with the events escalating in their level of severity and confusion. This river brought only madness and was a path to enlightenment, with e precise(prenominal) path to enlightenment, sacrifices were made and there would always be pain to overcome.When it comes to noticing differences between the novel and the film, the most lucid one would have to come with the usage of doses in Apocalypse Now. Heart of Darkness didnt have a hippie-surfer character that was always tripping on acid. It didnt have a man named Chef who wore a sailor tog and smoked dope constantly. To me, the most surprising aspect of Apocalypse Now was that Lance, the surfer, survived throughout the entire ordeal, proving that during the judgment of dismissal of the film, drugs were seen as good. I believe that Timothy Leary intended to use the film to explain how marijuana, shrooms and acid unbolted the key to immortality. This i s probably the most apparent difference to me in the two, we see that Apocalypse Now was very interested in promoting to use of drugs while Heart of Darkness never went to that level.In addition to the rivers, and drug use, the idea of imperialism is only found in Heart of Darkness. The imperialism had a huge effect on the race relations in the novel it is from this and also with civilizing the natives that the criminal neglect of the Company resides and is acceptable. The closest we get to anything bid this is Apocalypse Now would be in the slaughter of the Vietnam Cong during the war.The ties between Conrads Heart of Darkness and Coppolas Apocalypse Now are unmistakable. From the Congo River in Africa to the Nung River in Vietnam, Conrads ideals are not lost. In both, the ideas of good versus evil and symbolism of whiteness and darkness are all apparent. While there are many similarities between the two, as discussed there are many differences, from the usage of drugs to the desc riptions of rivers. Heart of Darkness, Apocalypse Now, from one came the other, there are two dont you see? Together, both pieces have countless parallels and we see that if it werent for the distinction of time, we would be unable to determine which came first. These parallels enchant the reader or the viewer to want to engulf themselves into the depth of the other.