Heart of Darkness (The Horror)
"The Horror! The Horror!" Such little words that have such a large impact on a entire story and film. The after math of these words are critical in Coppola's film "Apocalypse Now" and Conrad's "Heart of Darkness". The narration, setting and coloration surrounding the ending of these stories completely change the meaning of one mans life. In Joseph Conrad's "Heart of Darkness" as Kurtz is dying he recites his famous lines, "The Horror! The Horror!" and afterwards, we are left with the impression that Marlow still looks up to Kurtz and believes in everything he has to say. As Marlow states after the death of Kurtz, "This is the reason why I affirm Kurtz was a remarkable man. He had something to say...After all, this was the expression of some sort of belief; it had candour, it had conviction..." (Conrad 69). We see a Marlow who is still infatuated with the idea of Kurtz and everything he was about. Marlow narrating the story after the death of Kurtz leads us to believe
We get to hear of the things that Kurtz has experienced and get an explanation as to why he has decided to go down the path of destruction. The setting of "Apocalypse Now" and "Heart of Darkness" caused are whole perception of each story to change. Kurtz says, "You have to have men who are moral and at the same time were able to utilize their primordial instincts to kill without feeling, without passion, without judgment--without judgment. that the meaning of the horror that Kurtz was talking about, was his own death. The narration also leads us down different paths, because there is someone else talking to us helping us along the way, unlike "Apocalypse Now" we have to draw our own conclusions, based on what we see. In "Apocalypse Now" Kurtz is killed and he knows he will be killed by Willard. These little differences caused both stories to be alike, but in the end go down separate paths to reveal what kind of man Kurtz really is. We are left with a picture of Kurtz still being strong and fearless and almost in a way above the rules of society. After Kurtz dies we have Marlow to explain why he was a great man, to deter us from looking into what the "horror" could have truly been. In "Heart of Darkness it is set during a time of greed for ivory and we do not feel this type of regret for what Kurtz did or sadness of the times. Because it's judgment that defeats us" (Cappola, Apocalypse Now). We perceive this scene this way perhaps because of the setting of the story during the Vietnam War. The setting of the Vietnam gave us a sympathetic view towards Kurtz, where as in "Heart of Darkness" we are left with an unsettling feel of a man who was full of greed. Without the narration of another party however we are left with images and no other words but, "The Horror! The Horror!" The very act of Willard killing Kurtz leads us to believe that he does not feel Kurtz was that much of a remarkable man, or else he wouldn't have killed him.
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Acceptance Essays
