Coppola’s Apocalypse Now and Conrad’s Heart of Darkness share themes of imperialism and how it corrupts supposedly impeccable men, regardless of the different settings. Coppola followed nearly all of Conrad’s elements in Heart of Darkness including inefficiencies, motivations, and savagery. The situation in Vietnam was very alike the one in the Congo seventy years earlier, and Coppola was able to use many themes present in Conrad’s Heart of Darkness to create a modernized adaptation of the novella. Destined for work in the Pentagon with an impressive resume, Colonel Kurtz was an exemplary soldier and leader in Vietnam.
Conrad’s Kurtz was a man of many talents as he was an artist, writer, and rising politician prior to his conquest in the Congo. The men’s names “Kurtz” is translated to “short” in German, ironic for such large personas and careers which both men had. Even ignoring the obvious character similarities, there are deep parallels which run between Apocalypse Now and Heart of Darkness. Aspects of modern imperialism have been around since mid 19th century, and the inefficiencies of the cause are still just as prevalent in Coppola’s Apocalypse Now.
In the Congo, it was found that there were Pilgrims walking around aimlessly, expecting work to fall upon their laps, or men doing work yet there was “a hole in the bottom of his pail. ” (Conrad 28) as he moved a quart of water. Characters such as the Brickmaker who had been “entrusted [by the company to be in charge of] the making of bricks – so I had been informed; but there wasn’t a fragment of brick anywhere in the station, and he had been there more than a year – waiting. ” (Conrad 29). Seventy years later, these inefficiencies are also present in
Vietnam, as the boyishness of the young soldiers is seen as they set fire to the top of a ship. Further inefficiencies are depicted by Colonel Kurtz, “We left the camp after we had inoculated the children for polio, and this old man came running after us and he was crying. He couldn’t see. We went back there, and they had come and hacked off every inoculated arm. There they were in a pile. A pile of little arms. “(Coppola) Kurtz and his fellow soldiers had helped cure and protect the children from polio disease, and the Viet Cong had rendered their work useless as usual.
This is similar to when the Viet Cong continuously destroyed the Do Lung Bridge, “Like this bridge… we build it every night. Charlie blows it right back up again. ” (Coppola). Colonel Kurtz goes on to describe how if the United States of America had an infantry like those in the Viet Cong, they could have the war finished with only a quarter of the troops due to the lack of feelings for humanity that the Viet Cong have. Apocalypse Now and Heart of Darkness both had inefficiencies which allowed for Colonel Kurtz and Kurtz to commence their dissatisfaction with society, and their subsequent regression into savagery.
Captain Willard discussed the fact that the Viet Cong had everything to lose while the United States had thousands of conscripts who were fighting in a place they couldn’t even point out on a map. The Viet Cong had two ways out of the war: death or a victory. The imperialism in the Congo could equally be interpreted as a pointless conquest, as with the many inefficiencies regarding the productivity of the members of the company, they were going metaphorically upstream, and countering their public beliefs.
In the Congo, the stated public objective of the Europeans was to colonialize the land and people to make them enlightened with the good ways of Christianity. In reality the Europeans were simply exploiting the land for the benefits of ivory. The European public objective is neglected when they have dying holes for their overworked slaves, where the natives were “dying slowly – it was very clear. They were not enemies, they were not criminals, they were nothing earthly now – nothing but black shadows of disease and starvation. Conrad 20).
The United States took a similar approach in Vietnam as most do when imposing imperialism on another culture. They publically stated that they were fighting for the freedom of the Vietnamese people, while in reality they were fighting for their own beliefs, fighting against the spread of communism. There was no show of any care for the Vietnamese people, as “It was a way we had over here of living with ourselves… we’d cut them in half with a machine gun and give them a Band-Aid” (Coppola).
The motivation behind The United States and the European’s imperialism was unjust and for personal gain. This lead to Colonel Kurtz and Kurtz both questioning their superior’s powers, allowing them to experiment with their own views. The reader undergoes the same process that likely occurred in Kurtz’ mind, as time progresses and the inefficiencies and motivations come to light. Kurtz is completely removed from the aspects of society which hold people mentally together such as government or law, and is placed in a situation where he has the ability to do what ever he so pleases.
Kurtz descends into savagery and has nothing restricting him from reverting back to his darker instincts. Colonel Kurtz finds himself in a very similar situation where he comes to a slow realization that the ridiculous inefficiencies of fighting the Viet Cong are not worth continuing under the command of a power who are fighting an impossible war. This realization of the inefficiencies and true motivations of his country are sparked by a report on downfalls of current military policies that he wrote.
Colonel Kurtz travels up the Nung River to Cambodia where he is no longer technically in a war zone. Given the opportunity to go rogue and revert to his natural savage ways, Colonel Kurtz positions himself as a deity in the eyes of the natives and a cameraman, similar to Kurtz with the natives or the Russian. Colonial powers are essentially savage as they are acting for their own benefit and are not held to a higher standard by a higher authority just as Colonel Kurtz and Kurtz once were.
This is not a fault however, as anybody or any institution or country will revert to savagery as long as they are not kept in check by a higher society. Colonel Kurtz and Kurtz revert to savagery due to the lack of societal structure provided in their uncivilized environments. The lack of societal structure allows them to realize the inefficiencies and motivations of their superiors. Colonel Kurtz and Kurtz follow their most basic human trait of savagery, and corrupt from society.