Light and Dark in Apocalypse Now and Heart of Darkness Essay

Light and Dark in Apocalypse Now and Heart of Darkness In Joseph Conrads Heart of Darkness, Marlow chooses a brighter path than his counterpart in Francis Ford Coppolas Apocalypse Now, Capt. Willard. The two share in the duty of searching for and discovering Kurtz, as well as taking care of his memory, but their beliefs before encountering him place the characters at opposing ends of a theme. These opposing ends are light and dark, representing good and evil. In the opening pages of Heart of Darkness, Marlow begins telling a tale of himself as nothing more than a sailor, who had a taste for adventure and saw the navigation of a river in such a distant and mysterious place as the Congo as a chance to find it. Capt. Willard†¦show more content†¦There was those six that I know about for sure. Close enough to blow their last breath in my face. But this time it was an American and an officer. That wasnt suppose to make any difference to me, but it did. Shit...charging a man with murder in this place was like handing out speeding tickets at the Indy 500. I took the mission. What the hell else was I gonna do? But I didnt know what Id do when I found him.(AP) From this quote and the preceding scenes of the film, we can clearly see that Kurtz and Willard are thinking on much the same levels and have dealt with the same issues in their lives. 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. Thats 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,Show MoreRelated Comparative Essay of Heart of Darkness and Apocalypse Now1050 Words   |  5 PagesComparative Essay of Heart of Darkness and Apocalypse Now The ties between Joseph Conrads book, â€Å"Heart of Darkness† and Francis Coppolas movie, â€Å"Apocalypse Now† are unmistakable. Apocalypse Nows correctness in 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 Conrads ideals are not lost. 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