Heart of Darkness and Apocolypse Now

The Heart of Darkness and Apocalypse Now, despite being seemingly different works, share several underlying themes. In each work, there is one central hero who must travel deep into the jungle in order to complete his assignment. Unwittingly, these two men are going deeper and deeper into Dante’s Inferno. The two icons must fight through perilous situations in order for them to discover the true motives behind their missions, and then spread that truth to the rest of the world.

Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness is a novel that centers on Marlow, a man who has decided he would like to pilot steamboats in the Belgian Congo. During the 1890’s, King Leopold of Belgium owned the Belgian Congo, and used it as his own personal rubber and oil farm, one that is 77 times the size of his home country. Marlow is sent deep into the Congo in order to find a lost steamship pilot who appears to be held captive by the natives. During Marlow’s quest for Kurtz, he encounters many difficulties and must adapt to this new hostile environment. Communications are cut off, parts required to fix the boat cannot be ordered, and fierce natives must be kept at bay in order for Marlow to find Kurtz. Finally when the steamship reaches its destination, Marlow is surprised to find that the natives, who had supposedly kidnapped Kurtz, actually worship him as their God. Marlow manages to rip Kurtz from the natives grasp, much to the dismay of the former-God and his followers. While on the way back to the outer-station on the Congo River, Kurtz passes away and tells Marlow he must inform his Intended of what has happened. He finally dies after muttering “The Horror, The Horror”.
Apocalypse Now is a film based on the American-Vietnam war. The Vietnam war was fought between the US-backed North Vietnamese democrats and the South Vietnamese communists, referred to as “Charlie” or “cong” in the film. Captain Willard is the main character in the film, and he is given a mission by the CIA to take out a rogue commander by the name of Kurtz. Willard is informed that Kurtz has become a God of a savage tribe of natives located deep in Cambodia, and that he must travel up a winding river in order to reach him. The Captain’s boat mates are a squad of rag-tag privates who have yet to experience the true horrors of war, and enjoy nothing more than waterskiing behind their patrol boat. As the boat and its crew progress up river, things become more primitive: communication with their allies is cut off, members of the boat are killed, the boat itself is transformed, and the men aboard are faced with difficult situations. Finally Willard reaches Kurtz, and is shocked to discover that Kurtz has completely taken over the tribe, and they follow him willingly. Kurtz realizes that Willard has come to kill him, and his only wish is that Willard will tell the truth to Kurtz’s son. Willard then kills Kurtz, and leaves, all while hearing Kurtz’s last words, “The Horror, The Horror”, echoing in his head. 
Both these works have strong mythical elements in them pertaining to journeying through the abyss of Hell. Marlow’s destination, the Congo, is essentially the deepest part of Hell, the ninth circle. In the beginning of the novel as Marlow is traveling to the outer station, his ship begins shooting at the shadows as they believe there are actually natives running in them. Also, the boat tries to communicate with its other vessels, but to no avail. This uncertainty of what is going on and confusion is an immediate hint that Marlow has just entered Dante’s Inferno. An instance where the absurdity of Marlow’s task comes through happens when he is informed of the condition of his ship. He is told that the steamer he is supposed to use is actually lying on the bottom of the river, and that he needs to fix it. In order to do that, he must order rivets. Every time he places an order for rivets, he either receives something absurd, or nothing at all. One would expect rivets to be commonplace and easy to attain, especially during the industrial revolution. Also, the steamer is the wrong type for such a narrow and meandering river, adding to the absurdity of Marlow’s task. 
The fact that Marlow must take the river in order to find Kurtz is another example of how the Congo is essentially Hell. The river is fast at times, slow at others. It twists, turns, and flows its way through the thick jungle where vicious natives could be waiting in ambush at any bend.  The fact that Marlow does not know anything pertaining to Kurtz other than some of his background is what makes the mission easy for Marlow; what he doesn’t know, wont hurt him. At one point, Marlow is walking though a field and he comes across a multitude of dead and dying natives, all of who are criminals. This represents the incontinent section of Dante’s inferno, or circles one through five. 
Eventually, as Kurtz and his shipmates’ progress down river, all communication with the civilized world is cut off. When they reach the inner station, all the white men working there cannot understand the language of the natives, rendering their presence useless. This symbolizes the crossing of the river Styx, meaning they have passed through the upper vestibules of hell and are now beginning the journey into its darker reaches. As they progress through the jungle, their boats seems to become more and more native. Branches are lid over areas to provide shelter, leaves and other debris find their way into all corners of the ship, and even a hippopotamus is on board at one point. The transformation of the ship is representative of the transformation of Marlow. As Marlow gets closer to Kurtz, he finds himself getting further away from his own being, civilization, and society. He is getting closer and closer to the pits of hell as well as some interesting, yet demented creation: Kurtz. 
When Marlow and his steamer reach the central station, they have entered the city of Dis, the center of Hell. Marlow is able to stay pure throughout his journey there, and is essentially plays the role of missionary sent to convert “savages”. Marlow believes that he is being sent to rescue Kurtz from the natives as he is sick and will not live under their care. In reality, the company has Marlow rescue him because they want the Ivory Kurtz has been stockpiling, because if they don’t get it, they are out a lot of money. Effectively, Kurtz has created Hell on earth. At least for him, however, he is the ruler of it.

any of the same effects are present in Apocalypse Now. Willard is sent on a mission up a river, through a jungle in order to find a rogue agent. There is the equivalent of the city of Dis in the base where Willard cannot find the Commanding Officer. Also, this is the point where communications between the boat and the rest of civilization are cut off, because the men are not supposed to be up in Cambodia. At the bridge everything is tossed into absurdity. Another example of an absurd situation is when the men stop off at a spot to get gas. The clerk offers them marijuana, beer, even sex, but they don’t have any gas. This frustrates Willard, as he is dying to meet this man whom he has heard so much about. This shows that like Marlow, Willard is also taking a decent into Hell.

The similarity between the two works is astounding. Willard and Marlow are the same character, on the same mission, just in different times. Both the boats used are effectively turned into native ships with the addition of tree branches and other primitive things. The absurdity of the various situations such as the lack of gas, or building and rebuilding of the bridge in Apocalypse Now and the fact that Marlow cannot get rivets for his boat in The Heart of Darkness are also shared between the two works. The dismantling of communication, the helmsman both dieing after being punctured by primitive spears, the jungle and river playing rolls as Hell and the road to Hell, respectively. In both works, the Kurtz characters were excellent people who excelled in their fields. Kurtz from The Heart of Darkness was the company’s best ivory hunter and was destined to be the head of the East India Trading Company someday. Kurtz from Apocalypse Now was one of the best officers the army had ever seen, completing different rigorous trainings and winning a multitude of medals. In both instances, the natives treat Kurtz as a God, granting his every wish and allowing him to live in a relative “lap of luxury”.

Both Marlow and Willard travel further and further away from their true selves, and get closer and closer to the horrors of Hell. When both Kurtz characters pass away, they both want their story told. Marlow is told to tell Kurtz’s intended that he loved her, but when asked by her what Kurtz’s last words were, Marlow cannot bring himself to say “the Horror, The Horror”, and instead says they were her name. Kurtz tells Willard that he must tell his son what happened to him so he does no think that his father was a failure. In the end, both Kurtzs’ realize what they have done, and can only say one thing in their shocking moment of realization “The Horror, The Horror”.