The Darkness of War

Heart of Darkness and "Apocalypse Now"can be compared in many ways. By examining their endings and the character of Kurtz, the meaning of the darkness in each piece becomes clear. In the novel the horror reflects Kurtz tragedy of transforming into a ruthless being whereas in the film the horror has more of a definite meaning, reflecting the war and the barbaric nature of war.
Conrad’s Heart of Darkness is the account of Marlow, a man journeying up the Congo River and finally into the jungle. Marlow is commissioned as an ivory agent and is sent to ivory stations along the river. Marlow is told that when he arrives deep within the jungle, he is to bring back information about Kurtz. As Marlow proceeds away to the inner station “to the heart of the mighty big river…. resembling an immense snake uncoiled, with its head in the sea, its body at rest curving afar over a vast country and its tail lost in the depths of the land” (Conrad 303), he hears rumors of Kurtz’s killing of the natives. He is tempted by the idea of this, especially when sees it first hand: “and there it was black, dried, sunken, with closed eyelids- a head that seemed to sleep at the top of that pole, and with the shrunken dry lips showing a narrow white line of the teeth, was smiling too, smiling continuously at some endless and jocose dream of that eternal slumber”(Conrad 57). These heads are evidence of Kurtz’s animal like behavior. At the end of the book, Kurtz is “gradually engulfing the atrocities of the other agents in his own immense horror”(Conrad 303). On his deathbed, Kurtz sputters “The Horror! The Horror!’, words which reflects the tragedy of Kurtz's inhuman nature.
Although "Apocalypse Now" is similarly structured to the novel, it takes on many different meanings. The movie takes place during the Vietnam War. The narrator is Captain Willard, who is given a mission to locate and kill Colonel Kurtz. Kurtz is said to be in Cambodia killing the natives. This is a parallel to the movie. Willard journeys up the river to find Kurtz, and eventually kill him. Kurtz’s words “The Horror!, The Horror!” in the film have a different meaning from the novel. Although these words are the same, their meanings differ as the character of Kurtz changes between mediums.
When Captain Willard, from Apocalypse Now, and Marlow from Heart of Darkness, meet up with their different Kurtzes, the two media break off from their similar structure and start to develop differently. The Kurtz in Conrad’s novel is told to be a genius of civilization. Kurtz becomes a symbol of hope for Marlow. Searching for him amid much heat, bugs, natives and immense fog makes reaching Kurtz even more meaningful. Marlow approaches Kurtz’s place of refuge, described as a shack surrounded by posts, holding high the severed heads of rebels. From these words we can see that Kurtz is no ordinary man. In the movie however, Kurtz is a figure of fear for the natives, as well as a figure of honor. They treat him as their king in a way.
Although the portrayal of Kurtz may differ from medium to medium, the character instills the same hope and awe in the Willard/Marlow character.