In the Apocalypse Now (movie 1979), Captain Willard played the role of the protagonist in this film. He was a passive character. The main target of was to kill Kurtz. He spent of most of his time in the film watching keenly and internalizing the activities taking place in the jungle. Captain helps to bring out the ironical perspectives of war while at the same time incorporating the theme of morality in the film. His observant nature enabled him to become alert on absurdities of the war and the darkness of the human nature. He clearly brought out how the war shell-shocked him in the film by looking over and above the scene. Willard was emotionally affected by war making him not able to stay at home and difficult to free his mind. Willard kept his eye and concentration on killing Kurtz. Colonel Kurtz, on the other hand, was wholly and obsessed with the aspects of war in this film. The corpses and heads of dead people were found all over his compound signifying the aspect of insanity caused by the war. His understanding of war was very deep making him resign helplessly. The absurdity of war greatly affected his morality due to high levels of betrayal in the army. This made him very bitter about the war.
Both Willard and Kurtz are used in the film to bring out the absurdity of war and the darkness of human nature in the film. Both characters were greatly affected by the absurdity of war making them insane. The nature and absurdity of war led to the loss of humanity by both characters making them totally insane in the film.
In the Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad, Marlow is portrayed a very complicated man showing the aspects of high modernism in the story. He was honest, hardworking and tough in the approach to war. The aspects of human nature made Marlow him weary and cynical since he was defeated by the World. Marlow went through a lot of suffering and horror. Kurtz is also associated with the traditional aspects of being tough and a hero. He was very talented but later degenerated .Marlow played an important role of being an intermediary between the company and Kurtz. Kurtz helps in justification of morality and evil. The torture Marlow and Kurtz went through helps to bring out the hypocrisy of imperialism where the nonwhites were molested and tortured. The relationship between Marlow and Kurtz was important in order to help us bring out the theme of madness resulting from imperialism (Conrad, 2012:16). This also helps to show the responsibility of Africa for the physical illness and mental disintegration from the war.
In conclusion, the relationship between Willard, Marlow and Kurtz in both stories helped t clearly bring out the theme of absurdity of evil and human nature due the effects of war. The war affected the Willard and Kurtz so heavily that they lost the aspects of humanity. The madness is a result of the torture subjected to the characters by the war. The hypocrisy of western imperialism is reflected in both stories by the way the characters interacted. The oppression of the nonwhites is well elaborated in the stories by a close analysis of both Marlow and Kurtz in the two stories. The aspects of the hypocrisy of the American imperialism is shown through intimidation and threats on the nonwhites.
Bibliography
Conrad, J. (2012). Heart of darkness. S.l: Duke Classics.
SparkNotes: Apocalypse Now: Themes, Motifs, and Symbols. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.sparknotes.com/film/apocalypsenow/themes.html
