The Heart Of Darkness
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Human behavior is dictated by basic desires and instincts. All our actions, even those that were initially undertaken with good intentions, are ultimately corrupted and guided by our inbred human nature. As humans, our primary motivation in any of our actions is our craving for control and power, and our false notion of righteousness serves as a justification for our barbarism. Author Joseph Conrad explores the stark reality of human nature in his novel Heart of Darkness, filmmaker Francis Ford Coppolas twentieth century rendition of Conrads novel, Apocalypse Now relates the themes explored in Conrads novel to the modern world.
In both Heart of Darkness and Apocalypse Now, the desire for power is the most dominant incentive behind the actions of all major characters. In the 1860s the underlying reason behind the Belgian colonization of the Congo was the desire for the leaders of that country to expand their power over their European rivals by spreading their overseas empire. In Apocalypse Now, Copolla suggests the United States is the new Belgium, and the United States motivation for entering Vietnam is to expand American power, in face if its rivals.
On the personal level, Kurtzs reign of terror over the natives in both Heart of Darkness and Apocalypse Now stem from his desire to be a powerful godlike figure to those around him. General Corman, a minor character is Coppolas film, expresses his feelings regarding the temptation men face to stoop down to their lowest animal instinct and seize power in whatever way possible, regardless of how immoral. “Out there with these natives it must be a temptation to be god. ÐCause theres a conflict in every human heart between the rational, the irrational, between good and evil. And good does not always triumph.” In Conrads novel, Kurtzs sway and power over the natives is no less dazzling. Kurtzs disciple, the Russian trader, explains Kurtz has developed a divine status among the African natives, he declares; “they adore him”(51). And all of Kurtzs actions are devoted to gaining and maintaining power, firstly by deceiving and oppressing the natives, and secondly by accumulating wealth through stealing ivory. In a pattern that Conrad is careful to highlight, a sophisticated man with noble intentions of helping a backwards people cannot resist his own basic instinct for power and ends up slaughtering dozens to maintain his celestial power. Coppola emphasizes the same situation with his rendition of Kurtz, a promising intellectual army officer, going deep into enemy territory for the respectable cause of securing democracy, and ending up being corrupted by his basic desire for selfish power.
Closely related to, but notably distinct from power, is control. Along with humans desire to gain and maintain power, is their desire to maintain a level of dominance over their rivals and environment through the notion of control. The European obsession with control manifests itself chiefly in their building of cities, clearing of forests, and destruction of wildlife. As the industrial age came and the entirety of Europe had come to be civilized and under the control of man, the European powers honed their eyes on the wild and untamed wilderness of Africa and Asia. Besides their primary motivations of money and power, the Europeans also craved to conquer, control, and eradicate, the darkness of Africa through their colonization. Again, the works of Conrad and Coppola not only parallel each other, but they serve as a critique of history as well. As with Kurtzs reign over the natives, the European colonization of Africa was initiated with what appeared to be noble reasons, to civilize the Natives and bring them western morality and Christianity. However, these righteous reasons behind the justification for colonization soon were overshadowed by the Europeans brutal yet natural human tendency to oppress those deemed inferior.
In Apocalypse Now, the American soldiers desire to control their enemy and the vastness of the jungle is demonstrated through the extensive use of napalm. Colonel Kilgores infamous statement “I love the smell of napalm in the morning” epitomizes the phenomenon that plagued Americans in Vietnam. For, in their desire to remain dominant over an intimidating foe, the Americans resorted to firebomb huge swaths of land. And as a result of this primitive tendency to do anything to remain in control, American soldiers disregarded what was a supposedly noble reason for entering Vietnam, and ended up killing many of the people they intended to save from communism. Coppolas use of Lieutenant Kilgore, and his napalm raids, is intended to send a clear message about the blatant hypocrisy and futileness of American involvement in Vietnam. The napalm raids also serve as a link to the colonial powers futile attempts at controlling the African wilderness and people. Conrad symbolizes these sad efforts of European control of Africa throughout Heart of Darkness. However, one example in particular serves as the hallmark of the insanity of colonization; Marlow, the protagonist in Conrads story, tells the story of a French military ship he observed firing into the continent of Africa; “Pop, would go one of the six-inch guns; a small flame would dart and vanish, a little white smoke would disappear, a tiny projectile would give a feeble screech- and nothing happened. Nothing could happen. There was a touch of insanity